Venerable Sayadaw was born on October 5 in 1952 in Upper Burma. As a young man he came to the local monastery to become a novice. Later he went to the famous Mahagandhayon monastery in Amarapura where his older brother was. In 1972 he was ordained by Ven. Mahagandhayon Sayadaw. He studied the Buddhist scriptures and finally took and passed the Dhammacariya-Exam. After that he taught the Buddhist scriptures for ten years.In 1976 he practiced Vipassana meditation in the Mahasi Meditation Centre in Mandalay where he was taught by Ven. Chanmyay Sayadaw. Some years later he went to the Chanmyay Yeiktha Meditation Centre in Yangon, where he was commissioned to teach meditation. In 1996 Ven. Chanmyay Sayadaw sent him as a teacher and abbot to the new Chanmyay Yeiktha Meditation centre in Hmawbi.Since 2004 he lives in his meditation centre in the suburbs of Yangon and teaches people from Burma and from abroad alike.
Ven. Ajahn Anan Akiñcano
Ven. Ajahn Anan Akiñcano took ordination under Ven. Ajahn Chah in 1975. He spent the next four years diligently practicing meditation and acting as Ven. Ajahn Chah’s personal attendent, allowing him to develop a close connection with his teacher.
After this intensive training period he sought out more secluded and dangerous places to further his meditation. In 1984 he settled in the dense forest of Rayong, establishing the monastery that came to be known as Wat Marp Jan. The early years there were difficult and on multiple occasions Ajahn Anan faced bouts of malaria that took him close to death.
Today, his reputation as a meditation master has grown, along with the number of monks coming to practice under him to seek his guidance. He is responsible for looking after more than ten branch monasteries and well over 100 monks.
Ven. Ajahn Dtun
Ven. Ajahn Dtun is considered to be one of the greatest living meditation masters in Thailand. Renowned for his gentle demeanour and deep wisdom, Ven. Ajahn Dtun has always had an impeccable reputation as a well-practised monk in the Ajahn Chah Tradition. Even as a junior monk, there was a buzz among the monks regarding Ven. Ajahn Dtun due to his dedication to practise and an aura of calm and clarity around him.
Born in 1955 in Ayutthaya, Thailand, Ven. Ajahn Dtun was raised in Bangkok. After completing his Bachelor’s Degree in Economics, he decided to become a monk at Wat Nong Pah Pong with Ven. Ajahn Chah as his preceptor. Presently, Ven. Ajahn Dtun is the Abbot of Wat Boonyawad in Chonburi, Thailand. Wat Boonyawad has grown from being a hermitage of a few monks to a large monastery with close to fifty monks training under the guidance of Ven. Ajahn Dtun.
Ven. Ajahn Nyanadhammo
Ven. Ajahn Nyanadhammo was born in Adelaide, Australia in 1955 and studied biology at university. His contact with the Dhamma via reading a Buddhist book eventually drove him to Thailand to receive his novice ordination in 1978 at Wat Bowon Niwet Wiharn in Bangkok.
Full ordination followed in 1979 at the age of 24, under Ven. Ajahn Chah at Wat Nong Pah Pong in Ubon Ratchathani province. In 2002, he became the abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat, a branch monastery of Wat Nong Pah Pong with an international community of English speaking monks. In 2007, he became abbot of Wat Ratanawan, where he is currently residing.
Below is a video of Dhamma talk by Ven. Ajahn Nyandhammo
Ven. Ajahn Kalyano
Ven. Ajahn Kalyano (Daniel Jones) was born in London in 1962. His interest in Buddhism awakened while still a student. After completing his university degree at Bristol University, he travelled to Thailand. In 1985 received ordination in the forest tradition of Ajahn Chah.
He has trained for many years with Venerable Ajahn Anan, one of several disciples of Ven. Ajahn Chah who have become highly regarded as meditation masters in their own right. In 2000, Ven. Ajahn Kalyano was invited to establish the forest tradition in Australia. He is now the abbot of Buddha Bodhivana Monastery in East Warburton, Melbourne, Australia
Ven. Ajahn Cattamalo
Ven. Ajahn Cattamalo is the abbot of Muttodaya Forest Monastery, Germany. Born in Germany, he was ordained in 1988 in Wat Nong Pa Pong ( the tradition of Ven. Ajahn Chah) Ubon Rachathani, N.E. Thailand. He spent 7 years in various monasteries throughout Thailand practising and studying with different meditation teachers of the forest tradition. Thereafter, he spent 13 years at Bodhinyana Monastery in Perth, Australia, during the last 5 years of which he was the deputy abbot assisting Ajahn Brahmavamso. Ven. Ajahn Cattamalo left Bodhinyana Monastery in 2008 for Germany to assist in the setting up of Muttodaya Forest Monastery.
