Kyunpin Sayādaw (UJaṭila)

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Kyunpin Sayādaw (U Jaṭila) was born on August 29th, 1965, to Tun Nyaing Family in Kamphyu Village, a remote area in upper Myanmar. With intuitive appreciation in solitude, he requested to be ordained as a sāmanera (novice) at the age of 9 in a monastery of his village where his grandfather was the abbot. On reaching the age of 20, he was ordained as a bhikkhu (monk) under the guidance of his preceptor, Venerable Sumańgala (Tipiṭakadhara, a holder of the Pāli Canon) in Yangon.

He spent the first 21 years of his monastic life on Buddhist scriptural studying. As a young novice, he received basic monastic education. Then, he pursued higher education in Yangon at Mahāgandayon Buddhist Institute and Aungmingalar Buddhist Institute, and finally achieved his highest level of monastic education in 1996.

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With the urge to experientially understand the Buddha’s doctrine, the Sayādaw at once proceeded with an intensive course of insight meditation at Paņḍitārāma Forest Meditation Center (Hse Main Gone) in Bago under the guidance of Sayādaw U Paņditābhivamsa. He had progressed so well in his practice that after the retreat he was appointed as a meditation teacher of Paņḍitārāma, and he was assigned to teach meditation during 1997-2009 at Paņḍitārāma Forest Meditation Center and at Tathāgata Meditation Center in San Jose, USA.

In 2009, after his grandfather passed away, villagers requested him to return to his hometown and become the new abbot. Bit by bit, he has developed Kyunpin Meditation Center as a place for local and foreign meditators to practice according to the most Venerable Mahāsī Sayādaw’s method.

Additionally, the Sayādaw has been active in spreading the Buddha’s teachings in various countries such as Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Bangladesh and Australia.