Henepola Gunaratana

Henepola Gunaratana ( born December 7, 1927 in Henepola, Sri Lanka ) is a Ceylonese, since 1968 living in the USA, a Buddhist monk of the Theravada tradition.

Life

Henepola Gunaratana was ordained at the age of 12 years at a temple in Malandeniya, a village in the Kurunegala district in Ceylon as a Buddhist monk; the age of 20 he received the higher ordination in Kandy. He continued his education at Vidyalankar College and Buddhist Missionary College in Colombo. He spent five years as a missionary in India and then for ten years in Malaysia.

In the U.S., Bhante Gunaratana worked since 1968, first as Secretary since 1980 as president of the Buddhist Vihara Society in Washington, DC. Starting in 1973, he was at the American University, where he received his doctorate in philosophy itself, religious advisor for Buddhism.

He teaches in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. His books are published in Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka and the United States.

Bhante Mahathera Henepola Gunaratana 1985 was co-founder of the Bhavana Society and became the abbot of their meditation center in the Shenandoah Valley in West Virginia, USA orders. In 1996 he received the title of President of the Sangha Nayaka Thera for North America.

Under his guidance was finally founded in 2005, the Sri Henepola Gunaratana Scholarship Trust to support needy children in rural Sri Lanka.

Publications (selection )

  • (1980 ) A Critical Analysis of the Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation. ( Dissertation ) The American University Library, Washington DC (online ) (PDF, 1.4 MB)
  • (1992 ) Mindfulness in Plain English. A meditation handbook. Wisdom Publ, Boston Mass.. (online); German translator's: The practice of mindfulness. An Introduction to Vipassana meditation. Kristkeitz, Heidelberg 1996
  • (2009) Beyond Mindfulness in Plain English. An introductory guide to deeper states of meditation. Wisdom Publ, Boston Mass. ; German translator's: From Mindfulness to the collection. An introduction into the deeper stages of meditation. Kristkeitz, Heidelberg 2010
  • What the Buddha taught. Interview () Add: what is enlightenment magazine ( Issue 2 )
Consulting Mindfulness (psychology) Name Authority File
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