the title 'Sayadaw'
From: Jim Anderson
Message: 2993
Date: 2010-08-28
Does anyone know what qualifies a Burmese bhikkhu to merit the title
of a sayadaw?
I ask because two senior Burmese monks paid me a surprise visit at my
cottage-retreat in the forest 90 miles north of Toronto on Thursday
afternoon. This has never happened to me before. One of them was Ven.
Sayadaw Ashin Thitzana from Dhammasukhavihaara in Norwalk, CA who I
first met 28 years ago. He is a Tipitakadharo and my spiritual
teacher. The other one is a resident at the Mahaadhammikavihaara in
Toronto and I think his name is Ven. U Nandasiri but I still have to
confirm this. He looks like he may be a Sayadaw as well. I had not
seen Ven. U Thitzana attach the term to his name before. He is turning
60 this year and probably has been a bhikkhu for 40 years. So perhaps
the title of Sayadaw applies to someone who has been a monk for at
least 40 years.
Jim Anderson