Nyanasami Leingara

Leingara is a postgraduate researcher in Religion and Philosophy at SOAS University of London, specializing in manuscript and textual studies across Pāli, Tai/Shan, Lanna, and Burmese traditions. His research focuses on pāramī literature, examining its development in Pāli canonical and commentarial sources, its transmission in Tai–Shan and Lanna manuscript cultures, and its reinterpretation in contemporary devotional practice. 

He employs an interdisciplinary approach, combining philology, codicology, intellectual history, and the study of lived religion. Prior to his doctoral studies, Leingara gained extensive professional experience in Buddhist higher education and monastic institutions in Myanmar. He served as Executive Secretary of the Shan State Sangha Council Education Committee (2016–2021), coordinating curriculum development, academic planning, and textbook production. He also contributed to institutional governance as a member of the Chief Administrative Committee at Shan State Buddhist University (Taunggyi, Shan State, Myanmar) where he participated in strategic planning and coordinated the academic programme development across multiple disciplines.  

Leingara has been actively involved in the preservation and promotion of manuscript culture. He has organised national and international academic conferences, including the Annual International Academic Conference at Shan State Buddhist University and the Annual National Conference on Tai/Shan Lik Loung Manuscripts, and coordinated training workshops on cataloguing Tai/Shan manuscripts to support documentation and study of regional textual heritage. His research training at SOAS has further strengthened his expertise in manuscript studies, textual analysis, and ethical research methodologies. 

In addition to research and administration, Leingara has extensive teaching experience in Pāli language and textual studies. He served as a lecturer at Shan State Buddhist University (2019–2021) and contributed to monastic education programmes under the Shan State Sangha Council from 2013 to 2022, engaging in curriculum development, teacher training, and preparation of Pāli-language teaching materials. He is the founder of the Pāḷinikāya Monastic Education Centre in Taunggyi and previously served as founder and educational advisor to the Loikurn Charitable Monastic School in Shan State, contributing to the development of monastic education and access to learning in local communities.     

Since 2022, he has served as Assistant to the Abbot of the Oxford Buddha Vihara for the Oxford Buddha Vihara Trust and as a Meditation Guide at Oxford Buddha Vihāra, UK. In this role, he regularly visits local schools in Oxford to share basic Buddhist teachings, meditation, and traditions by invitation and offers Dhamma talks and meditation guidance for Burmese and Shan communities in both Myanmar and the UK.  Leingara’s current research continues to explore the dynamic interplay between textual traditions, manuscript culture, ritual practice, and contemporary educational and devotional contexts within Theravāda Budd. 

• Manuscript and textual studies, focusing on Pāli, Tai/Shan, Lanna, and Burmese traditions
• Pāli literature, with particular emphasis on commentarial and devotional para-canonical texts
• Monastic education and pedagogical practices
• Buddhist philosophy, traditions and meditation practices