Open AccessAnagarika Munindra and the Historical Context of the Vipassana Movement
Author(s) -
C. Robert Pryor
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
buddhist studies review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.109
H-Index - 4
eISSN - 1747-9681
pISSN - 0265-2897
DOI - 10.1558/bsrv.2006.23.2.241
Subject(s) - gautama buddha , buddhism , meditation , burmese , context (archaeology) , caste , popularity , movement (music) , history , gender studies , order (exchange) , sociology , ancient history , aesthetics , anthropology , political science , art , philosophy , law , archaeology , linguistics , finance , economics
Anagarika Munindra (1915-2003) played an important role in the movement to teach vipassana meditation, and to spread this method widely in South Asia and the West. His life is examined with respect to its historical context and the spread of the vipassana movement from Burma to India and then to North America, Europe, and Australia. His family background as a Barua caste member, involvement with the Mahabodhi Society and the Buddha Jayanti celebration of 1956 are examined in order to clarify the origins and historical significance of vipassana meditation as it spread in popularity during the second half of the twentieth century. The importance of his role as an essential link between the Burmese vipassana masters with whom he studied and his western students who have now become important meditation teachers is explained in order to shed light on the origins and signifi cance of the vipassana movement in contemporary Buddhism.