Introduction to Sayalay Susīlā

Venerable Sayalay Susīlā is the founder and current Abbess of the Appamāda Viharī Meditation Center (AVMC), in Penang, Malaysia, since 2014. Sayalay was born in 1963 in Pahang, Malaysia. Sayalay began developing her keen interest in insight meditation while at the University of Science Malaysia, where she obtained a degree in mass communications in 1987. After graduation, Sayalay worked as a high school teacher for a year and a half. Being increasingly disenchanted with worldly matters and desiring to be dedicated to the practice more than ever, she resigned her post to take up meditation full time for three years continuously. In 1991, Sayalay ordained as a Theravada Buddhist nun in the Burmese tradition at the age of 28, in Malaysian Buddhist Meditation Centre, Penang, Malaysia. Six months after her ordination in 1991, she went to Panditarama Monastery in Myanmar, where she practiced intensively for nearly three years under the guidance of the famous meditation master Venerable U Pandita Sayadaw.

In 1994, wishing to cultivate concentration meditation, Sayalay moved to Pa Auk Forest Monastery in Myanmar. She placed herself under the guidance of the renowned monk Venerable Pa-Auk Tawya Sayadaw, and remained in the forest for 14 years. In addition to an assiduous program of meditation, she also learned the Abhidhamma, ancient discourses, and the Pāli language from Pa-Auk Sayadaw. Meanwhile, she became his English-to-Chinese interpreter in Myanmar and abroad.

From 2000, Sayalay started teaching Abhidhamma extensively in various renowned centers internationally, including those in Malaysia, Australia, Singapore and Taiwan.

In order to deepen her own understanding of the Dhamma, Sayalay also practiced different meditation methods during her stay in Myanmar, including those taught by Shwe Oo Min Sayadaw, Mogok Sayadaw, Sayagyi U Ba Khin and Goenka. As a result of both her breadth of exposure and depth of practice of various meditation methods, Sayalay has become an unusually accomplished teacher—one who is able to present the subtleties of the Buddha’s teachings in a simple and direct way. In particular, she presents the most profound division of the teaching, the Abhidhamma, in a lucid manner grounded not in pedantic philosophy, but in actual meditation experience.

After leaving Myanmar, Sayalay studied and practiced according to the Suttas, putting an emphasis on teaching and practicing the Satipaṭṭhāna, the Discourse on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.

Sayalay has travelled extensively as a meditation and Abhidhamma teacher, presenting the Abhidhamma and Sutta expositions in formal lectures and talks, and has conducted meditation retreats throughout the United States, Canada, Eastern Europe, Russia, Australia, India, China, Indonesia, Singapore and in her home country of Malaysia. In 2015, Sayalay led the first International Novitiate Program with Venerable Sanghasena in Ladakh, the region of the Himalayas of northern India.

Sayalay Susīlā has a unique gift to teach and present Buddha’s teachings with profound depth, vividness, directness, precision, and clarity. Her teaching is very much appreciated by her students globally. As an effectively bilingual speaker in both English and Chinese, Sayalay is uniquely able to expound the Dhamma and teach to a wide global audience. Additionally, Sayalay is also fluent in Burmese, Hokkien, and Malay.

Sayalay is the author of many books published in both English and Chinese. Her most well-known English book is Unravelling the Mysteries of Mind and Body through Abhidhamma (Second Edition)《揭开身心之奥秘》(第二版).

Other books published in English include:

1. The Path to Happiness
2. Contemplation of Feeling
3. Dhamma Essence Series
4. Inner Exploration
5. The Nine Attributes of the Buddha
6. Mindfulness of Breathing
7. Moment-to-Moment Practice
8. Mindfulness, Wise Attention, and Wisdom Training

Her Chinese publications include:

1. From this Shore to Far Shore 《从此岸到彼岸》
2. The Practical Manual of Abhidhamma 《阿毗达摩实用手册-完整版》
3. Turning the Wheel of the Dhamma 《正法初现》
4. The Nine Attributes of the Buddha 《佛陀的九种德行》
5. Contemplation of the Mind《洞见心之真相: 念处经之心念处》
6. The Path to Happiness 《朝向快乐之道》
7. The Essence of Dhamma 《佛法精粹》
8. Lovingkindness Meditation 《慈爱禅》
9. Patthana 《二十四缘发趣论》
10. Mangala Sutta《吉祥人生》
11. The Development of the Faculties (Indriyabhāvanā Sutta)《根修习经: 通向心灵的安宁、寂静与自由》
12. Moment-to-Moment Practice《刹那刹那的修行》
13. Kaccānagotta suttaṃ 世界是实有, 还是虚无《迦旃延氏经》讲记
14. 谁在感受
15. 正念，如理作意与智慧之修行
16. Karaṇīya Mettā Sutta 慈爱满心田《应作慈爱经》

