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Venerable Rewata Dhamma Sayado 

 

was born in Burma in 1929 and was one of the foremost scholars of Abhidhamma in modern times. He obtained his Ph.D. fromVāranasī 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) -a guide to Buddhist meditation methods- and The Buddha's Prescription (2005). He also coauthored Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma with Bhikkhu Bodhi (1993). 

 

Venerable Rewata Dhamma passed away in May 2004.

Venerable Pemasiri mahāthera

 

 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 traveled 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 Vipasannā Meditation Centre in Kanduboda,) as well as the Burmese Masters Webu Sayadaw and U Pandita.

At the age of twenty Pemasiri mahāthera became the chief incumbent of the center. 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 ārāña, a dwelling place that emphasizes the philosophical and Dhamma approach to the teaching of the Buddha as opposed
to the religious approach. Pemasiri mahāthera’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.

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