Dhamma Sermon

Dhamma Sermon

BY

Uncle Vijaya Samarawickrama

Speaker’s Profile

Mr. Vijaya Samarawickrama graduated as a Specialist in the Teaching of English as a Second Language from the Malayan Teachers’ Training College in Liverpool, England . He later obtained a B.A.(Hons) in English and Linguistics from the University of Malaya and an M.A. (Drama and Theater) from the University of Hawaii in the U.S.

He has had a long career in teaching and imparting knowledge in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions including the University of Malaya, University Sains Malaysia and the University Technology MARA. Although retired, his passion for teaching has seen him returning to teach World Religions and Theater in the American Degree Program of the Taylor’s College.

Fondly known as Uncle Vijaya in the Buddhist circle, he travels widely to give talks and participate in seminars in schools, colleges and universities as well as Buddhist organizations in Malaysia averaging about 120 talks per year. He has also delivered papers at International Buddhist conferences in Japan, Sri Lanka, Singapore, India, Cambodia and Thailand as well as locally. He is active in promoting Interfaith Understanding among the Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists.

He assisted the Most Ven K Sri Dhammananda, Chief Prelate of Malaysia and Singapore with his numerous publications. To date, he has authored 12 books under the popular series “A Buddhist Reflects on Death” which are published for free by the Buddhist Maha Vihara with more than 70,000 copies distributed. He has contributed articles to many magazines including the Catholic News and Eastern Horizon, which are international magazines published locally. He has also contributed a section on Buddhism to the Encyclopedia of Malaysia, published in 2005.

Mr. Vijaya Samarawickrama is a patron of the Sasana Abhiwurdhi Wardhana Society, a 111 year old Buddhist society that manages the Buddhist Maha Vihara and all its Dhammadutta activities.

Schedule

14 Aug (Sat) 9:30 – 11:00 am
Topic : 2012 Doomsday:The Buddhist Perspective

Venue

Lecture Hall
Mahindarama Buddhist Temple
2, Kampar Road
10460 Penang

Dhamma Sermon

Dhamma Sermon

BY

Bhante Aggrahere Kassapa Thero

Speaker’s Profile

Bhante Aggrahere Kassapa Thero is from Siri Sudarashanaramaya, Malapalla, Pannipitiya, Sri Lanka.

Bhante Aggrahera Kassapa Thero who holds MA, BA degrees as well as a Diploma in Education and School Management is the principal advisor and director of St. Anthony’s Sinhala Vidyala.

St. Anthony’s Sinhala Vidiyala was founded in 1947 as a missionary school with 28 students but it was later upgraded to become a government assisted institution in 1952. The building is located in Mahawatta, Mutuwal, which is one of the poorest and most densely populated areas in Colombo. Currently it has an enrolment of 786 children (422 boys and 364 girls) from Grade 1 to Grade 13 with 29 teachers. The school caters for all races and all religions (Buddhist, Hindu, Islam and Christians).

Children who come from very poor families in this area look upon this school not only for education, but also for spiritual and moral guidance.

Bhante is also the Divisional Director of Education (Colombo North), Advisor to the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, Chairman of Sahanaya Foundation, and Chief Incumbent of Sri Sudarashanaramaya, Malapalla, Pannipitiya, Sri Lanka.

Schedule

13 Aug (Fri) 8:00 – 9:30 pm
Topic : Dana

Venue

A. Pemaratana Hall, Wisma Mahinda
Mahindarama Buddhist Temple
2, Kampar Road
10460 Penang

Dhamma Sermons

Bhante Soorakkulame Pemaratana Thero

Speaker’s Profile
Venerable Soorakkulame Pemaratana was ordained at the age of 10 in 1986 and grew up learning the traditional Buddhist Teachings & education. He was trained under the tutelage of the most Ven. Attangane Sasanaratana Maha Thero at Sripathi Pirivena, Diyakalamulla, Kuliyapitiya, Sri Lanka.

