Ashin Wannita

(A Biographical Sketch)

Ashin Wannita was born in March 31,1971, in Hlegu, Insein township, Yangon in Burma. I has been a Buddhist monk since childhood. I took ordination in March,1992 at the Nyaungpinkwin monastery, Khayan, Yangon. I studied Buddhist Scriptures at the monasteries of Kaing Kone in Khayan and Nyaung Done in Yangon, well-known as Pali Institutes in Burma.

I passed the Elementary, Junior and Senior examination of the Dhammacariya ( the teacher of Dhamma). It is one of the highest degrees in Pali and Theravada Buddhism in Burma. After completion of my monastic education, I taught Pali and Buddhism in Burma for some years. I have been studying English since 1992.

In 1996, I underwent a long-term meditation retreat at the Mahasi Meditation Center In Rangoon under the most Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw, the founder of the that Meditation Center. After taking the intense meditation training course, I was acknowledged as a meditation instructor by the Mahasi Org. From that time onwards, I have been teaching Buddhism and Buddhist way of meditation at Mahasi Meditation Center in Rangoon as well as in other places. From Mahasi Meditation Center, I learned that true peace of mind could be achieve through meditation. While I was in Rangoon, I helped the poor by supporting their education and providing other necessities. I was able to organize other people for this social work successfully.

In 2005, as a Mahasi meditation missionary, I was sent to the United States of America by the Mahasi Organization to teach Insight Meditation at the Buddhist Temples of New York, New Jersey and Boston and Burmese tradition, culture and Burmese language to Burmese children. I have been living at the Universal Peace Buddha Temple, the headquarter of America Burma Buddhist Association in New York since 2005.

The purposes of the A.B.B.A are the followings;

(1) To operate exclusively for religious educational and charitable purposes
(2) To hold religious meetings for those interested in Buddhism
(3) To provide for expositions of the cultural heritage of Buddhism
(4) To maintain a Buddhist reading room and provide facilities for the practice of

     the meditation and other Buddhist disciplines
(5) To collect and disseminate information on Buddhism.