Āyasmā Kumāra
Āyasmā Kumāra was ordained in 1999 at the age of 27 by Sayadaw U Revata at Subang Jaya Buddhist Association. Currently, he resides in Sāsanārakkha Buddhist Sanctuary (www.sasanarakkha.org), Taiping, where he learns from Bhaddanta Aggacitta Mahāthera and acts as his personal assistant. He graduated with a bachelor degree in education (Teaching English as a Second Language) from the University of Malaya. It was during his studies there that he became enthusiastic about the Buddha’s teachings and decided that he wanted to live this life as a monk. Since then, with his training in education, he has been sharing the Dhamma in various ways and in several languages (mainly English, Mandarin and Hokkien) with Buddhists of various traditions and non-Buddhists too.
Ven. Ajahn Mettiko
Born in Germany, Ven. Ajahn Mettiko was ordained at Wat Pa Nam Rin, Chiang Mai in Thailand in 2004 and spent four years with Luang Phor Thong Daeng Varapanno at Wat Phra Jao Tun Luang in Chiang Mai. Ven. Ajahn also spent time at Wat Pa Nanachat and went on tudong in Thailand and Germany.
Later, he went on tudong in New Zealand and also stayed at Vimutti Monastery.
He currently resides at Muttodaya Forest Monastery in Germany, the first forest monastery in his home country.
Ven. Ajahn Cagino
Ven. Ajahn Cagino, a Malaysian graduate of Liberal Arts was a professional photographer. As a photographer from the age of 22 to 27, he won no less than 40 awards and came out first in the Asia photography Competition. Before he ordained, he embarked on a journey to search for the Dhamma which led him to the forests of Thailand and New Zealand. He then ordained as a Samanera for one and a half years at the Ang Hock Si Temple in Penang. In 1996 at 29 years old, he ordained as a Theravada Bhikkhu and spent the next 5 years under Luang Por Gungha in Thailand. In 2001, he re-ordained at Wat Pah Nanachat under the Ven. Ajahn Chah tradition. It is during this period that he went “tudong” wandering through the forests of the North and North East of Thailand covering a distance of no less than 4000km on foot. During his stay in the caves in Mae Hon Son province, he came across poor and innocent orphans of the minority tribes whom he thought have great potential if they have the right guidance and education. This led Ven. Ajahn setting up Dhammagiri Foundation, a Buddhist orphanage to help the orphans.
Luang Por Tiradhammo
Luang Por Tiradhammo is one of the most senior monks in the tradition of Ajahn Chah. He became interested in Dhamma in his student years while traveling through Sri Lanka. Coming to Thailand and meditating at Wat Umong, he took ordination at Wat Meung Man in Chiang Mai with Venerable Tong in 1974. In 1975 he moved to study with Ajahn Cha at Wat Pa Pong and Wat Pa Nanachat. He went on several tudong journeys through the northeast of Thailand and the mountains of Chiang Mai, visiting many famous forest meditation masters. Venerable Tiradhammo was invited to England in 1982 to help with developments there. He spent two years at Chithurst Monastery and three years in charge of Harnham Vihara in Northumberland. In 1988, Ajahn helped establish Dhammapala Monastery near Bern, Switzerland, and also later at its new location in the Bernese Alpine village of Kandersteg where he was the senior monk until 2005. In July 2005 he assumed the position of a senior monk at Bodhinyanarama, Wellington, NZ where he remained as abbot for six and a half years. Ajahn is currently of no fixed abode and travels widely to teach the Dhamma and to hold meditation retreats. His visits to many monasteries and other locations can be followed on his blog: http://tiradhammo.blogspot.com/. Ajahn’s last visit to Singapore was in January 2019 where he held a 2-day non-residential meditation retreat at Wat Palelai on the 26th and 27th of January 2019.