At the age of 21 years in 1997, Bhante received his higher ordination to become a full fledge member of the Sangha. Bhante holds a first class honors, bachelor’s degree in Buddhist Studies from University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. From there, Bhante decided to further his education by obtaining a master's degree in Philosophy from the National University of Singapore.

He has lectured at the University of Peradeniya , Sri Lanka and Buddhist & Pali College of Singapore. He is currently the resident teacher & acting chief abbot of Pittsburgh Buddhist Center in Western Pennsylvania, USA.
 
Schedule
14 June (Mon) 8:00 – 9:30 pm
Noble Eightfold Path Part 1

15 June (Tue) 8:00 – 9:30 pm
Noble Eightfold Path Part 2

16 June (Wed) 8:00 – 9:30 pm
Noble Eightfold Path Part 3

Venue
Lecture Hall
Mahindarama Buddhist Temple
2, Kampar Road
10460 Penang

Dhamma Sermons

Dhamma Sermons

 by

Bhante Dhammavuddho

Speaker’s Profile

Bhante Dhammavuddho Thero is a Malaysian of Chinese descent. He worked as an electrical engineer with the Public Works Department for twelve years before going forth into the homeless life. His interest in religion led him to study the world’s major religions for a few years before meeting the Buddha’s teachings in 1976.

In 1983, he went forth into the homeless life in the Mahayana tradition. He was re-ordained in the Theravada tradition in Thailand three years later. After that he spent about ten years living the solitary lifestyle in quiet places. He has written numerous booklets and articles on Buddhism, eg “Return to the Original Buddha Teachings”, “Message of the Buddha”, “Buddhist Monk’s Precepts”, etc.

In 1998, through donations from his supporters, he founded a 15-acre forest monastery, Vihara Buddha Gotama (website: www.vbgnet.org), just outside the town of Temoh, near Kampar, in the state of Perak. The monastery is mainly for the study of the Suttas (discourses) and Vinaya (monastic discipline), and the practice of meditation, according to the original teachings of the Buddha. It is open to monks and nuns (maechees or anagarinis), and also laymen and laywomen.

 Venue

Lecture Hall
Mahindarama Buddhist Temple
2, Kampar Road
10460 Penang

Schedule

22 May (Sat) 2:30 – 4:00 pm
Dependent Origination of Liberation
(IN HOKKIEN)

22 May (Sat) 8:00 – 9:30 pm
History of Buddhism
(IN ENGLISH)

Dhamma Sermons

Dhamma Sermon

BY

Bhante Tapovanaye Sutadhara Thero

Speaker’s Profile

 Bhante Tapovanaye Sutadhara Thero is currently the Director of Ventura Buddhist Study Center, An Lac Mission in USA. He has served at the center from 2006 to date. Bhante was ordained in 1966 and received his higher ordination in 1978.

He brings with him BA Linguistics and Sanskrit, BA in Buddhist Textual Studies (Tripitakavedi), and earned together with these his Masters in Linguistics. He was also the senior lecturer and visiting lecturer for their BA and MA programs.

Bhante is also very well versed with his administration skills, and he has been a part of the planning of the University in Kelaniya where he was invited many times as a visiting lecturer.

