Ajahn Maha Bua
Thai Buddhist monk (1913–2011)
Ajahn Maha Bua (12 August 1913 – 30 January 2011) was a Thai Buddhist monk. He was thought by many of his followers to be an arahant (someone who has attained full enlightenment). He was a disciple of the esteemed forest master Ajahn Mun Bhuridatta, and was himself considered a master in the Thai Forest Tradition. Following the death of Ajahn Thate in 1994, he was considered to be the Ajahn Yai (or head monk) of the Thai Forest Tradition lineage until his death in 2011.
Name
Ajahn Maha Bua (Thai: อาจารย์มหาบัว) was also commonly known as Luang Ta Maha Bua (Thai: หลวงตามหาบัว). His birth name was Bua Lohitdi (Thai: บัว โลหิตดี), his Dhamma name (in the Pali language) was Ñāṇasampanno (Thai: ญาณสมฺปนฺโน; RTGS: Yanasampanno), and his monastic title was Phra Dhammavisuddhimaṅgala (Thai: พระธรรมวิสุทธิมงคล; RTGS: Phra Thammawisutthimongkhon).
Biography
Early years
Bua was born in Baan Taad village in the northeastern province of Udon Thani. He was one of 16 children of a rich family of rice farmers. When he was 21, his parents asked him to enter the monkhood for a season, a Thai tradition to show gratitude towards one's parents. He entered Yothanimit monastery and was ordained on 12 May 1934, with Venerable Chao Khun Dhammachedi as his preceptor.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q352857. The first chronological checks are 1913, 2011, 1994 and 1934.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ajahn Maha Bua” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.