Ama Samy 1936 – 2026

Biography

Ama Samy, born Arul Maria Arokiasamy, was an Indian Zen master and Jesuit priest who founded the Bodhi Sangha Zen school. Born on May 21, 1936, in Burma to Christian parents and raised in India, he trained under the Japanese Zen teacher Yamada Koun, receiving transmission and authorization to teach in 1982. He founded the Bodhi Sangha community of disciples in 1986 and established two Zen centres near Kodaikanal in South India, Bodhi Zendo, opened in 1996, and Kanzeon Zendo, opened in 2022, where he lived and taught, spending part of each year teaching students in Europe, the United States and Australia. He wrote more than 40 books on Zen. He died on the evening of November 7, 2026, aged 90, and his funeral was held at Bodhi Zendo in Perumalmalai.