Schedule

27 Apr (Tue) 8:00 – 9:30 pm
Buddhist Way of Human Resource Development

28 Apr (Wed) 8:00 – 9:30 pm
How to Choose Friends?

29 Apr (Thu) 8:00 – 9:30 pm
How to Handle Conflicts?

Venue

Lecture Hall
Mahindarama Buddhist Temple
2, Kampar Road
10460 Penang

Dhamma Sermon

Dhamma Sermon
BY
Bhante Pannyavaro

Speaker's Profile
Venerable Pannyavaro is an Australian Buddhist monk who has devoted his life to the meditational aspects of the Buddha's teachings. During his meditation training he practiced under several meditation masters in Sri Lanka and Burma including Venerable Sayadaw U Janaka of Chanmyay Meditation Centre, Rangoon, who is the foremost disciple of the renowned Burmese meditation master, the late Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw.
Pannyavaro was involved in the beginnings of a number of the very early Buddhist communities in Australia. He later received full ordination at Wat Borvornivet in Bangkok under Venerable Phra Nyanasamvarva, the Sangha Raja of Thailand.
For the past twenty-five years, he has from time to time studied and practiced meditation in most of the major Theravada Buddhist countries, including long periods of intensive practise of Satipatthana-Vipassana meditation at the Mahasi Sayadaw centres in Burma.
As a Western meditation teacher, Ven. Pannyavaro naturally empathizes with the concerns and needs of meditators in their own culture. His long training and life experience combine to bring a practical in-depth approach to the teaching of insight (vipassana)meditation in contemporary life.
Pannyavaro is the resident teacher with the Buddha Dharma Education Association at its Centre at Surry Hills in Sydney and gives retreats from time to time at the Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Centre, Medlow Bath.
ScheduleDate : 01 May 2010 (Sat) 8:00 – 9:30 pm
Topic : How to Use Meditation in Daily Life
VenueLecture Hall
Mahindarama Buddhist Temple
2, Kampar Road
10460 Penang

Dhamma Sermons

Dhamma Sermon
BY
Bhante Dr T. Sangharatana Nayaka Maha Thera

Speaker’s Profile
Bhante Dr T. Sangharatana Nayaka Maha Thera has served in many capacities both in Sri Lanka and abroad. While in India , the Venerable was a founding member of the Maha Mahinda Dhammaduta Propagating Society which works among the lower strata of the Indian community in socio-welfare work.

Bhante is also the Chief Abbot of the Patiramba Temple in Bentota , Sri Lanka and the founder of the Bentota Buddhist Social Welfare Institution. Through these organizations, village socio-welfare programs such as English library, free tuition classes and interest free micro credit for cottage industries and entrepreneurship are conducted to uplift the rural community.
The Venerable has authored several books. Amongst them are Poems for Children, Devotional Songs for Children, Maharashta Buddhist in India and Buddhism-The Thirst Quencher.

Schedule

06 Apr (Tue) 8:00 – 9:30 pm
Being Rich = Happiness?

07 Apr (Wed) 8:00 – 9:30 pm
Religious Tolerance in Buddhism

08 Apr (Thu) 8:00 – 9:30 pm
Buddhism as a Religion & Philosophy

Venue
Lecture Hall
Mahindarama Buddhist Temple
2, Kampar Road
10460 Penang

Dhamma Sermons

Dhamma Sermons

by

Bhante Dr. Henepola Gunaratana Nayaka Thera

Speaker’s Profile
Bhante Dr. Henepola Gunaratana Nayaka Thera was born in rural Sri Lanka, & has been a monk since age 12 & took full ordination at age 20 in 1947. He came to the United States in 1968. “Bhante G” (as he is fondly called by his students) has written a number of books, including the now-classic meditation manual Mindfulness In Plain English and its companion Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness. Bhante G regularly leads retreats on Vipassana, Mindfulness, Metta (Loving-friendliness), Concentration, and other topics both at the Bhavana Society and elsewhere. He emphasizes metta bhavana (the cultivation of loving-friendliness) as a basis for samma-samadhi, or right concentration.

Bhante Gunaratana is an internationally recognized author and meditation teacher. Prior to coming to the United States, he spent 5 years doing missionary work with the Harijanas (Untouchables) of India and 10 years in Malaysia. He has taught in a number of settings, including American University of Washington DC where he served as Buddhist chaplain and the Buddhist Vihara of Washington DC, where he served as president. Bhante G has a strong scholarly background and livelong commitment to Dhamma.

In 1985 Bhante G co-founded the Bhavana Society and became its abbot. In 1996, Bhante G received the title of Chief Sangha Nayaka Thera for North America. This acknowledged his status as highest-ranking monk of his sect in the United States and Canada.

