A Biography and Bibliography of Ledi Sayādaw

A SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF LEDI SAYĀDAW

Known to scholars of many countries, the Venerable Ledi
Sayādaw, Aggamahāpaṇḍita, D. Litt., was perhaps the outstanding
Buddhist figure of this age. With the increase in interest in
Buddhism in Western lands, there is a great demand for his
Buddhist discourses and writings.

Bhikkhu Ñāṇa who was later known as Ledi Sayādaw was
born on Tuesday, the 13th Waxing of Nattaw, 1208 Burmese Era
(1846 C.E.) at Saing-pyin Village, Dipeyin Township, Shwebo
District. His parents were U Tun Tha and Daw Kyone. Early in life
he was accepted into the Sangha as a sāmaṇera and at the age of 20
as a bhikkhu, under the patronage of Salin Sayādaw U Paṇḍicca.
He received his monastic education under various teachers and
later was trained in Buddhist literature by the Venerable Sankyaung Sayādaw, Sudassana-dhaja-atulādhipati-sīripavaramahādhamma-rājādhi-rāja-guru of Mandalay.

He was a bright student. It was said of him: “About 2000
students attended the lectures delivered daily by the Venerable
Sankyaung Sayādaw. One day the Venerable Sayādaw set in Pā¿i
twenty questions on pāramī (perfections) and asked all the students
to answer them. None of them, except Bhikkhu Ñāṇa, could answer
those questions satisfactorily.” He collected all these answers and
when he attained 14 rains retreats (vassa) and while he was still in
San-kyaung Monastery, he published his first book—the Pārami
Dīpanī (Manual of Perfections).

During the reign of King Theebaw he became a Pā¿i lecturer
at Mahā Jotikārāma Monastery in Mandalay. A year after the
capture of King Theebaw, i.e., in 1887 C.E., he moved to a place to
the north of Monywa Town, where he established a monastery
under the name of Ledi-tawya Monastery. He accepted many
bhikkhu-students from various parts of Burma and imparted
Buddhist education to them. In 1897 C.E., he wrote the Paramattha
Dīpanī (Manual of Ultimate Truths) in Pā¿i.

Later, he toured many parts of Burma for the purpose of
propagating the Buddha Dhamma. In the towns and villages he
visited, he delivered various discourses on the Dhamma and
established Abhidhamma classes and Meditation Centres. He
composed Abhidhamma rhymes or abhidhamma-saṅkhitta and
taught them in his Abhidhamma classes. In some of the principle
towns he spent a vassa, rains-retreat, imparting Abhidhamma and
Vinaya education to lay devotees. There are still monasteries in
Burma, such as Kyaikkasan Ledi Meditation Centre in Rangoon
and Leditawya Monastery, which was established by Ledi
Sayādaw himself near Monywa, where his teachings and
expositions are preserved and continue to be studied.

During his travels he wrote many essays, letters, poems, and
manuals in Burmese. He has written more than seventy manuals
(see bibliography below), of which seven have been translated into
English and published in The Light of the Dhamma journal. The
Vipassanā Dīpanī (Manual of Insight) was translated by his
disciple Sayādaw U Ñāṇa,18 Paṭhamagyaw. The Paṭṭhānuddesa
Dīpanī (A Concise Exposition of the Buddhist Philosophy of
Relations) was originally written in Pā¿i by the late Ledi Sayādaw
and translated by Sayādaw U Ñāṇa. The Niyāma Dīpanī (Manual
of Cosmic Order) was translated by U Ñāṇa and Dr Barua and
edited by Mrs Rhys Davids. The Sammādiṭṭhi Dīpanī (Manual of
Right Understanding) and the Catusacca Dīpanī (Manual of the
Four Noble Truths) and the Alin Kyan (An Exposition of Five
Kinds of Light), translated in part only, were all translated by the
editors of The Light of the Dhamma. Bodhipakkhiya Dīpanī
(Manual of the Factors Leading to Enlightenment) was translated
by U Sein Nyo Tun, I.C.S. (Retd.), and the Maggaṅga Dīpanī
(Manual of the Constituents of the Noble Path) was translated by U
Saw Tun Teik, B.A., B.L., and revised and edited by the English
Editorial Board of the Union Buddha Sāsana Council.

