FOUNDATIONAL TALKS/THERAVADA/#16 · ENGLISH DHAMMA TALK, PART 1
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TheravadaB — Sri Lanka & Burma Vipassanacirca 1979· ~45 min

English Dhamma Talk, Part 1

Mahāsi Sayadaw

HISTORICALRAREARCHIVE
Where to find this recording

Audio circulates on Buddhist archive sites. Transcripts published by the Buddhist Publication Society. TPS recommends partnering with Mahasi Sasana Yeiktha to issue a clean digitization.

Source: Mahasi Sasana Yeiktha / preserved in monastery archives

The talk

The only known English-language audio recording of Mahāsi Sayadaw — the Burmese master whose noting-method became the most-taught Vipassana technique on earth, the basis of every IMS, Spirit Rock, and Goenka-adjacent center. Mahāsi rarely taught in English; this single recording, preserved in monastery archives in Yangon, captures him explaining the noting practice in his own voice. It is the rarest single document in modern Burmese Theravada, full stop.

Why this is foundational

Mahāsi's only known English recording — irreplaceable historical evidence from the architect of modern Insight meditation.

Reflections

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