by Hla Min
Updated : July 2025
Libraries
Many monasteries have libraries with texts in Pali, Burmese/Myanmar & English. Some have indexed the library collection.
It is difficult if not impossible to read all the books in a library.
Libraries in Monasteries (Northern California)
- Dhammananda Vihara Half Moon Bay
- Kuthalakari, Fremont
- Mettananda Vihara, Oakland (formerly at Fremont & Castro Valley)
- Mudita Shwe Kyaung, Hayward
- Tathagata Meditation Center, San Jose
Training and Teaching Centers
Mingalar Byu Har (မင်္ဂလာဗျူဟာ), Dhamma Byu Har (ဓမ္မဗျူဟာ), Dhammacakka Society (ဓမ္မစကြာအသင်းအဖွဲ့ ), Pathan Sar Thin Taik (ပဌာန်းစာသင်တိုက်) and the various training and teaching centers have helped sustain, promote, and propagate Sasana.
Theravada Canon
Theravada means “Way of the Elders”.
At the First Buddhist Council and at the subsequent Councils, the sacred texts are reaffirmed. The Teachings are not added, deleted, or modified.
Burma hosted the Fifth & Sixth Buddhist Councils.
Sayadaw U Silanandabhivamsa initiated two projects: one to digitize the marble slabs inscribed during the Fifth Buddhist Council in Mandalay, and the other to compile a CD of the Tipitaka texts that were re-affirmed at the Sixth Buddhist Council in Rangoon/Yangon.
The Pali-Myanmar Tipitaka Dictionary was compiled under the guidance of the Sayadawgyis (e.g. Mahasi Sayadaw) and the [then young] Sayadaws (e.g. U Silananda). Myanmar translations of the Tipitaka texts were published by the Department of Religious Affairs.
Mahagandaryone Sayadaw U Janakabivamsa
He wrote texts for both the sanghas and the lay people. They include
- Ba Tha Thway ဘာသာသွေး
- Yadana Gone Yi ရတနာ့ဂုဏ်ရည်
- A Na Gut Thar Tha Yay အနာဂတ်သာသနာရေး (Future of the Dispensation)
- Ko Kyint Abhidhamma ကိုယ်ကျင့်အဘိဓမ္မာ (Abhidhamma in Daily Life)
- Shin pone shin kyint wut ရှင်ပုံ ရှင်ကျင့်ဝတ် (rules for the samanera/novices)
- The Illustrated History of Buddhism (with drawings by Sayagyi U Ba Kyi)
Dhamma Recording
Tape Recorders
In the 50’s and 60’s, the Burma Broadcasting Service (BBS) used mostly Ampex tape recorders for high fidelity.
The general public used less expensive brands such as Akai, Grudig and Sony for recording.
Sixth Buddhist Council
During the Sixth Buddhist Council (1954 – 1956), BBS broadcast the sessions where Mahasi Sayadaw served as the Questioner and Mingun Tipitaka Sayadaw served as the Reciter/Expositor.
The archives are being offered as dhamma dana in Audio CD and MP3 formats.
Kudos to those who are trying to preserve, practice, and propagate the Sasana (Teachings of the Buddha).
Teachings of Sayadaws
Individuals and organizations have provided access to their dhamma archives.
Sun Lun Sayadaw
Recordings (dhamma talks, kammavaca, …) of Myingyan Sun Lun Gu Kyaung Sayadaw U Kavi were made by his disciples. They can be downloaded from the Sun Lun web site.
Mogok Sayadaw
U Sway Tin and his team recorded 500+ talks of the Mogok Sayadaw U Vimala. They also transcribed the tapes for distribution as books. The advances in technology make possible the redistribution of the archives as Audio CDs, MP3s, and e-Books.
Dhammananda Sayadaw
Recordings of Sayadaw U Silananda (Abdhidhamma, “Words of the Buddha”, …, dhamma talks given at the meditation retreats) were made by his disciples at Dhammacakka Center, Theravada Buddhist Society of America (TBSA), Tathagatha Meditation Center (TMC), and Zen Buddhist Temple. Some works are available as Audio CDs, MP3s and books. I was honored to edit the dhamma talks (transcribed by Sayadaw U Osadha) before presenting them to SayadawU S ilananda for final review and editing. The book was published in 2003 by the Malaysian yogis organized by Pauline Chiong.
TMC Publications
Tathagata Meditation Center
- TMC was founded by the Vietnamese disciples of Sayadaw U Silananda.
