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"In 1969, Ruth was the only woman among the four Westerners who received permission to teach from U Ba Khin."
Ruth Denison (1922–2015) founded Dhamma Dena Meditation Center and sustained it for over four decades through the flowing generosity and support of her students. In her life and in her teaching, many of us witnessed extraordinary compassion, energy, and metta. She shared the Buddha’s teachings freely with those who came to her, day or night. For many of her students, her presence conveyed a living connection to the lineage of her teachers.
We feel deep gratitude to Ruth and to the teachers who shaped her path: Sayagyi U Ba Khin (1899–1971), Saya Thetgyi (1873–1945), Webu Sayadaw (1896–1977), and Ledi Sayadaw (1846–1923).
Many students understood Ruth not only as an extraordinary teacher in her own right, but also as someone shaped by a larger Vipassana lineage. That lineage is commonly traced through Ledi Sayadaw, Saya Thetgyi, and Sayagyi U Ba Khin.
Ruth was marked by a remarkable steadiness of awareness, profound kindness, and a mindfulness grounded in continuous attention to anicca.
Ledi Sayadaw portrait {{PD-US}}
This lineage account begins with the Burmese monk Ledi Sayadaw. He was a learned Abhidhamma scholar who emphasized that awakening did not depend on jhanas or scholarship alone. A farmer named Saya Thetgyi, who came to him with little scholarship training, little meditation experience, but strong determination to understand the Buddha’s deepest teachings on the "deathless" was given certain teachings and was told to go practice them. According to Lineage accounts,Several years later he came back to be tested. It is said that after looking deeply into the clarity of Thetghi’s mind, Ledi Sayadaw offered him his Dharma Staff. Having recognized Thetgyi’s depth of practice Sayadaw entrusted him with teaching his own Monks.
Saya Thetgyi is remembered for emphasizing direct observation of anicca through awareness of bodily sensations. After leaving the Ledi Sayadaw’s monastery, according to accounts given, he was invited to come back whenever he had questions. He then returned to his farm beginning in 1914, and later taught from a bomb shelter near the Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon until his death in 1945.
In 1937, at the age of 38, U Ba Khin began studying and practicing with Saya Thetgyi in that bomb shelter. At the time, he held an important government accounting position. Meditation, especially anapana and sweeping through the body, became central to his life. He completed several ten-day courses with Saya Thetgyi and practiced with him whenever he could.
According to lineage accounts, another important encounter took place in 1941 while U Ba Khin was traveling on government business near the Myittha railway station. After finding himself with unexpected time alone, he started practicing anapana and then, during a pause in his practice, he noticed a small hill with a structure on top in the distance. According to accounts, he was told it was a monastery where a secluded recluse, an Arahant, known as Webu Sayadaw, lived and rarely saw visitors.
In 1937, at the age of 38, U Ba Khin began studying and practicing with Saya Thetgyi in that bomb shelter. At the time, he held an important government accounting position. Meditation, especially anapana and sweeping through the body, became central to his life. He completed several ten-day courses with Saya Thetgyi and practiced with him whenever he could.
According to lineage accounts, another important encounter took place in 1941 while U Ba Khin was traveling on government business near the Myittha railway station. After finding himself with unexpected time alone, he started practicing anapana and then, during a pause in his practice, he noticed a small hill with a structure on top in the distance. According to accounts, he was told it was a monastery where a secluded recluse, an Arahant, known as Webu Sayadaw, lived and rarely saw visitors. Feeling compelled to pay his respects, he went there and was told by several nuns to wait outside until the next day, when Webu Sayadaw might appear for food. U Ba Khin sat down and began practicing metta. In these lineage accounts, Webu Sayadaw soon emerged and asked to see him. He then looked deeply into Sayaghi’s mind.This meeting is remembered as an important turning point in U Ba Khin’s life. Webu Sayadaw gave U Ba Khin permission to teach and encouraged to begin teaching immediately.
Sayagyi U Ba Khin, a respected lay teacher, was born in March 1899 to a family of modest means. He later became Accountant General in 1948 and also served in several major government roles. He was widely known as a lay meditation teacher of unusual discipline and energy. When people asked where he found his energy, he is remembered as replying, “Because I practice Buddhist meditation I can handle many important tasks. If you want to be healthy, happy and energetic like me, why don’t you take a meditation course?”
In 1952, U Ba Khin founded the International Meditation Centre in Rangoon. Because he spoke English fluently and worked closely with Western seekers, he became one of the key figures in transmitting these teachings to a small number of English-speaking students, including Ruth Denison.
“I came to know Ruth as her student, friend, and traveling companion for more than 40 years. I listened carefully, observed her closely, and practiced her teachings as best I could.”
-Student Nick Herzmark
In 1969, Ruth was the only woman among the four Westerners who received permission to teach from U Ba Khin.
Although Ruth studied with several well-known Zen masters, including Yamada Roshi, Soen Roshi, and Yasutani Roshi, Sayagyi U Ba Khin remained her principal Theravada teacher. She visited him several times at his center in Rangoon. As recounted by Ruth, he would usually place her in isolation for several days to practice anapana. Afterwards, they would meet and continue working with teachings centered on emptiness, anicca, and continuous awareness of bodily sensation. After years of training, while travelling in Europe, she received his letter telling her that it was time for her to teach.
Sayagyi U Ba Khin died in 1971 after a sudden illness. One of his well-known statements is: “Dhamma eradicates suffering and gives happiness.” Ruth continued to carry forward these teachings, centered on anapana and sweeping through the body, in her own distinctive style until her death on February 26, 2015. To this day, many of her students continue to carry her lineage, to teach and practice in ways shaped by her influence and training at Dhamma Dena Meditation Center and many other centers.
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