On September 2, 1969, Ananda Maitreya Thero was appointed as the President of Amarapura Sangha Sabhā of Sri Lanka.Īnanda Maitreya Thero was famous for his achievements in Buddhist meditation.
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On January 18, 1954, Thero was appointed to the post of Sangha Nayaka of Sabaragamu-Saddhammawansa Nikaya and in the same year he participated in the Sixth Buddhist council held in Myanmar. He opened the Sri Dhammananda Pirivena, Colombo in 1930. On October 1, 1966, he was appointed to the post of Vice Chancellor at the same university.Īnanda Maithreya Thero's first overseas Dhamma journey was to Kerala, India in 1926. He was appointed to the post of Dean, Faculty of Buddhist Studies in 1963. Later he became the professor of Mahayana Buddhism at Vidyodaya University, Sri Lanka. It was Venerable Thero who named it ' Nalanda' and chose Apadana Sobhini Panna meaning wisdom beautifies character as Nalanda College's motto, which is still being used. He was a self learner in most of his areas of studies.Īnanda Maitreya Thero was the first Dharmarcharya ( teacher of Buddhism) at Nalanda College Colombo, when it was first established in 1925. This is understandable when one realizes that he was a theosophist as well as a Buddhist. Unusually for a Theravada teacher, he publicly studied some other traditions, such as Mahayana Buddhism, mantra and esoteric yoga. Thero entered Ananda College, Colombo in 1919 and became a teacher of the same school in 1922.
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Thero continued his studies after becoming a monk and later became a scholar in Buddhism and languages. Balangdoda Ananda Maitreya Thero received his Upasampada on Jat Olu Gantota Udakukhepa Seema, Balangoda. Daamahana Dhammananda Thero and Deniyaye Seelananda Thero was his primary teacher (Upaadhyaayanwahanse). He was ordained under the guidance of Ven. Punchi Mahattaya had his primary education at Kumara Vidyalaya, Balangoda.Īt the age of 15 he had decided to enter the order of Buddhist monks and was ordained as a Samanera at the temple Sri Nandaramaya, Udumulla, Balangoda on March 2, 1911. Because Punchi Mahattaya's mother died when he was 14 days old, he was brought up by his father's brother and his wife. His birth name was Punchi Mahattaya aka William. Sri Lankan Buddhists widely considered him as a Bodhisattva.īalangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero was born on Augin Kirindigala, Balangoda, to the family of N. Ananda Maitreya Thero lived a modest life and did a great service for the propagation of Buddhism in the world.
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He is regarded as one of the most respected Sri Lankan Buddhist monks, who has achieved a higher level of spiritual development through meditation. Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero ( Sinhala: බලංගොඩ ආනන්ද මෛත්රෙය මහනාහිමි ) (Aug– July 18, 1998) was a Sri Lankan scholar monk and a personality of Theravada Buddhism in the twentieth century.