Kiribathgoda Gnanananda Thero (born: 1 July 1961) is a Sri Lankan monk. who is the Founder of

Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery is an organization of Buddhist monasteries of Sri Lankan origin established to benefit the spiritual development of human beings using the teachings of Gautama Buddha. Its main monastery is in Polgahawela, Sri L ...

and Shraddha Media Network.

Spiritual biography

Gnanananda became a monk at age 17 on 26 March 1979 under Dambagasare Sumedhankara Thero and Dikwelle Pannananda Thero at Seruwavila. He received a traditional Buddhist academic education and entered the

University of Sri Jayewardenepura ''Vijja Uppattam Setta'' , mottoeng = Among all that arise, knowledge is the greatest , established = , undergrad = 14,750 , postgrad = 3560 , administrative_staff = 3950 , cit ...

. He founded Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery in August 1999 in Waduwava,

Polgahawela Polgahawela is a town located in north western Sri Lanka. It is most notable for being a major railway junction. Polgahawela is situated in the North Western Province of Sri Lanka, and is located approximately north-east from the capital city ...

. Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery now has 58 branch monasteries in Sri Lanka and 28 overseas monasteries in

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, the

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, the

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and

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Teachings

He now teaches

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

(Theravada), emphasizing the need to practice it in pure form (i.e. as in the Suttas) and casting off what is not advocated by the Buddha. Thousands of practicing Buddhists are associated with Mahamevnawa. "Maha Sthupa Wandanawa" conducted on 2 February 2008 at

Anuradhapura Anuradhapura ( si, අනුරාධපුරය, translit=Anurādhapuraya; ta, அனுராதபுரம், translit=Aṉurātapuram) is a major city located in north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central ...

with participation of over 100,000 disciples, and " Somawathi Stupa Vandanawa" conducted on 8 May 2010 at Somawathiya temple with participation of over 1,000,000 devotees, bear evidence for the popularity his Damma program has achieved. Gnanananda reintroduced the usage of "Namo Buddhaya" to the Sri Lankan Buddhists as a way of Buddhist greeting. Also, there was a weekly dhamma discussion program telecasted on TNL television named "Namo Buddhaya" in which the Thero participated. He was accused for the death of Gangodawila Soma Thero to take his place in the country.

Publications

Gnanananda thero has written many books based on the teachings of Buddha and also translated many pali written books like Mahavamsa and Nettipakarana. These publications are aimed to emphasize uncontaminated Buddhism that can be understood by anyone who reads it. Some have accused him for the death of famous monk Gangodawila Soma Thero. The thera has also instigated a culture in Sri Lanka (traditionally known as Dhamma Dīpa – Island full of Buddha's Teachings) to teach the Buddha's teaching in the national language of Sinhala (සිංහල), even though the teachings are traditionally taught in the

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Buddh ...

language. Many disciples believe that they are now able to teach the Buddha's teachings with the right understanding.

References

External links

Short Spiritual Biography of Bhikkhu Ñānānanda
(Buddha Vision) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gnanananda, Kiribathgoda Living people Sri Lankan Buddhist monks Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhists Theravada Buddhist spiritual teachers 1961 births Alumni of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery Converts to Buddhism from Roman Catholicism Sinhalese monks

Spiritual biography

Teachings

Publications

See also

References

External links