About Ashin Aggadhamma

The abbot of the Nashville Buddhist Temple was born Maung Myo in 1968 in the small village of Nat Kyi Chaung in Mon State in the south of Myanmar.

Beginning in 1972 a young monk named Nyarissara came to mediate in a forest monastery called Thabaik Aing for four years, deep in the jungle near little Maung Myo's birthplace, sometimes alone, sometimes with companions (for one year one of his companions would be a monk named Acinna, who would one day become a reknowned mediation master, Pa Auk Sayadaw). In any case the monk would walk into the neighboring towns for daily alms. Nyanissara became locally well-known for his inspiring Dhamma talks presented in Maung Myo's village and the surrounding areas, and would later turn out to become Myanmar's foremost Buddhist preacher, known today as Sitagu Sayadaw.

Maung Aung first met Sitagu Sayadaw when he was five years old. His parents were very poor, and when Sitagu Sayadaw left the forest to return to his teacher in Mandalay four years after arriving, they asked the young monk to become a foster parent for little Maung Myo and to facilitate his education and spiritual training. And so it came to be.

Maung Myo ordained as a a bhikkhu and was given the name Aggadhamma in 1988. He passed exams in Myanmar for the Dhammācariya and Viniyavattu certifications in Myanmar. He studied in India for five years and earned his Ph.D. in Pali Philosophy in 2007 at the Varanasi Hindu University. In 2013 he moved the Austin, Texas where he resided at the Sitagu Buddha Vihara. In 2022 he became the abbot of The Buddhist Temple in Nashville, TN.