Bhante Seelawansa

Bhante Seelawansa is a Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka, who operates in Austria for a long time. He established The Dhamma Zentrum Nyanaponika in Vienna more than 30 years ago.

Born May 12, 1953 in Wijayarajapura, in a traditional village in Sri Lanka. He grew up with six siblings. He lost his mother in an accident at the age of seven. At the age of nine he had the desire to lead a spiritual Buddhist monastic life. In May 1964, as a ten-year-old, he obtained his father's approval and became Buddhist novice. He studied under the direction of an important Sri Lanka meditation teacher Bhante Pemasiri. After ordination as a monk he studied at the University of Sri Lanka where he completed a bachelor study of Arts. After completing his studies he worked as a teacher of a Buddhist school in Sri Lanka. In 1982 he went to Salzburg, Austria, where he studied journalism and communications as well as German as a secondary subject. In 1991, Bhante Seelawansa Thero became a doctor of philosophy and from then he taught at the University of Vienna and the University of Liechtenstein. He is the abbot of the Buddhist monastery in Sri Lanka and the spiritual director of Theravada School of the State Austrian Buddhist Religious Society.