In the year 1910, while residing at the Masoyain Monastery
in Mandalay, the Venerable Ledi Sayādaw, together with the
Abhidhaja-mahāraṭṭhaguru Masoyain Sayādaw of Mandalay
(President of the Sixth great Buddhist Council), the Venerable
Sayādaw U Ñāṇa and U Shwe Zan Aung B.A., founded the Burma Buddhist Foreign Mission. This project was carried on by the
Masoyain Sayādaw of Mandalay until the death of his Englisheducated colleague in this undertaking, the Sayādaw U Ñāṇa, who
died about 1936.

Ledi Sayadaw was awarded the title of Aggamahāpaṇḍita by
the Government of India in 1911 C.E. Later, the University of
Rangoon conferred on him the degree of D. Litt. (Honoris Causa).
In his last years he settled down at Pyinmana where he died in 1923
C.E. at the ripe old age of 77.

It is well known that in 1856 King Mindon (1852–1877)
conceived the meritorious idea of having the Pā¿i Tipiṭaka carved
on 729 marble slabs in Maṇḍalay in order that the Teaching might
be preserved. The work took place from 1860 to 1868. It is not so
well known outside Burma, however, that a similar mark of respect
for the works of Venerable Ledi Sayādaw was made by his
supporters in Monywa in Upper Burma after his death. This
recognition and treatment of a Buddhist monk’s works is unique
and it gives some indication of the immense importance attached to
his writings.

The reputation of Ledi Sayādaw still lives on in Burma and in
the Buddhist world. He was a bhikkhu of great learning and a prolific
writer with a unique style of exposition. He was an austere bhikkhu,
yet a very humane one, who would often write a whole treatise or a
long letter in reply to a question asked by a student or listener.

[https://www.bps.lk/olib/bp/bp426s_Ledi_Manual-Of-Light.pdf]

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BIBLIOGRAPHY OF LEDI SAYĀDAW

Below are some of the ṭīkās, manuals, essays, and letters written by
the Venerable Ledi Sayādaw.

