Sayadaw

A sayadaw (Burmese: ဆရာတော်, ; lit. royal teacher and alternatively spelt hsayadaw, sayado, sayāḍo or sayāḍaw) is the senior monk or abbot of a monastery. Some distinguished sayadaws would often referred to as a sayadawgyi (ဆရာတော်ကြီး, as a sign of reverence. The terms "sayadaw" and "sayadawgyi" originally corresponded to the senior monks who taught the former Burmese kings. These sayadaws may be influential teachers of the Buddhist Dhamma and also important meditation practitioners. They usually are abbots of monasteries or monastery networks with a large number of resident monks and a lay following. However, sayadaw is used interchangeably with the term "U".