Bhikkhunī Visuddhi is a fully ordained Buddhist nun (bhikkhunī) of theravāda tradition and Dhamma and meditation teacher from the Czech Republic. Her first teacher, Venerable Rewatadhamma Sayado, a prominent Theravāda Buddhist monk and noted Abhidhamma scholar from Myanmar, inspired Bhikkhunī and brought her to the path of Buddha’s teaching. In 2003, after practicing Dhamma for many years as a lay practitioner in Buddhist monastery Dhammapala in Switzerland, venerable left to go to Sri Lanka and received ordination as a sāmaņerī. She lived a simple life of seclusion in Sri Gothami ārāma in Olabudowa, a small poor village, among other nuns. Along with her teacher bhikkhunī Matale Vijitha and other nuns, she was focused on teaching the Dhamma, doing social work and caring for the poor and suffering. Bhikkhunī Visuddhi gave a special attention to poverty stricken children: She taught Sunday Dhamma school in Olabudowa and Sambodhi Vihāra in Colombo and founded Suriya Lamai project “Children of the Sun.” Its aim is to enable children from poor families to be educated and to be provided with basic needs.
In 2006, for 10 months she studied and trained in Fo Kuang Shan Temple near Kaohsiung district in Taiwan and ordained as a Dharmaguptaka bhikṣuṇī at Tzu Yun Temple in Nanzi Disctrict, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. In February 2007, Venerable returned to Sri Gothami ārāma in Sri Lanka and continued living in her bhikkhunī community there. For more than ten years, Venerable Bhikkhunī Visuddhi also practiced as a student and later as an assistant teacher under Venerable Bhante Pemasiri, who is one of the most respected and skilled traditional meditation teachers in Sri Lanka.
In 2008, Venerable Visuddhi started regularly visiting monasteries in Europe, such as Aneñja Vihāra in Germany or Dhammapala in Switzerland. In 2012, she set up, along with her supporters, her own monastic dwelling, Bhikkhunī Ārāma, named Karuṇā Sevena (Abode of Compassion) in Prostejov, Czech Republic.
In 2015 Venerable completed Daḷhīkamma Vinaya procedure and acceptance in the Therāvada Bhikkhu and Bhikkhunī Saṅgha in Sri Lanka.
In 2016, thanks to generous donations, the ārāma Karuṇā Sevena underwent a large reconstruction, that included building a new meditation hall. Meditators are now welcome to visit the dwelling ārāma and stay for a retreat seclusion under the guidance of Venerable Bhikkhunī Visuddhi. Venerable is dedicating herself mainly to cultivation of ethics and good qualities and meditation practice satipaṭṭhāna and mettā, and at the same time, she is focusing on the study of Early Buddhist texts.
Her students are coming from different backgrounds from countries all around the world, such as Czech Republic, Sri Lanka, Slovakia, Germany, Austria, UK, Switzerland, Poland, USA and Puerto Rico. She competently teaches adults, with a special focus on mothers, children and teenagers. Her approach toward students is individual, patient and compassionate. From the beginning or her relocation to Europe, Venerable Visuddhi has been running a Dhamma school in the Czech Republic for children of all ages, which has given her years of experience. She is regularly being invited to speak about the Buddha´s teaching and mettā meditation to students at schools and colleges in the Czech Republic.
Venerable Rewata Dhamma was born in Burma in 1929, Venerable Rewata Dhamma was one of the foremost scholars of Abhidhamma in modern times. He obtained his Ph.D. from Varanasi University, India, in 1967. That year he also edited and published the two-volume Abhidhammattha Sangaha, including a commentary he wrote in Hindi. For this work, he received the Kalidasa Prize from the Hindi Academy for one of the outstanding books of the year, and it still remains a university textbook in India. In 2000 the Government of Myanmar awarded him the prestigious title of Aggamahāpaṇḍita (foremost great scholar). Venerable Rewata Dhamma wrote several other important books including The First Discourse of the Buddha (1997), The Buddha and His Disciples (2001), Emptying the Rose-Apple Seat (2003), and The Buddha's Prescription (2005). He also coauthored A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma with Bhikkhu Bodhi (1993). Venerable Rewata Dhamma passed away in May 2004.
Pemasiri Thera is a Sri Lankan Theravāda Buddhist monk of deep understanding and exceptional kindness, humour and compassion. Bhante Pemasiri lives and teaches the Buddha’s way of life.
Born on December 5th 1941, Pemasiri Thera began meditating shortly after he could walk! As a teenager he travelled almost daily from his home in the village of Kidagammulla of the Gampaha district to the Vipasannā Meditation Centre in Kanduboda, where he learned meditation from highly qualified and respected masters including Sumatipāla Nā Himi (Abbot and founder of Kanduboda Vipasannā Meditation Centre) as well as the Burmese Masters Webu Sayadaw and U Pandita. At the age of twenty Pemasiri Thera became the chief incumbent of the centre. After six years he became the chief incumbent at the Lanka Vipassanā Centre in Colombo and stayed on for twelve years.
He is currently the abbot at the Sumathipāla Nā Himi Senasun Arana, a dwelling place that emphasizes the philosophical and Dhamma approach to the teaching of the Buddha as opposed to the religious approach. Pemasiri Thera’s students, not only from Sri Lanka but also from around the world, and from various religious backgrounds, call him their guide in life and not just a meditation teacher. Going to the core of their unique experiences, he leads them to the point of seeing the true nature of existence.
Pemasiri Thera is the author of “Walking the Tightrope”
