Preah Maha Ghosananda
Takéo, Cambodia | |
---|---|
Died | March 12, 2007 Northampton, Massachusetts, United States | (aged 93)
Occupation | Supreme Patriarch of Cambodia (1988–2007) |
Years active | 1934–2007 |
Maha Ghosananda (full title Samdech Preah Maha Ghosananda -
Early life and education
He was born Va Yav in
He was sponsored by
In 1965, Maha Ghosananda left India to study meditation under Ajahn Dhammadaro[note 2], a famous meditation master of the Thai Forest Tradition.[3] He remained with Ajahn Dhammadaro at his forest hermitage in southern Thailand, Wat Chai Na (located near Nakhon Si Thammarat),for eleven years.[5]
Khmer Rouge era
In 1978, Maha Ghosananda traveled to the refugee camps near the Thai-Cambodian border to begin ministering to the first refugees who filtered across the border.[3][5]
Maha Ghosananda's appearance in the refugee camps raised a stir among the refugees who had not seen a monk for years. The Cambodian refugees openly wept as Maha Ghosananda chanted the ancient and familiar sutras that had been the bedrock of traditional Cambodian culture before Year Zero. He distributed photocopied Buddhist scriptures among the refugees, as protection and inspiration for the battered people.
When the Pol Pot regime collapsed in 1979, Maha Ghosananda was one of only 3,000 Cambodian Buddhist monks alive, out of more than 60,000 at the start of the reign of terror in 1976. Throughout 1979 Maha Ghosananda established wats in refugee camps along the Thai-Cambodian border, ordaining monks against the orders of the Thai military.[8] He also founded more than 30 temples for Cambodian refugees living in Canada and the United States.[5]
His entire family, and countless friends and disciples, were massacred by the Khmer Rouge.
Restoration
Maha Ghosananda served as a key figure in post-Communist Cambodia, helping to restore the nation state and to revive Cambodian Buddhism. In 1980, he served as a representative of the Cambodian nation-in-exile to the United Nations.[4][6]
In 1980 Maha Ghosananda and the Reverend
In 1988, Maha Ghosananda was elected as sanghreach (
In 1989, he returned full-time to Cambodia, taking up residence at Wat Sampeou Meas in Phnom Penh.[5]
Dhammayietra
In 1992, during the first year of the United Nations sponsored peace agreement, Maha Ghosananda led the first nationwide Dhammayietra,[6] a peace march or pilgrimage, across Cambodia in an effort to begin restoring the hope and spirit of the Cambodian people.[3]
The 16-day, 125-mile peace walk passed through territory still littered with
The Dhammayietra became an annual walk which Maha Ghosananda led a number of times,
He had been called "the
He died in Northampton, Massachusetts on March 12, 2007.[4]
Awards and recognitions
- 1992 - The Rafto Prize
- 1998 - Niwano Peace Prize
- 1998 - Courage of Conscience Award[14]
Books
- Maha Ghosananda Step By Step
See also
Footnotes
- ^ Biographies sometime state that Maha Ghosananda was born around 1922- this date may have been assigned later when Maha Goshananda applied for school in India. See (Harris 2005, pg. 207).
- ^ Not Ajahn Lee Dhammadaro, who died in 1961
References
- ^ a b "KI Media: Third Year Maha Ghosananda Celebration". 2010-03-07.
- ^ CNN.com Archived 2012-04-06 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d e f Somdech Preah Maha Ghosananda - The Buddha of the Battlefields
- ^ a b c d e f g The Biography of Preah Samdech Maha Ghosananda (1913-2007) Archived 2007-06-26 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ ISBN 9780824832988.
- ^ a b c d Somdet Phra Maha Ghosananda (1929-)
- ^ "Nava Nalanda Mahavihara".
- ISBN 0-8248-2868-2, p. 201.
- ISBN 0-521-55640-6, p. 281.
- ^ S2CID 247890925
- S2CID 247890925
- ISBN 0-7679-0157-6
- ^ Preah Maha Ghosananda, “Gandhi of Cambodia”, The Economist March 22nd 2007
- ^ The Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Recipients List Archived 2009-02-07 at the Wayback Machine
Further reading
- Santidhammo Bhikkhu [Buddha of the Battlefield: Life of Maha Ghosanandahttp://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html]
- Text transcribed from the book “Step by Step”
External links
- Site dedicated to preserving his memory and creating a mausoleum and temple in his honor.
- Cambodia's Nobel Nominee on peace and suffering
- The Serene Life - 20 minute interview with Maha Ghosananda
- Maha Ghosananda's biography in English Language
- Maha Ghosananda's biography in Khmer Language
- Maha Ghosananda's biography in German Language
- Maha Ghosananda's Facebook
- Maha Ghosananda's Dharma Talks
- Interview of Maha Ghosananda by Ram Dass