Matara Sri Nanarama Mahathera
.JPG){kind=link}
Most Venerable Matara Sri Ñāṇanārāma Mahatthera
Most Ven Matara Sri Ñāṇanārāma (also spelled as Gnanarama) Mahatthera was by far the most influental Sri Lankan meditation master, scholar and forest monk of the 20th century.
Childhood
Dedduwa Jayathungage Don Bastian family of the Bajjima Village in Tikkannagoda (presently known as Uduwe) in the deep south of Sri Lanka was blessed with a child on 11th December 1901. Named as Don Dias Jayathunga , the devout parents offered this young child on his seventh birthday to the service of sasana under the tutelage of Ven Dedduwe Wimalajothi of Aliyatholla Temple, who was related to the family in his lay life.
Ordination
Young Jayathunga was ordained in December 1917 with the given name of Ven Matara Ñāṇanārāma under the patronage of Ven Matale Aggadhammalankara Thero. Young samanera Ñāṇanārāma was bent on perfecting his knowledge in dhamma pursued the dhamma education with utmost zeal. He received higher ordination on 10th July 1922 under Ven Sastrawelliye Upasena Nayaka Thero.
Bent on experiencing wisdom the Venerable Thero gave up almost all mundane comforts for the sake of the final goal. Some nights he spent without a wink of sleep absorbed in the study of Suttas. Having mastered all the aspects of Tipitaka, Logics, Chandolankara, and other contemporary philosophies the young Ñāṇanārāma pursued on the path to Nibbana with diligent practice.
Meditation Master
In 1951 the Most Venerable Kadawedduwe Jinalankara Mahatthero started a programme of activities for upholding the diminishing status of Sangha Sasana in Sri Lanka, and invited Ven Ñāṇanārāma to head the program of the newly established Sri Kalyani Yogasrama Samsthava. This organization was set up as an association of hundreds of forest monasteries throughout Sri Lanka of the Ramanna Nikaya ordination line. Young monks were properly trained in the monastic code, connections with the Burmese Sangha were intensified and meditation training was guided by Ven. Ñāṇanārāma.
During the auspicious year of 2500 Buddha Jayanthi several Burmese meditation masters arrived in Sri Lanka. Ven Matara Ñāṇanārāma thero joined the retreats conducted by these excellent teachers at the Danawkande Sri Mangala Yogasramaya, and advanced rapidly on the path of insight meditation. Having observed the extra ordinary talent and zeal of Venerable Ñāṇanārāma, the Burmese masters taught him every aspect of the practice and acknowledged his status as a Kammatthanacariya (Meditation teacher) in the Burmese Vipassana system.
Nissarana Vanaya
During this time another rare opportunity opened up for the advancement of sasana in Sri Lanka. The Buddhist philanthropist Asoka Weerarathna who selected a land and developed the forest hermitage at Meethirigala was searching for a teacher to head this meditation center for Bhikkhus. Mr Weerarathna was able to persuade Venerable Ñāṇanārāma to take up this position. At this Nissarana Vanaya center countless Bhikkus and lay devotees both local and foreign received instructions for their advancement on the path and many reaped benefit. Some of these instructions were recorded on tape and were made available in printed form as well. The recorded talks can be downloaded from internet. Several books written based on the talks have been translated to western languages and have helped hundreds of seekers in the west.
A few years later Venerable Katukurunde Ñāṇananda, a former Pali lecturer at the University of Peradeniya joined Nissarana Vanaya and become one the closest disciples of Venerable Ñāṇanārāma. Other leading monks included Venerable Khemananda and Dhammajiva.
Character
Venerable Ñāṇanārāma had such a personality that those who met him for the first time too were attracted to him as with parental respect. He was never interested in worldly gains and high positions and spent almost every minute not spent on teaching, on meditation. Venerable Ñāṇanārāma expected all students in Nissarana Vanaya to follow his example and deligently reap the results of such intense meditation practice.
Having lit the lamp of practice in the then darkened Sangha sphere, he generated such an interest among the bhikkus of all ordination lines that they too were attracted to more meditation practice. This interest in the pursuance of the path of practice created by Venerable Matara Ñāṇanārāma Mahatthero has influenced the Sri Lankan forest tradition to this date.
Venerable Sri Matara Ñāṇanārāma passed away on 30th April 1992 and the cremation took place on 7th May 1992 among thousands of devotees at the Galduwa Yogasrama premises.
Links
- Nissarana Vanaya Blog
- Another Nissarana Vanaya Blog
- [1] Dhamma Talks by monks of Nissarana Vanaya]