Bhaddanta Vimala Ashin Kovida (; born 14 May 1957), best known as Vasipake Sayadaw (), is a Burmese Buddhist monk,

astrologer Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...

and occult practitioner. He is believed to be the Senior General Min Aung Hlaing's chief astrological adviser. He is famous for his

vow of silence A vow of silence is a vow taken to avoid the use of speech. Although the concept is commonly associated with monasticism, no religious order takes such a vow, and even the most austere monastic orders such as the Carthusians have times in their sc ...

. Vasipake played a major role in the

2021 Myanmar coup d'état A coup d'état in Myanmar began on the morning of 1 February 2021, when Elections in Myanmar, democratically elected members of the country's ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), were deposed by the Tatmadaw, Myanmar's milita ...

Life

His origin is very unclear. Sayadaw is the

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

of Thiladhamma Gonethar Tawya Monastery in Keng Tung. Senior General

Min Aung Hlaing Min Aung Hlaing (born 3 July 1956) is a Burmese army general who has ruled Myanmar as the chairman of the State Administration Council, chairman of the State Administration Council (SAC) since seizing power in the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, Fe ...

has been his follower since 2006, when he was serving as the commander of the Myanmar military's Triangle Region, which oversees eastern Shan State. Some people believed that he is to be Min Aung Hlaing's spiritual cover. He has ties with

Sitagu Sayadaw Ashin Nyanissara (; ) best known as Sitagu Sayadaw (), is a Burmese meditation teacher and prolific Buddhist scholar. He is also the founder of Sitagu International Buddhist Academy. His work as a teacher began in 1977 and encompasses religi ...

. In February 2020, Sayadaw was with Min Aung Hlaing and his wife

Kyu Kyu Hla Kyu Kyu Hla (; ; born 13 April 1954) is the acting First Lady of Myanmar and Spouse of the Prime Minister of Myanmar. She is a retired educator who served as a lecturer at the Myanmar language department of Yangon University. Kyu Kyu Hla is th ...

when they placed the "

Hti ''Hti'' (, ; ; Shan language, Shan: ), a Burmese language word meaning umbrella, is the name of the finial ornament that tops almost all Burmese pagodas. The chatra umbrella or parasol is an auspicious symbol in Buddhism and Hinduism. As re ...

" umbrella on top

Bagan Bagan ( ; ; formerly Pagan) is an ancient city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar. From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Pagan Kingdom, the first kingdom that unified the regions that w ...

's most powerful ancient Htilominlo Temple. The meaning of the

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

name is "need the royal umbrella, need the King". He was following in the footsteps of some of Myanmar's most powerful political figures including his predecessor, Senior General

Than Shwe Than Shwe (; ; born 2 February 1933) is a retired Burmese army general who held influential positions within Myanmar's government. Serving as the chairman of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) from 1992 to 2011, he played a signifi ...

. Many people believed that the ceremony was a

yadaya Yadaya (, ; from Sanskrit ; variously spelt yadayar and yedaya) refers to Superstition, superstitious Magic (supernatural), magical rituals done to delay, neutralize or prevent misfortune, widely practiced in Myanmar (Burma). These rituals, which ...

and seeking divine blessings for his glory. Sayadaw has been accused of providing the coup leader Min with his

astrological Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions of celesti ...

advice for the takeover. He has been accused of advising the senior general to tell security forces to shoot protesters in the head. Most of the anti-regime protesters killed in the early days of the junta crackdown had bullet wounds to the head. Vasipake Sayadaw

He became one of the main targets of the protesters and was singled out for criticism at anti-regime protests, with some protesters attaching photos of him to

htamein A longyi (; ) is a sheet of cloth widely worn in Myanmar (Burma). It is approximately long and wide. The cloth is often sewn into a cylindrical shape. It is worn around the waist, running to the feet, and held in place by folding fabric over wi ...

(women's sarongs) and hanging them in public places to express their wrath. Seeing the pictures of the

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

he venerates attached to htamein, Min Aung Hlaing ordered his troops to take the women's garments down and publicly announced in his state-run newspapers that anyone committing the act would be charged with insulting

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

. On 18 December 2021, together with Min Aung Hlaing, he placed a new diamond orb, the highest part of Kyaik Devi Pagoda built by a Mon King centuries ago. Given the presence of his astrological adviser, Burmese people naturally conclude the aim of the ceremony, in which the general breathed new life into the ancient temple, was seek divine blessings to sustain Min Aung Hlaing's rule in the country.

Books

*''ဂုရုကျွန်းတိုင်နှင့် ကံကောင်းခြင်း'' (December 2009) *''ဆရာသခင်နှင့် ခရီးသွားခြင်း'' (2010) *''ငှက်တေလေအိုနှင့် ဂန္ထဝင်လွမ်းချင်း'' (2010) *''ဂြိုဟ်ပြာပြာ'' (2010) *''ကြံသကာထုပ်လေးများ နောက်ကွယ်မှာ…'' (2011) *''သဲရဲတိုက်'' (2011)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vasipake Sayadaw Living people Theravada Buddhist monks Burmese Theravada Buddhists Burmese Buddhist monks 1957 births