THE TRANSMISSION AND GLOBALIZATION OF VIPASSANĀ MEDITATION FROM MYANMAR
Yae Wata & Prof. Dr. Saw Htut Sandar
SCHOLARLY RESEARCH JOURNAL FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES May 11, 2026 preprint DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20119881 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Argues that Ledi Sayadaw's colonial-era teaching and writings, carried forward by teachers such as Saya Thetgyi, U Ba Khin, S. N. Goenka, and Mahasi Sayadaw, transformed Vipassanā meditation from a Myanmar Buddhist practice into a global movement now practiced for mindfulness, mental peace, stress reduction, awareness, and spiritual development. |
Abstract
This dissertation article studies the historical transmission and globalization of Vipassanā meditation beginning from the contribution and teaching of the Most Venerable Ledi Sayadaw in Myanmar, his teaching about Vipassanā meditation, which means insight or clear seeing, is an important practice in Theravāda Buddhism for understanding impermanence, suffering, and non-self. During the British colonial period in Myanmar, the most venerable Ledi Sayadaw worked to preserve Buddhist teachings and made meditation practice accessible not only to monks but also to laypeople. His teachings and writings inspired many important meditation teachers such as Saya Thetgyi, Sayagyi U Ba Khin, Sayagyi S. N. Goenka, and the Most Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw became the famous meditation teachers. Through their efforts, Vipassanā meditation spread from Myanmar to many countries around the world. Today, Vipassanā meditation is practiced widely for mindfulness, mental peace, stress reduction, improvement of awareness and spiritual development. This research dissertation study explains how Myanmar meditation practice became a global movement and continue to benefit modern society.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mechanisms of mindfulness | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |