Achan Sobin S. Namto (Thai: พระอาจารย์โสบิน ส. นามโท) is a Buddhist monk who has taught Vipassana meditation and Buddhist psychology in Southeast Asia and North America for over 50 years.

Achan Sobin S. Namto
Achan Sobin S. Namto in Thailand
TitleAchan
Personal
Born
Sobin Namto

December 11, 1931 (1931-12-11) (age 92)
Ban Wang Pla Do, Borabue, Maha Sarakham, Thailand
ReligionTheravada, Maha Nikaya
Dharma namesSopakobodhi
โสปาโกโพธิ
Senior posting
TeacherMahasi Sayadaw, Chao Khun Bhavanapirama Thera
Based inWat Wang Pla Do
Websitevipassanadhura.com

Biography

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Born in Thailand on December 11, 1931, Sobin S. Namto became a novice monk in 1945 at Wat Mahathat in Bangkok, under Abbot Somdej Phra Budthacharn, and began his study of Vipassanā there. He was sent to Rangoon, Burma (now Yangon, Myanmar), for further study and then taught in Thailand. In 1960-62, he taught in Luang Prabang, Laos. Returning to Thailand, he resumed teaching and founded the Vidhayakorn Institute in Southern Thailand, He was one of the monks selected to establish the first Thai temple in Los Angeles, California, and was appointed its first Abbot. He was also the founder-Abbot of a Vipassana temple in Denver, Colorado. After many years of teaching in North America, he returned to teach at the wat in his home village Wangplado, in Borabue, Maha Sarakham province, North-East Thailand.[1] Achan Sobin is the author of three books on Vipassanā meditation in English, as well as a book on Buddhist ordination.[2]

Works

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Wayfaring: A Manual for Insight Meditation. Buddhist Publication Society. Kandy, Sri Lanka, 1979. Reprinted 1984.

Moment by Moment Mindfulness: A Pictorial Guide for Meditators. Vipassana Dhura Meditation Society [1], Fawnskin, California, 1985.

Insight Meditation: Practical Steps to Ultimate Truth. Vipassana Dhura Meditation Society [2], Fawnskin, California, 1989. Reprinted January 2005. ISBN 978-94-7835-785-4.

References

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  1. ^ Tiyavanich, Kamala (1997). Forest Recollections: Wandering Monks in Twentieth-Century Thailand. University of Hawai'i Press. p. iii. ISBN 0-8248-1781-8.
  2. ^ Thatcher, Cynthia (November 6, 2006). "What's So Great About Now?". Tricycle: The Buddhist Review.