Achan Sobin S. Namto is a Buddhist monk

Bhikkhu

A Bhikkhu or Bhikṣu is an ordained male Buddhist monastic. A female monastic is called a Bhikkhuni Nepali: ). The life of Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis is governed by a set of rules called the patimokkha within the vinaya's framework of monastic discipline...

 who has taught Vipassana

Vipassana

Vipassanā or vipaśyanā in the Buddhist tradition means insight into the true nature of reality. A regular practitioner of Vipassana is known as a Vipassi . Vipassana is one of the world's most ancient techniques of meditation, the inception of which is attributed to Gautama Buddha...

 meditation and Buddhist psychology

Abhidharma

Abhidharma or Abhidhamma are ancient Buddhist texts which contain detailed scholastic and scientific reworkings of doctrinal material appearing in the Buddhist Sutras, according to schematic classifications...

 in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

 and North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 for over 50 years.

Biography

Born in Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 in 1932, Sobin S. Namto became a novice monk in 1949 at Wat Mahathat in Bangkok

Bangkok

Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...

, under Abbot Somdej Phra Budthacharn, and began his study of Vipassana there. He was sent to Rangoon, Myanmar

Myanmar

Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....

, for further study and then taught in Thailand.In 1960-62 he taught in Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang, or Louangphrabang , is a city located in north central Laos, where the Nam Khan river meets the Mekong River about north of Vientiane. It is the capital of Luang Prabang Province...

, Laos

Laos

Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...

. Returning to Thailand, he resumed teaching and founded the Vidhayakorn Institute in SouthernThailand, He was one of the monks selected to establish the first Thai temple in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

,and was appointed its first Abbot. He was also the founder-Abbot of a Vipassana temple in Denver, Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

. After many years of teaching in North America, he returned to teach at the wat in his home village Wangplado, in Borabue

Amphoe Borabue

Borabue is a district in the central part of Maha Sarakham Province, northeastern Thailand.- Geography :Neighboring districts are Kosum Phisai, Mueang Maha Sarakham, Wapi Pathum, Na Chueak and Kut Rang.- History :...

, Maha Sarakham

Maha Sarakham

Maha Sarakham is the capital city of Maha Sarakham Province in Thailand's Northeastern region. Sarakham, as it is known to its inhabitants, is located in a rice-growing area on the southern Korat plain, straddling the Chi River....

province, North-East Thailand. Achan Sobin is the author of three books on vipassana meditation in English, as well as a book on Buddhist ordination.

Works by Achan Sobin S. Namto

"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 http://www.vipassanadhura.com/society.htm, Fawnskin, California, 1985.

"Insight Meditation: Practical Steps to Ultimate Truth"'. Vipassana Dhura Meditation Society http://www.vipassanadhura.com/society.htm, Fawnskin, California, 1989. Reprinted January 2005. ISBN 9478357856.