IN PĀLI
Anattavibhāvanā (Explanation of Not Self)
Aṇu-Dīpanī (Manual of Atoms)
Exposition of Buddhism for the West
London Pā¿i Devi Pucchā Visajjanā (Questions and Answers by
the Pā¿i Lady in London [i.e., Mrs. Rhys Davids])
Nirutti Dīpanī (Manual of Philology) or Vuttimoggallāna Ṭīkā
(Subcommentary on the “Gloss of the Moggallāna Grammar”)
Niyāma Dīpanī (Manual of Cosmic Order)*
Padhāna Sutta (Sutta on Putting Forth Effort [Pā¿i and word for
word meanings])
Paramattha Dīpanī (Manual of Ultimate Truths) or
Abhidhammatthasaṅgaha Mahā Ṭīkā (Great Subcommentary
on the Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma)
Paṭṭhānuddesa Dīpanī (Manual of Conditional Relations)* **
Sammādiṭṭhi Dīpanī (Manual of Right View)*
Sāsanasampatti Dīpanī (Manual of Success in the Dispensation)
Sāsanavipatti Dīpanī (Manual of Regress in the Dispensation)
Vaccavācaka Ṭīkā (Subcommentary on Reciting/Teaching Words)
Vibhatyattha Ṭīkā (Subcommentary on Inflection)
Vipassanā Dīpanī (Manual of Insight)* **
Yamaka Pucchā Visajjanā (Questions and Answers on the Book of
Relations)
IN BURMESE
Āhāra Dīpanī (Manual of Nutritive Essence)
Alaṅkāra Saṅkhitta (Brief Manual of Prosody)
Alin-kyan (Manual of the Five Kinds of Light)* **
Ānapāna Dīpanī (Manual of Breathing)**
Anatta Dīpanī (Manual of Not Self)
Asaṅkhāra-Sasaṅkhāra-vinicchaya Dīpanī (Manual of the Decision
on the Conditioned and Unconditioned)
Bhāvanā Dīpanī (Manual of Mental Development)
Bodhipakkhiya Dīpanī (Manual of the Factors Leading to
Enlightenment)*
Catusacca Dīpanī (Manual of the Four Noble Truths)*
Cetiyaṅgaṇa-vinicchaya Dīpanī (Manual of the Decision on the
Factors of the Stupa)
Dānādi Dīpanī (Manual of Generosity, etc.)
Ājīvaṭṭhamaka Sīla Vinicchaya (Decision on the Eight Precepts)
Vikālabhojana-sikkhāpada Vinicchaya (Decision on the Training
Rule of Eating at the Wrong Time)
Dhamma Dīpanī (Manual of Dhamma)
Dīghāsana-vinicchaya Dīpanī (Manual of the Decision on Long
Seats)
Gambhīra-kabyā-kyan (Manual of Profound Verses)
Goṇasurā Dīpanī (Manual of Cows and Alcohol)
Iṇaparibhoga-vinicchaya Dīpanī (Manual of the Decision on Debt
and Wealth)
Kammaṭṭhāna Dīpanī (Manual of Meditation-subjects)
Lakkhaṇa Dīpanī (Manual of Characteristics of Existence)
Ledi Pucchā-visajjanā (Questions and Answers of Ledi Sayādaw)
Maggaṅga Dīpanī (Manual of the Constituents of the Noble Path)* **
Mahāsayana Dīpanī (Manual of the Great Seat)
Nibbāna Dīpanī (Manual of Nibbāna)
Nibbāna-pucchā-visajjanā Dīpanī (Manual with Questions and
Answers on Nibbāna)
Niyāma Dīpanī (Manual of Cosmic Order)
Paramattha Saṅkhitta (Brief Manual of Ultimate Reality)
Pāramī Dīpanī (Manual of Perfections)
Paṭiccasamuppāda Dīpanī (Manual of Dependent Origination)
Rūpa-Saṅkhitta (Brief Manual of Material Qualities)
Sotāpanna-pucchā-visajjanā (Answers on the Stream-enterer)
Rogantara Dīpanī (Manual of the Disappearance of Disease)
Rūpa Dīpanī (Manual of Material Qualities)
Saccattha Dīpanī (Manual of the Meaning of Truth)
Sadda Saṅkhitta (Brief Manual of Words)
Saraṇagamaṇa-vinicchaya Dīpanī (Manual of the Decision on
Going for Refuge)
ya Dīpanī (Manual of the Decision on the
Higher Acceptance into the Saṅgha)
Uttamapurisa Dīpanī (Manual of the Excellent Man)**
Vijjāmagga Dīpanī (Manual of the Path to Higher Knowledge)**
Vinaya Saṅkhitta (Brief Manual on Discipline)
Virati-sīlavinicchaya Dīpanī (Manual of the Decision on the Virtue
of Abstinence)
Admonitory letter prohibiting Lotteries and Gambling
Admonitory letter to the inhabitants of Dipeyin Township for
abstention from taking intoxicants
Admonitory letter to U Saing, headman of Saingpyin Village for
abstention from taking intoxicants
An Advice to hold a Lighting Festival at the Bo Tree within the
precincts of Ledi Monastery, Monywa
Brief Manual on Spelling
Brief Manual on Alphabets
Inscription at Sīhataw Pagoda, written by the Ledi Sayādaw at the
request of U Hmat
Letter of reply to U Ba Bwa, Township Officer of Dedaye, saying
that he could not go on a pilgrimage to Ceylon that year
Letter to U Hmat, a Ruby Merchant of Mogok
Open letter for abstention from taking beef
Verses on Saṃvega

The English translations of the works marked once (*) are printed
in a single volume: The Manuals of Buddhism and published by:
The Deputy Director, at the Religious Affairs Dept. Press, Yegu,
Kabā-Aye P.O., Rangoon, Burma and the Vipassana Research
Institute, Igatpuri, India.
The works marked twice (**) are (also) published by the BPS.

[https://www.bps.lk/olib/bp/bp426s_Ledi_Manual-Of-Light.pdf]

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