View source for Webu Sayadaw

{{Short description|Burmese Buddhist monk (1896–1977)}}
{{more citations needed|date=July 2023}}

{{Burmese name|Sayadaw}}
{{Infobox religious biography
|name        = Webu Sayadaw
|native_name = {{my|ဝေဘူ ဆရာတော်}}
|image       = Webu Sayadaw small.tif
|caption     = 
|birth name  = 
|alias       = 
|monastic_name = {{IAST|Kumāra}}
|birth_date  = {{Birth date|1896|02|17|df=y}}
|birth_place = Ingyinpin, [[British Burma]]
|death_date  = {{Death date and age|1977|06|26|1896|02|17|df=y}}
|death_place = Ingyinpin, [[Sagaing Division]], [[Myanmar]]
|nationality = Burmese
|religion    = [[Buddhism]]
|school      = [[Theravada]]
|lineage     = 
|title       = [[Sayadaw]]
|location    = Webu Monastery
|education   = 
|occupation  = [[bhikkhu|Buddhist monk]]
|teacher     = 
|predecessor = 
|successor   = 
|students    = 
}}

'''Webu [[Sayadaw]]''' ({{lang-my|ဝေဘူ ဆရာတော်}}, {{IPA-my|wèbù sʰəjàdɔ̀|pron}}; 17 February 1896 &ndash; 26 June 1977) was a [[Theravada]] [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] [[Bhikkhu|monk]], and [[vipassanā]] master, best known for giving all importance to diligent practice, rather than scholastic achievement.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-28 |title=Webu Sayadaw |url=https://buddho.org/about-the-author/webu-sayadaw/ |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=Buddho.org |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Early life==
Ven. Webu Sayadaw was born to [[Burmese name|Daw]] Kyin Nu and [[Burmese name|U]] Lu Pe in 1896 in [[British Burma]] near Khin U township in modern-day [[Sagaing Division]]. He underwent the usual monk's training in the [[Pali Canon|Pāli scriptures]] from the age of nine, when he became a [[Samanera|novice]], until he was twenty-seven. His [[monastic name]] was {{IAST|Kumārakassapa}}.

==Monk and teacher==
In 1923 (seven years after his ordination), he left the monastery and spent four years in solitude. He practiced (and later taught) the technique of [[Ānāpānasati]] (awareness of the in-breath and out-breath). He said that by working with this practice to a very deep level of concentration, one is able to develop [[Vipassanā]] (insight) into the essential characteristics of all experience: [[anicca]] (impermanence), [[anatta]] (egolessness) and [[dukkha]] (unsatisfactoriness). According to Roger Bischof, on return from his four years of seclusion, he said, regarding [[Ānāpānasati]]: "This is a shortcut to Nibbana, anyone can use it. It stands up to investigation and is in accordance with the teachings of the Buddha as conserved in the scriptures. It is the straight path to Nibbana." Ven. Webu Sayadaw was famous for his unflagging diligence in meditation and for spending most of his time in solitude. He was reputed to be an [[arahant]] (fully enlightened one), and it is said that he never slept.

For the first fifty-seven years of his life, Ven. Webu Sayadaw stayed in upper Burma, dividing his time among three meditation centres in a small area. After his first trip to [[Rangoon]] in 1953 to visit the [[International Meditation Centre]] at the invitation of [[Ba Khin|Sayagyi U Ba Khin]], he included southern Burma in his travels, visiting there to teach and meditate from time to time. He also went on pilgrimage to India and [[Sri Lanka]]. Ven. Webu Sayadaw spent his final days at the meditation centre in the village where he was born. He died on 26 June 1977, at the age of eighty-one.

==See also==
*[[Sayagyi U Ba Khin]]
*[[International Meditation Centre]]

==References==
*[http://www.vridhamma.org/Venerable-Webu-Sayadaw-1896-1977 Biography of Venerable Webu Sayadaw]

===Wheel Publications (BPS)===
*''[https://web.archive.org/web/20210507211759/https://www.bps.lk/library-search-select.php?id=wh375 Essential Practice Part I: Dhamma Discourses of the Venerable Webu Sayadaw]''
*''[https://www.bps.lk/library-search-select.php?id=wh384 Essential Practice Part II: Dhamma Discourses of the Venerable Webu Sayadaw (WH384/385)]''

===Bodhi Leaf Publications (BPS)===
*''[https://web.archive.org/web/20210618125431/https://bps.lk/library-search-select.php?id=bl119 Dhamma Talk-1 (BL119)]''
*''[https://web.archive.org/web/20201001195718/http://bps.lk/library-search-select.php?id=bl122 To Light A Fire (BL122)]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.pariyatti.org/ResourcesProjects/Treasures/VenWebuSayadaw/tabid/81/Default.aspx Video and rare photos of Venerable Webu Sayadaw]
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=B8gwRyv7wbMC The Way to Ultimate Calm: Selected Discourses of Webu Sayadaw (full book)]
*[http://www.vridhamma.org/Venerable-Webu-Sayadaw-1896-1977 Short biography]

{{Buddhism topics}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webu Sayadaw}}
[[Category:Theravada Buddhist monks]]
[[Category:1896 births]]
[[Category:1977 deaths]]
[[Category:Burmese Theravada Buddhists]]
[[Category:Burmese Buddhist monks]]
[[Category:People from Sagaing Region]]
[[Category:20th-century Buddhist monks]]