- Henepola Gunaratana
Infobox Person
name = Bhante Henepola Gunaratana
image_size = 165px
caption =
birth_place = Henepola,Sri Lanka
birth_date = 1927-12-07
occupation = the abbot of Bhavana Society, High View,West Virginia
website = [http://www.bhavanasociety.org/main/teacher/bhante_henepola_gunaratana/ www.bhavanasociety.org/main/teacher/bhante_henepola_gunaratana/]Henepola Gunaratana is a
Sri Lanka nBuddhist monk . He is often affectionately known as Bhante G."Bhante" is a title which literally means something like "reverend sir" in
Pāli . In addition to being a polite form of address in Pāli conversation, it is commonly used as a term of respect forTheravada monks.Early life
Henepola Gunaratana was born
December 7 ,1927 in the small Sri Lankan village of Henepola. He was ordained as a monk at the age of 12, and received his education atVidyasekhara Pirivena , a monk's school atGampaha . He receivedupasampada when he was 20, inKandy .Bhante Gunaratana received his higher education in Sri Lanka at
Vidyalankara College inKelaniya and theBuddhist Missionary College (an affiliate of theMaha Bodhi Society ) inColombo .Missionary work
After his education, he was sent to
India formissionary work as a representative of the Maha Bodhi Society. He primarily served the Untouchables inSanchi ,Delhi , andBombay .He also served as a religious advisor to the
Malaysia nSasana Abhivurdhiwardhana Society ,Buddhist Missionary Society , andBuddhist Youth Federation . Following this he served as an educator forKishon Dial School andTemple Road Girl's School . He was also the principal of theBuddhist Institute of Kuala Lampur .Arrival in the United States
Bhante Gunaratana came to the
United States at the invitation of theSasana Sevaka Society in 1968 in order to serve as the General Secretary of theBuddhist Vihara Society ofWashington, D.C. He was elected president of the society twelve years later. While serving in this office, he has conductedmeditation retreat s and taught courses inBuddhist studies .Since his arrival in the United States, he has expanded his scholarly knowledge by earning a bachelor's, master's, and doctorate in philosophy at
American University . He has also taught graduate level courses on Buddhism at American University,Georgetown University ,Bucknell University , and theUniversity of Maryland, College Park . He also lectures at universities throughout the United States,Europe , andAustralia . He is the author of the considerably influential work "Mindfulness in Plain English ".Bhante Gunaratana is currently the abbot of the
Bhavana Society , amonastery andmeditation retreat center in High View,West Virginia .Published works
*"The Path of Serenity and Insight",
Motilal Banarsidass Publishers (1985), ISBN 0-8364-1149-8.
*"The Jhanas in Theravada Meditation",Buddhist Publications Society (1988), ISBN 955-24-0035-X. Also available on-line: [http://what-buddha-taught.net/books/gunaratana_the_jhanas.htm] [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/gunaratana/wheel351.html]
*"Mindfulness in Plain English",Wisdom Publications (1992), ISBN 0-86171-321-4. Also available on-line: [http://www.saigon.com/~anson/ebud/mfneng/mind0.htm] [http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html] [http://www.vipassana.com/meditation/mindfulness_in_plain_english.php]
*"Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness: Walking the Buddha's Path", Wisdom Publications (2001), ISBN 0-86171-176-9
*"Journey to Mindfulness: The Autobiography of Bhante G.", Wisdom Publications (2003), ISBN 0-86171-347-8External links
* [http://www.bhavanasociety.org/main/teacher/bhante_henepola_gunaratana/ Bhante Henepola Gunaratana]
* [http://www.wisdompubs.org/index.lasso Bhante Gunaratana's books at Wisdom Publications]
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