Venerable Shravasti Dhammika

Bhante Shravasti Dhammika was born in Australia in 1951 into a Christian family, and converted to Buddhism at the age of eighteen. In 1973 he went to Thailand with the intention of becoming a monk then to Laos, Burma and finally to India. For the next three years, he traveled around India learning yoga and meditation, and finally ordaining as a monk under Venerable Matiwella Sangharatna, the last disciple of Anagarika Dharmapala. In 1976 he went to Sri Lanka where he studied Pali at Sri Lanka Vidyalaya, and later became a co-founder and teacher of Nilambe Meditation Centre in Kandy. Since then, he has spent most of his time in Sri Lanka and Singapore. Bhante  Dhammika had written over 25 books and scores of articles on Buddhism and related subjects and his most popular book Good Question Good Answer has been translated into 26 languages.  He is also well-known for his public talks and represented Theravada Buddhism at the European Buddhist Millennium Conference in Berlin in 2000. Apart from Buddhist philosophy and meditation, he has a deep interest in the historical topography of Buddhism and the tradition of pilgrimage and has  traveled widely in India and other Buddhist lands. His others interests include Indian history, art and botany. Currently, Bhante Dhammika is the spiritual advisor to The Buddha Dhamma Mandala Society located in Singapore.           Click here to read Bhante Dhammika's blog, Dhamma Musings. He has also created the online "Guide To Buddhism A To Z" The Mitra Youth Buddhist Network