Fra Anil Sakya

The Most Venerable Dr. Anil Sakya (Fra Shakyavongsvisuddhi), a Thai citizen, born Nepalese in the Buddha’s clan of ‘Sakya.’ He has greatly contributed to the Buddhist world and Thailand as he has been widely recognized as a Buddhist scholarly monk who not only delivers lectures in world leading universities but also he has always been invited to teach to top Thai government administrators, business world (world business organizations), and to speak at the UN organizations. In Thai media he is regarded as one of the most appeared media Buddhist monks.

He was the unprecedented recipient-monk of the Royal Scholarship from His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand for his Postgraduate studies in the United Kingdom. He graduated from Cambridge University where he was awarded with an M.Phil. and later at Brunel University in the UK with a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology.

He is a reputed speaker at several world organizations. To name a few, he represented Thailand as a panellist at the Second ASEM Interfaith Dialogue in Larnaca, Cyprus (2006). He was an invited panellist at the High Level Meeting on “Happiness and Well Being: Defining a New Economic Paradigm” at the United Nations headquarters in New York (2012). He delivered a speech at Global Conference 2013 at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris where he was awarded with a medal of ‘Legends of Planet’ for his contribution on Greener world. Lately, he is involved as a ‘think tank’ for the United Nations’ agenda on the Sustainable Development Goals and he is also invited as a global speaker for business world under Sustainable Brands all year round. He was invited as the keynote speaker at the UN convention on the International Day of Happiness at the UN headquarters, New York, USA on May 20, 2017.

In recognition to his achievements, His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand awarded him with a special Ecclesiastical title of ‘Fra Shakyavongsvisuddhi’ (2014). Similarly, the Government of Myanmar conferred him with an honorary religious title of ‘Maha Saddhamma Jotikadhaja’ (2008).

Currently, he is residing at the royal monastery of Wat Bovoranives Vihara in Bangkok, Thailand where he holds a position of an Assistant Abbot. He is the Rector of the World Buddhist University under the World Fellowship of Buddhists and former Deputy Rector for Foreign Affairs of the Mahamakut Buddhist University. He is one of the Expert Committee Members of the National Virtue Promotion Committee of Thailand appointed by the Thai Cabinet (appointed on 9 March 2017).

In the academic field, he has been lecturing as a Visiting Professor in many renown universities in USA (Santa Clara University), UK (Oxford University) and Asia (Leading universities of Thailand). He has been delivering keynote speeches on religious, cultural, current issues studies at many leading universities and international conferences around the world. He represents the modern face of Theravada Buddhism, a bridge between the Sangha’s principled authority and the ever-changing realities of lay people’s existence.