Ashin Nyanisara holds the highest title in Myanmar’s system of monastic honors. He has served as a spiritual adviser to presidents and is one of the most respected Buddhist teachers in Myanmar.
The Venerable Ashin Nyanisara was born on February 23, 1937. He became a novice at a monastery at 15 and received full monastic ordination at 20. In 1958, he earned a master’s degree in Buddhist studies. From 1975 to 1978, he lived in seclusion, practicing meditation at a forest monastery. In 1981, he made his first missionary journey, to six countries in South and Southeast Asia. Since then he has made twelve missionary trips to more than thirty countries around the world, meeting with Buddhists, politicians and religious leaders. He has visited Russia many times; in 2016, he visited the Buddhist communities of Kalmykia and Buryatia.