Bhante Henepola Gunaratana

Ordained at age 20, Bhante Henepola Gunaratana ('Bhante G') spent five years teaching at Buddhist centers in India before a decade teaching in Malaysia, and then over twenty years as a resident teacher at the Buddhist Vihara Society in Washington, D.C. In 1982 he founded the Bhavana Society, a forest monastery and retreat center in West Virginia, where he continues to lead practice.

He holds the honorary Sri Lankan title of Chief Sanghanayaka of North America, and Sri Lanka issued a postage stamp in recognition of his decades of service to Buddhism. Now in his late nineties, he continues to teach weekly Dhamma talks and meditation, largely by Zoom.