THE SOUND OF THE BREATH: SUNLUN AND THEINNGU MEDITATION TRADITIONS OF MYANMAR
Contemporary Buddhism February 20, 2019 DOI: 10.1080/14639947.2018.1536852 (opens in new tab) via Semantic Scholar
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractThis article examines two popular meditation traditions in Myanmar: Sunlun and Theinngu. Their founders, Sunlun Sayadaw and Theinngu Sayadaw, were laypeople until their mid-40s before becoming respected meditation teachers. Both traditions use rapid, strong, and rhythmic breathing combined with contemplation of intense bodily sensations. The article documents their techniques in detail, contrasts their use of mindfulness with the modern Mindfulness movement, and discusses how both masters' practices were authorized by senior members of the Burmese Sangha using Pāli texts to verify the popular belief that they were arahants, situating this within Burmese laypeople's concerns about defending Buddhism from decline.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Theinngu meditation |
| Keywords | History |
| Key finding | Argues that the Sunlun and Theinngu meditation traditions use rapid, strong breathing and contemplation of unpleasant bodily sensations, and that their founders were catechised by senior Sangha members using Pāli texts to verify their status as arahants. |
Abstract
ABSTRACT This article explores the popular Sunlun and Theinngu meditation traditions in Myanmar. The founders, Sunlun Sayadaw Ven. U Kavi (1878–1952) and Theinngu Sayadaw Ven. U Ukkaṭṭha (1913–1973), both led a lay life until in their mid-40s and only then took up meditation, going on to become highly respected meditation teachers. Their meditation techniques are similarly distinctive in employing rapid, strong and rhythmic breathing. They combined this with the contemplation of the intense, usually unpleasant, bodily sensations that are thus induced. I document their techniques and application in detail, highlighting their complexity and diversity. I draw contrasts between the use of sati, mindfulness, in their methods and the way it is used in the modern Mindfulness movement. Finally, I discuss the ways in which the practices and experiences of both masters had to be authorised to survive where other meditation traditions have been outlawed. Senior members of the Burmese Sangha catechised both masters separately, using Pāli canonical and post-canonical texts as a benchmark to verify the popular belief amongst Burmese people that they were arahants. I locate this testing within the context of the concerns, sense of duty and status experienced by Burmese lay people in relation to defending Buddhism from decline.