https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Anagarika_MunindraAnagarika Munindra - Revision history2026-07-31T11:42:06ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Anagarika_Munindra&diff=486222&oldid=prevBhanwarrathore at 02:24, 6 January 20262026-01-06T02:24:02Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Indian Buddhist leader}}<br />
{{Infobox religious biography<br />
| name = Anagarika Munindra<br />
| image = <br />
| caption = <br />
| birth_name = <br />
| alias = <br />
| dharma_name = <br />
| birth_date = {{birth year|1915}}<br />
| birth_place = [[Chittagong]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]] (now part of [[Bangladesh]])<br />
| death_date = {{Death year and age|2003|1915}}<br />
| death_place = [[Igatpuri]], [[Maharashtra]], India<br />
| nationality = Indian<br />
| religion = [[Buddhism]]<br />
| school = [[Theravada]]<br />
| lineage = <br />
| title = [[Vipassana]] meditation teacher<br />
| location = <br />
| occupation = Religious leader<br />
| teacher = [[S. N. Goenka]], [[Mahasi Sayadaw]]<br />
| predecessor = <br />
| successor = <br />
| students = [[Dipa Ma]]<br />
| spouse = <br />
| partner = <br />
| children = <br />
| website = <br />
}}<br />
{{buddhism}}<br />
{{Western Buddhism}}<br />
[[Image:Mahabodhitemple.jpg|thumb|right|180px|[[Mahabodhi|Mahabodhi temple]] in [[Bodhgaya]], [[India]]]]<br />
'''Anagarika Shri Munindra''' (1915 – October 14, 2003), also called '''Munindraji''' by his disciples,<ref name="tricycle">{{cite web|title=In Memoriam: Anagarika Munindra (1914-2003) |url=https://tricycle.org/magazine/memoriam-anagarika-munindra-1914-2003/|publisher=[[Tricycle: The Buddhist Review]]|accessdate=March 25, 2016}}</ref> was an Indian [[Vipassanā]] meditation teacher, who taught many notable meditation teachers including [[Dipa Ma]],{{sfn |Schmidt|2005|p=11}} [[Joseph Goldstein (writer)|Joseph Goldstein]],{{sfn |Schmidt|2005|p=11}} and [[Sharon Salzberg]].{{sfn |Schmidt|2005|p=9}} [[Anagarika]] simply means a practicing Buddhist who leads a nomadic life without attachment in order to focus on the [[Dhamma]].<br />
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==Early life==<br />
Anagarika was born in [[Chittagong]], [[British India]] (what is now [[Bangladesh]]) and descended from Buddhists of India forced east by the [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent|eleventh century Muslim invasion]].<ref name="tricycle"/><br />
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==Buddhist life==<br />
He was an active member of the [[Maha Bodhi Society]]<ref name="tricycle"/> whose purpose was the resuscitation of Buddhism in India and the restoration of ancient Buddhist shrines there. Munindra was the superintendent of the [[Mahabodhi Temple]] at [[Bodh Gaya]] from 1953 to 1957,<ref name="tricycle"/> the first Buddhist to hold this position in modern times. From 1957 to 1966 he lived in [[Burma]], where he was a close disciple of [[Mahasi Sayadaw]],<ref name="tricycle"/> who authorised him to teach Vipassana meditation. While in Burma he also studied the [[Pāli Canon]] thoroughly,{{sfn|Knaster|2010|p=xiii}} before returning to India, where he taught Vipassana for many years in [[Bodh Gaya]].{{sfn|Knaster|2010|p=xv}} He was known to be very open-minded and relaxed in the way he taught.{{sfn|Knaster|2010|p=x}} He would encourage his students to study with other teachers, and investigate other traditions.{{sfn|Knaster|2010|p=xvi}}<br />
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==In the tradition of Ledi Sayadaw==<br />
During his stay in Burma he came in close contact with [[S. N. Goenka]] and had Dhamma discussions with him.{{sfn|Knaster|2010|p=xvii}} Subsequently, he wished to learn [[Vipassana]] from [[Sayagyi U Ba Khin]] but since he had already learnt Vipassana from a monk, Sayagyi expressed his inability to teach him Vipassana in the tradition of [[Ledi Sayadaw]].<ref>{{cite web|title=My Friend, Munindraji By S. N. Goenka|url=http://www.vridhamma.org/en2004-09|publisher=Vipassana Research Institute|date=August 30, 2004|accessdate=June 12, 2016}}</ref>{{sfn|Stuart|2020|p=88–92}}<br />
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Finally, his wish was fulfilled a few years later when [[S. N. Goenka]] started teaching Vipassana in India. Munindra joined a 10-day course conducted by Goenka at Bodhgaya. He was very impressed by the technique, as expressed in a letter of appreciation that he wrote to [[Sayagyi U Ba Khin]] after the course.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pariyatti.com/downloads/treasures/Maha_Bodhi_Journal_1972-04.pdf|title=The Maha Bodhi|page=91|date=April 1972|accessdate=June 12, 2016}}</ref>{{sfn|Stuart|2020|p=88–92}}<br />
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== Final years ==<br />
He spent the last part of his life living at the Vipassana Research Institute's main meditation centre, Dhamma Giri, at the village of [[Igatpuri]], India, as a guest of his close friend [[S. N. Goenka]].{{sfn|Knaster|2010|p=xvii}}<br />
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==References==<br />
; Citations<br />
{{Reflist|30em}}<br />
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; Bibliography<br />
{{refbegin}}<br />
* {{Citation|last=Das|first=Surya|authorlink=Surya Das|title=Make Me One with Everything: Buddhist Meditations to Awaken from the Illusion of Separation|publisher=[[Sounds True]]|year=2015|ISBN=978-1622034123}}<br />
* {{Citation |last=Knaster|first=Mirka|title=Living This Life Fully|publisher=[[Shambhala Publications]]|year=2010|ISBN=978-1590306741}}<br />
* {{Citation |last=Schmidt|first=Amy|title=Dipa Ma: The Life and Legacy of a Buddhist Master|publisher=Windhorse Publications|year=2005|ISBN=9781899579730}}<br />
* {{Citation |last =Stuart|first =Daniel M.|date =2020|title =S.N. Goenka: Emissary of Insight|url=https://www.shambhala.com/s-n-goenka.html|publisher =Shambhala Publications|isbn=9781611808186}}<br />
{{refend}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
*{{YouTube|OrYjIkEMlOU|Video of Munindra visiting California}}<br />
*{{YouTube|k_dQ5uxFeF4|Video of Munindra and Taungpulu Sayadaw from 1976 in Boulder Creek California}}<br />
*[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/6/story_638_1.html Thoughts about Munindra from a book edited by Sharon Salzberg]<br />
*[http://www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/129/ Recording of talk given at Golden Gate Park, San Francisco in 1977]<br />
*[https://www.vridhamma.org/sites/default/files/newsletters/1434100401_en-2004-08-My-Friend-Munindraji-By-S-N-Goenka.pdf S. N. Goenka reminisces his friend Munindra]<br />
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{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Munindra, Anagarika}}<br />
[[Category:1914 births]]<br />
[[Category:2003 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Indian Theravada Buddhists]]<br />
[[Category:Buddhist spiritual teachers]]<br />
[[Category:People from Chittagong]]<br />
[[Category:Bengali people]]<br />
[[Category:Students of S. N. Goenka]]<br />
[[Category:Students of Mahasi Sayadaw]]<br />
[[Category:Anagārikas]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian Buddhists]]<br />
[[Category:21st-century Indian Buddhists]]</div>Bhanwarrathore