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Venerable
Henepola Gunaratana was ordained at the age of 12 as
a Buddhist monk at a small temple in Malandeniya Village
in Kurunegala District in Sri Lanka. His preceptor was
Venerable Kiribatkumbure Sonuttara Mahathera. At the
age of 20 he was given higher ordination in Kandy in
1947. He received his education from Vidyalankara College
and Buddhist Missionary College in Colombo. Subsequently
he traveled to India for 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 a missionary in Malaysia, serving as religious
advisor to the Sasana Abhivurdhiwardhana Society, Buddhist
Missionary Society and the Buddhist Youth Federation
of Malaysia. He has been a teacher in Kishon Dial School
and Temple Road Girls' School and Principal of the Buddhist
Institute of Kuala Lumppur.
At
the invitation of the Sasana Sevaka Society, Venerable
Gunaratana came to the United States 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 at the Vihara, he has
taught courses in Buddhism, conducted meditation retreats,
and lectured widely throughout the United States, Canada,
Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
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