Kotahene Soma Maha Thera (December 23, 1898 - February 23, 1960), born as Victor Emmanuel Perera Pulle in Kotahena, Colombo,
The Path Of Freedom (Vimuttimagga) of Arahant Upatissa
' Translated from the Chinese by Rev. N. R. M. Ehara, Soma Thera, Kheminda Thera. Buddhist Publication Society. Kandy, Ceylon, page IX was a Theravada Buddhist monk, translator and missionary.

Childhood

Soma Thera was raised as a Sinhalese Catholic and received his education at the Catholic St. Benedict's College in Kotahena, but became a Buddhist in his teenage years after reading the Dhammapada.

Ordination and Travels

In 1934, he went to Japan with his friend G.S. Prelis (later ordained as Kheminda Thera) and translated the Chinese version of the

Vimuttimagga __NOTOC__ The ''Vimuttimagga'' ("Path of Freedom") is a Buddhist practice manual, traditionally attributed to the Arahant Upatissa (c. 1st or 2nd century). It was translated into Chinese in the sixth century as the ''Jietuo dao lun'' 解脫道論 ...

into English, which was published as ''The Path of Freedom''. In 1936, both Victor Perera and Prelis went to Burma and received the higher ordination as Theravada

Buddhist monks A ''bhikkhu'' (Pali: भिक्खु, Sanskrit: भिक्षु, ''bhikṣu'') is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male and female monastics ("nun", ''bhikkhunī'', Sanskrit ''bhikṣuṇī'') are members of the Sangha (Buddhist c ...

on November 6, 1936Buddha Sasana Nuggaha Organization (Burma). Satipaṭṭhāna Vipassanā Meditation : Criticisms and Replies. Rangoon: Buddha Sasana Nuggaha Organization, 1979, p. 5 in Moulmein under the meditation teacher Jetavana Sayadaw. During World War II, Soma Thera stayed at the

Island Hermitage Island Hermitage on (Polgasduwa) Dodanduwa Island, Galle District, Sri Lanka is a famous Buddhist forest monastery founded by Ven Nyanatiloka Mahathera in 1911. It’s a secluded place for Buddhist monks to study and meditate in the Buddhism, B ...

with Kheminda Thera and

Nyanaponika Thera Nyanaponika Thera or Nyanaponika Mahathera (July 21, 1901 – 19 October 1994) was a German-born Theravada Buddhist monk and scholar who, after ordaining in Sri Lanka, later became the co-founder of the Buddhist Publication Society and autho ...

Missionary Activities and Publications

Despite suffering from asthma, Soma Thera participated in a mission trip to India in 1940 as a member of the Buddhist Mission of Goodwill. Soma Thera also took part in another mission trip to Germany in 1957, which was sponsored by the

German Dharmaduta Society The German Dharmaduta Society is an organization established to promote Buddhism in Germany and other Western Countries, and was founded by Asoka Weeraratna, in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 21 September 1952. History The idea of forming a Society to p ...

, during the period when the society acquired ''

Das Buddhistische Haus Das Buddhistische Haus (English: Berlin Buddhist Vihara, literally ''the Buddhist house'') is a Theravada Buddhist temple complex ( Vihara) in Frohnau, Berlin, Germany. It is considered to be the oldest and largest Theravada Buddhist center in Eu ...

'' (''The Buddhist House'') in Berlin, founded by Dr. Paul Dahlke.The Wheel Publication No. 44, page 12
Short biography in one of Soma Thera's publicationsDescription of the mission travel to Germany
(in German),accessed 2014-08-14 Soma Thera authored many books which was related to Buddhism and was an author of the

Buddhist Publication Society The Buddhist Publication Society (BPS) is a publishing house with charitable status whose objective is to disseminate the teaching of Gautama Buddha. It was founded in Kandy, Sri Lanka in 1958 by two Sri Lankan lay Buddhists, A.S. Karunaratna and ...

, writing several booklets for the ''Bodhi Leaves'' and ''The Wheel'' series.Soma Thera's Publications for Buddhist Publication Society
accessed 2014-08-04 Soma Thera died in 1960 due to pulmonary thrombosis.

Works

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References

Buddhist translators Translators from Pali Theravada Buddhism writers Theravada Buddhist monks 1898 births 1960 deaths 20th-century translators Chinese–English translators 20th-century Buddhist monks {{Buddhism-bio-stub