Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi December 23,
2006 (Seattle, WA) --- American Buddhist monk Venerable Bhante
Vimalaramsi Maha Thera accepts International position for
Buddhism.
Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi Maha Thera, American Buddhist Monk,
preferring to be known today as Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi,
received word Friday, December 15th that he was officially
confirmed as the first Representative from the United States of
America to the Buddhist Summit, World Buddhist Supreme Council.
As part of his new position, he will coordinate U.S.
representation at the 5th World Buddhist Summit Conference to be
held in Kobe, Japan in the Spring of 2007. The goal of the
Summit Conferences is to bring together the many traditions of
Buddhism in the world, and unify them to produce a united
position dedicated to working towards balance, harmony, and
world peace. The Conferences occur every two years. Venerable
Bhante Vimalaramsi’s position on the World Buddhist Council will
allow him to represent U.S. Buddhist interests and discuss a
common point concerns of the various Buddhist traditions
throughout the U.S. and the world. There are representatives
from over 50 different countries on the World Buddhist Council.
To be confirmed as a member, a monk representing each country
has to be nominated by other World Buddhist Summit Council
members. For the U.S. to be represented on the council, an
American born monk with a sufficient sphere of influence was
needed. Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi is the first American born
monk to gain the attention of world Buddhist leaders.
This is an unprecedented honor for the Venerable forest monk who
lives in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri and has dedicated his
life to researching, studying, teaching, and writing about
Buddhist Meditation for over 20 years. Venerable Bhante
Vimalaramsi became a Buddhist monk in 1986 because of his keen
interest in meditation. He went to Burma in 1988 to practice
intensive meditation at the famous meditation center, Mahasi
Yeiktha in Rangoon. There he practiced meditation for 20 to 22
hours a day and completed their program. He remained in Asia as
an active meditator for 12 years and was offered several chances
to remain there as an Abbott of a Monastery. During this time,
he was invited to live and teach at the largest Theravada
monastery in Malaysia, giving talks each week to up to 500
people. While in Asia, he wrote a book on the Mindfulness of
Breathing called “The Anapanasati Sutta-A Practical Guide to
Mindfulness of Breathing and Tranquil Wisdom meditation,” which
has nearly 1,000,000 copies in print and , to date, has been
distributed in five different languages worldwide.
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Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi is beginning the process of
listening to all concerns during his U.S. tour which
includes a three-week stop in Seattle in January of 2007.
Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi is traveling with Buddhist nun,
Ven. Sister Khema, who will also be giving dhamma talks
while in the area in January. During their visit, they will
be residing at the Atammayatarama Buddhist Monastery in
Woodinville, WA. They will be giving dhamma talks on Loving
Kindness-Vipassana or Tranquil Wisdom meditation at Nalanda
West and various venues throughout the Puget Sound area.
Ven. Bhante Vimalaramsi will also be offering a
non-residential meditation retreat.
“The Northwest Buddhist community is very honoured that
Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi is beginning his journey of
leadership and service with three weeks in the Northwest. We
are filled with gratitude that he wishes to spend much of
his attention bringing together the Buddhist leadership in
this area so that he can bring their messages back to the
Summit Conferences. Bhante is also very focused on reaching
as many people as possible to spread his messages of love,
peace and happiness” according to Kathleen Anderson, PhD, a
member of the Seattle Buddhist Community who is providing
coordination of the visit, “This is really a special and
joyous time for all of us. Venerable Vimalaramsi is a most
gifted and dynamic meditation teacher and a beautiful and
loving human being. We are prepared to host many additional
friends and visitors because he will reach far beyond our
traditional community, especially when it gets out that in
his new position he is basically the Head of Buddhism in our
country now.”
On November 7-14 Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi flew to Kobe,
Japan to complete a nomination process for his seat as the
first U.S. representative for Buddhism to the World Buddhist
Supreme Conference. He toured a large portion of Southern
Japan and discussed the state of Buddhism in the World with
other leaders. This nomination was offered by the Venerable
Nandisena, the Representative from Mexico. There were
several other members of the Council who were supportive of
this nomination including his late teacher Sayadaw U
Silinanda who encouraged him over the years. Venerable
Bhante Vimalaramsi’s position as a Representative for the
World Buddhist Supreme Conference representing the United
States of America is a hallmark for Buddhism in this
country.
Additionally, the late Ven. K Sri Dhammananda who was a
close friend and supporter, and his friend and fellow monk
the Ven. Buddharakkhita the Representative for Uganda were
instrumental.
Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi is the Abbott of the Dhamma
Sukha Meditation Center in Annapolis, MO. He is building a
Buddhist Forest Retreat Center, which will become the first
"American Buddhist Forest Tradition" meditation center on
U.S. soil.
As the US representative, Venerable U Vimalaramsi now joins
other Nations in the task of re-examining the earliest
Buddhist texts and practices, and clearly identifying how
they are still relevant today and applicable in daily life.
The Buddhist faith is the sixth largest religion in the
world with over 375 million followers. In the United States,
the Buddhist faithful number over 6 million with over 500
temples of various traditions across the nation. Buddhism is
ranked among the fastest growing religions in the world with
strongest growth occurring here and in Western Europe.
For further information contact Ven. Sister Khema at
sisterkhema@yahoo.com
or write a question directly to Bhante Vimalaramsi at
bhantev4u@yahoo.com
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