About the Author
Venerable Henepola Gunaratana was ordained at the age of 12 as a Buddhist monk at asmall temple in Malandeniya Village in Kurunegala District in Sri Lanka. His preceptor was Venerable Kiribatkumbure Sonuttara Mahathera. At the age of 20 he was givenhigher ordination in Kandy in 1947. He received his education from VidyalankaraCollege and Buddhist Missionary College in Colombo. Subsequently he traveled to Indiafor five years of missionary work for the Mahabodhi Society, serving the Harijana(Untouchable) people in Sanchi, Delhi, and Bombay. Later he spent ten years as amissionary in Malaysia, serving as religious advisor to the Sasana AbhivurdhiwardhanaSociety, Buddhist Missionary Society and the Buddhist Youth Federation of Malaysia.He has been a teacher in Kishon Dial School and Temple Road Girls' School andPrincipal of the Buddhist Institute of Kuala Lumppur.At the invitation of the Sasana Sevaka Society, Venerable Gunaratana came to the UnitedStates in 1968 to serve as Hon. General Secretary of the Buddhist Vihara Society of Washington, D.C. In 1980 he was appointed President of the Society. During his years atthe Vihara, he has taught courses in Buddhism, conducted meditation retreats, andlectured widely throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and NewZealand.He has also pursued his scholarly interests by earning a B.A., and M.A., and a Ph.D. inPhilosophy from the American University. He taught courses in Buddhism at theAmerican University, Georgetown University and University of Maryland. His books andarticles have been published in Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka and the United States.Since 1973 he has been buddhist chaplin at The American University counseling studentsinterested in Buddhism and Buddhist meditation. He is now president of the BhavanaSociety in West Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley, about 100 miles from Washington,D.C. teaching meditation and conducting meditation retreats.3
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