Schedule
28 Feb (Sun) 9:30 – 11:00 am
Mainstream Buddhism

02 Mar (Tue) 8:00 – 9:30 pm
Concentration

Venue
Lecture Hall
Mahindarama Buddhist Temple
2, Kampar Road
10460 Penang

Dhamma Sermons by Ajahn Brahmavamso

Dhamma Sermons

Now available for Download

Dhamma Sermons

by

Bhante W. Seelawansa Thero

Speaker’s Profile

Bhante W. Seelawansa Thero is a graduate in Buddhist Philosophy from the Kelaniya University, Sri Lanka. He had been a senior lecturer in Buddhist Philosophy at the Buddhist and Pali University, Sri Lanka.

Bhante has been a Buddhist monk in Sri Lanka and has been acclaimed as a Buddhist scholar in the academic world with many English and Singhala publications to his credit.

Bhante has experience in Buddhist propogation activities in many Asian countries as a visiting lecturer on Buddhist Philosophy and has also spent a considerable amount of time in Australia on missionary work.

Dhamma Sermons by Bhante W. Seelawansa Thero held at Mahindarama Buddhist Temple, can be downloaded at the following link :

http://www.esnips.com/web/DhammaSermonBhanteSeelawansa/

12 May Alagaddupama Sutta - The Snake Simile

13 May Dvedhavitakka Sutta – Two kinds of Thoughts

14 May (Thu) Mahahithipadopama Sutta – The great discourse on the
Elephant Footprint Simile

Dhamma Sermons

Now available for download

Dhamma Sermons
BY
Bhante Soorakkulame Pemaratana Thero

Speaker’s Profile
Bhante S. Pemaratana is a Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka. He was ordained at the age of 10 in 1986 and received higher ordination in 1997.

He was trained under the tutelage of the most Ven. Attangane Sasanaratana Maha Thero at Sripathi Pirivena, Diyakalamulla, Kuliyapitiya, Sri Lanka. He holds a Bachelor’s degree with first class honors in Buddhist Studies from University of Peradeniya and a Master's degree in Philosophy from the National University of Singapore.

He served as a lecturer in the Department of Pali and Buddhist Studies at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka and Buddhist and Pali College of Singapore. Currently he is the resident teacher at the Pittsburgh Buddhist Center, USA.



Dhamma Sermons by Bhante S Pemaratana held at Mahindarama Buddhist Temple can be downloaded at this link :

http://www.esnips.com/web/DhammaSermonsBhanteSPemaratana

9 June 2009 Cultivating the Power of Mind
10 June 2009 Levels of Happiness
11 June 2009 Creating Happiness at Work

Dhamma Sermons by Bhante Dr M Punnaji

Speaker’s Profile
Bhante Dr. M. Punnaji Maha Thera is a Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka, of the Theravada tradition. He is a disciple of His Holiness the Madihe Paññasiha, the late Mahanayaka Thera of Vajirarama, Head of the Mihiripanne Dhammarakkhita Amarapura Nikaya. He was ordained at the Bhikkhu Training Centre, Maharagama, in his thirties.
He obtained his training in meditation at the Island Hermitage, Dodanduwa. He studied modern science and Western medicine in Sri Lanka, & he obtained two doctorates while in the United States, one in Western psychology, & another in Western philosophy & comparative religion.
He has made an in-depth research into the original teachings of the Buddha, which he thinks is different from all the modern schools of Buddhism: Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana, including Zen and Pure-land Buddhism. This research was not only academic but also experiential.
He also did research into the form of Buddhist Psychotherapy, which he thinks is the best way to introduce Buddhism to the modern world: As Buddhism, in its original form, was not a mere religion of faith and worship, but a psychological technique of growth and evolution of the human consciousness.

Schedule
28 Jul (Tue) 8:00 – 9:30 pm
Selected verses from the Mangala Sutta - The Sutta on blessings

29 Jul (Wed) 8:00 – 9:30 pm
Nibbana or Heaven

Venue
Lecture Hall
Mahindarama Buddhist Temple
2, Kampar Road
10460 Penang

Dhamma Talks by Bhante Nandawansa July 2009