Anagarika Shri Munindra (1915 – October 14, 2003), also called Munindraji by his disciples, was an Indian Vipassanā meditation teacher, who taught many notable meditation teachers including Dipa Ma, Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, and Surya Das. Anagarika simply means a practicing Buddhist who leads a nomadic life without attachment in order to focus on the

Dhamma Dharma (; , ) is a key concept in various Indian religions. The term ''dharma'' does not have a single, clear translation and conveys a multifaceted idea. Etymologically, it comes from the Sanskrit ''dhr-'', meaning ''to hold'' or ''to support' ...

Early life

Anagarika was born in

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(what is now

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

) and descended from Buddhists of India forced east by the eleventh century Muslim invasion.

Buddhist life

He was an active member of the Maha Bodhi Society 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 The Mahabodhi Temple (literally: "Great Awakening Temple") or the Mahābodhi Mahāvihāra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is an ancient, but restored Buddhist temple in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India, marking the location where the Buddha is said to hav ...

Bodh Gaya Bodh Gayā is a religious site and place of pilgrimage associated with the Mahabodhi Temple complex, situated in the Gaya district in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Bihar. It is famous for being the place where Gautam ...

from 1953 to 1957, the first Buddhist to hold this position in modern times. From 1957 to 1966 he lived in

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

, where he was a close disciple of Mahasi Sayadaw, who authorized him to teach vipassana meditation. While in Burma he also studied the

Pāli Canon The Pāḷi Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhism, Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant Early Buddhist texts, early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from t ...

thoroughly, before returning to India, where he taught vipassana for many years in

. He was known to be very open-minded and relaxed in the way he taught. He would encourage his students to study with other teachers, and investigate other traditions.

In the tradition of Ledi Sayadaw

During his stay in Burma he came in close contact with S. N. Goenka and had dhamma discussions with him. Subsequently, he wished to learn Vipassana from

Sayagyi U Ba Khin Sayagyi U Ba Khin (, ; 6 March 1899 – 19 January 1971) was the first Accountant General of the Union of Burma. He was the founder of the International Meditation Centre in Yangon, Myanmar and is principally known as a leading twentieth cent ...

but since he had already learnt Vipassana from a monk, Sayagyi expressed his inability to teach him Vipassana in the tradition of Ledi Sayadaw. 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

after the course.

Final years

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.

References

; Citations ; Bibliography * * * *

External links

* *
Thoughts about Munindra from a book edited by Sharon SalzbergRecording of talk given at Golden Gate Park, San Francisco in 1977S. N. Goenka reminisces his friend Munindra
{{DEFAULTSORT:Munindra, Anagarika 1914 births 2003 deaths Indian Theravada Buddhists Buddhist spiritual teachers Converts to Buddhism from Islam People from Chittagong Bengali people Students of S. N. Goenka Students of Mahasi Sayadaw Anagārikas 20th-century Indian Buddhists 21st-century Indian Buddhists