善戒法师简介

善戒法师于2014年创立了位于马来西亚槟城的“正勤乐住禅林”，是现任住持。

法师于1963年生于马来西亚彭亨. 法师在大学时已开始研习观禅， 1987 年毕业于槟城理科大学，大众传播系。毕业后，法师当了一名高中老师，工作了一年半。由于对世俗事务越来越不满意，并希望比以往更加精进修行，法师决定辞去职务，连续三年全心投入于禅修。

1991年，二十八岁的法师在马来西亚槟城佛教禅修中心披剃出家。披剃后六个月，法师便前往缅甸，在著名的班迪达大禅师（U Pandita尊者）指导之下，精进密集修禅约三年。

于1994年，由于法师想学止定禅修法门，法师便依止著名的缅甸帕奥大禅师 （Venerable Pa-Auk Tawya Sayadaw）， 在缅甸森林长达十四年。除了勤奋不懈地学习禅修，法师也学习阿毗达摩，巴利经文，深受法益。与此同时，她成为了帕奥大禅师在缅甸及国外的英语及中文的翻译。

自2000年开始，法师开始在马来西亚，澳州，新加坡，台湾等著名学院 教授『阿毗达摩』。

为了饶益众生，增广见闻, 法师亦参学了缅甸各种禅修法门：水乌民 （Shwe Oo Min Sayadaw），莫哥 （Mogok Sayadaw），乌巴庆 （Sayagyi U Ba Khin），葛印卡（Goenka）。由于法师广泛与有深度地接触各种禅修法门，法师成为非常善巧的老师，能够以简单直接的方式呈现佛陀教义的微妙之处。特别是，法师以清晰的方式呈现了教学中最深刻的部分 ——『阿毗达摩』—— 不是基于哲学理论，而是以实际的禅修经验为基础。

离开缅甸过后，法师自己研究经藏，并依据经典修行，着重于四念处的修行和教导。

法师弘法的足迹已遍布美国，加拿大，东欧， 俄罗斯，澳大利亚，印度， 中国，印尼，新加坡和她的祖国马来西亚。在2015年，法师与僧伽先那法师 （Venerable Sanghasena）合作带领了在印度北部喜马拉雅山脉的拉达克举行的第一届国际短期出家。

法师的佛法开示生动，活泼，精准与独特，深受学生的推崇。难得的是法师精通中英文，能够向大众阐述佛教。此外，法师也精通缅甸语，福建语和马来语。

法师是许多以中英文出版的书籍的作者。法师最著名的英文书籍为 Unravelling the Mysteries of Mind and Body through Abhidhamma (Second Edition) 《揭开身心之奥秘》(第二版).

法师的其他英文出版著作包括：

1. The Path to Happiness
2. Contemplation of Feeling
3. Dhamma Essence Series
4. Inner Exploration
5. The Nine Attributes of the Buddha
6. Mindfulness of Breathing
7. Moment-to-Moment Practice
8. Mindfulness, Wise Attention, and Wisdom Training

法师的中文出版著作包括：

1. From this Shore to Far Shore 《从此岸到彼岸》
2. The Practical Manual of Abhidhamma 《阿毗达摩实用手册-完整版》
3. Turning the Wheel of the Dhamma 《正法初现》
4. The Nine Attributes of the Buddha 《佛陀的九种德行》
5. Contemplation of the Mind《洞见心之真相: 念处经之心念处》
6. The Path to Happiness 《朝向快乐之道》
7. The Essence of Dhamma 《佛法精粹》
8. Lovingkindness Meditation 《慈爱禅》
9. Patthana 《二十四缘发趣论》
10. Mangala Sutta《吉祥人生》
11. The Development of the Faculties (Indriyabhāvanā Sutta)《根修习经: 通向心灵的安宁、寂静与自由》
12. Moment-to-Moment Practice《刹那刹那的修行》
13. Kaccānagotta suttaṃ 世界是实有, 还是虚无《迦旃延氏经》讲记
14. 谁在感受
15. 正念，如理作意与智慧之修行
16. Karaṇīya Mettā Sutta 慈爱满心田《应作慈爱经》

善戒法师简介（浓缩版）