- TMC is located at 1215 Lucretia Avenue, San Jose, CA 95122
- It’s web site is
http://www.tathagata.org/
- Conducts about six long-term meditation retreats per year.
- Offers two week-end retreats for months when there are no long-term retreats.
- Holds summer classes : one for children and the other for young adults.
- Published several books for Dhamma Dana distribution.
They include teachings by Mahasi Sayadaw, U Pandita, U Silananda, and books to study Pali.
Pali
- For the past few years, U Dhammika-bhivamsa (Tharmanay Kyaw) taught Pali courses using selected Suttas to interested yogis to have an appreciation of Buddha’s teachings without delving into the details of Pali grammar.
- The course materials were prepared by Som Tu (Director of TMC, Retired executive in Technology) under the guidance of Thamanay Kyaw Sayadaw.
Reference Books
- I used to volunteer as Translator/Interpreter for Meditation Retreats at Tathagata Meditation Center (TMC).
- Beelin Sayadaw U Pannadipa (then Resident Sayadaw at TMC, currently Padana Nayaka Sayadaw at Panditarama Shwe Taung Gone in Yangon) gave me the book “A Pali Myanmar-English Dictionary of the Noble Words of the Lord Buddha”.
- The book was compiled by U Myat Kyaw (Myanmar Sar Ah Phwe) and translated into English by U San Lwin.
- TMC gave me the book “Buddhist Dictionary” by Ven. Nyantiloka.
- It is subtitled “Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines”.
- The first edition was published in 1946.
- The third revised & enlarged edition was edited by Ven. Nyanaponika in 1970.
- U Hla Myint, who had passed Dhammacariya & several monastic exams as a monk, gave me a PDF version of his manuscript “An Introduction to Pali” for study and review.
- The book is available as Dhamma Dana distribution from TMC.
- He studied Pali under the guidance of Mahagandayone Sayadaw U Jananabhivamsa (one of the greatest Pali scholars in the 20th century) and with the outstanding teachers U Vijaya-lankara and U Dhamika-bhivamsa (with pen name “Thamanay Kyaw”).
- He studied English under the guidance of Sayadaw U Pandita-bhivamsa and with the eminent teachers such as U Aung Myat Thut, U Aye Maung and U Hla Maung.
- He has written, translated and edited several books for TMC.
Triple Gem Publications
Founder Members
- Harry Than Htut (Canada)
- U Htay Aung (Victor, Australia)
- Dr. Maung Maung Lwin (UK)
- U Tin Htoon (USA)
- Daw Tin Tin Myint (Emma, Singapore)
Sample Publications
- Emptying the Rose-Apple Seat
A day-to-day guide to Buddhist meditation methods as taught by a renowned meditation master
by Aggamahapandita Bhaddhanta Dr. Rewata Dhamma
Foreword by Joseph Goldstein - The Buddha’s Prescription
A selection of talks and essays by Dr. Rewata Dhamma
Inward Path Publisher
Background
- IPP is in Penang, Malaysia.
- Aims at disseminating the noble teachings of Wisdom and Compassion of the Buddha to a wide segment of readers through the printing of Dhamma books and booklets.
Dhamma Dana
Inward Journey Books (free Dhamma books) include the following :
- One Truth Only
A Compilation of Passages from Mahasi Sayadaw’s discourses - The Way to the Happiness of Peace
Understanding the Basics of Insight Meditation
By Sayadaw U Pandita - Paritta Pali and Protective Verses
A Collection of Eleven Protective Verses & An English Translation
By Sayadaw U Silananda - Volition
An Introduction to the Law of Kamma
By Sayadaw U Silananda
- No Inner Core
An Introduction to the Doctrine of Anatta
By Sayadaw U Silananda - Idriya
The Nine Causes which Sharpen the Controlling Faculty of a Vipassana Meditating Yogi
By Sayadaw U Kundala - Vipassana Bhavana
Basic Principles of Mindfulness Meditation
By Sayadaw U Kundala - Time and Priceless Treasures of Thabyekan Sayadaw
Compiled by Tharmanay Kyaw
Triple Gems Publications, in collaboration with Suki Hoti Publications, have made available dhamma dana books. See the relevant postings.
Theravada Web Sites
Thanks to the websites (such as those listed below), the Teachings of the Buddha and His disciples can easily be studied, practiced, and propagated.
- dhammadownload.com (Ko Kyaw Lwin and team)
- nibanna.com (Dr. Maung Maung Lwin and team)
- several other Theravada web sites
HlaMin 