Shwegyin Nikaya

Shwegyin Nikaya
ရွှေကျင်နိကာယ
AbbreviationShwegyin
FormationMid-1800s
TypeBuddhist monastic order
HeadquartersMyanmar
Members
50,692 (2016)
Key people
Shwegyin Sayadaw U Jāgara
In February 2012, one thousand Buddhist monks and followers gathered for the eighteenth annual Shwekyin Nikaya Conference at the compound of Dhammaduta Zetawon Tawya Monastery in Hmawbi Township, Yangon Region.
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Shwegyin Nikāya (Burmese: ရွှေကျင်နိကာယ; MLCTS: Hrwekyang Ni.kaya., IPA: [ʃwèdʑɪ́ɰ̃ nḭkàja̰]; also spelt Shwekyin Nikāya) is the second largest monastic order of monks in Burma.[1] It is one of nine legally sanctioned monastic orders (nikāya) in the country, under the 1990 Law Concerning Sangha Organizations.[2] Shwegyin Nikaya is a more orthodox order than Sudhammā Nikāya, with respect to adherence to the Vinaya,[3] and its leadership is more centralized and hierarchical.[4] The head of the Shwegyin Nikaya is called the Sangha Sammuti (သံဃာသမ္မုတိ), whose authority on doctrine and religious practice is considered absolute (နိကာယဓိပတိ ဥက္ကဋ္ဌ မဟာနာယက ဓမ္မသေနာပတိ).[5]

  1. ^ "Shwegyin Nikaya". Archived from the original on 2008-12-17. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  2. ^ Gutter, Peter (2001). "Law and Religion in Burma" (PDF). Legal Issues on Burma Journal (8). Burma Legal Council: 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 14, 2012.
  3. ^ Aung-Thwin, Michael (2009). "Of Monarchs, Monks, and Men: Religion and the State in Myanmar" (PDF). Working Paper Series No. 127 (18). Asia Research Institute.
  4. ^ Jordt, Ingrid (2007). Burma's mass lay meditation movement. Ohio University Press. p. 50. ISBN 978-0-89680-255-1.
  5. ^ Carbine, Jason A (2011). Sons of the Buddha: Continuities and Ruptures in a Burmese Monastic Tradition. Vol. 50. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-025409-9.