Sayādaw U Thitzana at the age of 24, Sayadaw would earn the title of Dvipiṭakadhāra by passing the Vinaya & Suttanta Piṭaka memorization exams. Today he is not far from mastering the third piṭaka as well. From 1970, he began teaching Pāḷi, Abhidhamma (Buddhist psychology) and scriptures at Ma-Soe-Yein for seven years before moving to Pañcanikāya Sāsana Beikman Monastery in Yangon to head the teaching of monks and novices from 1978 to 1995. At the same time, from 1972, Sayādaw practised intensive meditation at the Mahāsi Meditation Centre under the guidance of the venerable U Sujāta and U Paṅḍiṭābhivaṃsa. He also practised ānāpānasati with the Venerable Sun Lun. Since May 1995, Sayādaw has been based in the United States. He first lived at Dhammasukha Monastery in Los Angeles, a monastery he founded himself. Today, he resides at the Asokārāma Monastery established in 2015 in Charlotte, Michigan, where he is the senior abbot.