Curriculum Vitae of Venerable Dr. Walpola Piyananda (50 Vassa)

Address: Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara,
1847 Crenshaw Blvd.,
Los Angeles, CA 90019
U.S.A.

Telephone: 323-737-5084

1. Name: Venerable Dr. Walpola Piyananda
2. Date of Birth: 10/02/1943.
3. Place of Birth: Sri Lanka.
4. Address: Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara,
1847 Crenshaw Blvd.,
Los Angeles, CA 90019.
5. Received Title: Aggamahapandita
6. In the year. 2013 (On the Independence Day of Myanmar, January 4th)

Some of the highlights of Buddhist Activities and Buddhist Missionary:

7. Founder, President and Abbot of Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara Los Angeles.
8. Chief Sangha Nayaka of America. [Sri Lanka Siam Mahanikaya Kotte Chapter] 9. President of Sri Lankan Sangha Council of America and Canada.
10. Founder and Former President of Buddhist Sangha Council of Southern California. Presently Chief Advisor.
11. Advisor to the President, Gotabhya Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka on International Religious Affairs.
12. Buddhist Chaplain for the 1984 Olympics.
13. Buddhist Chaplain for University of Southern California and the University of California at Los Angeles. [1983-1997] 14. Advisor to the Maha Bodhi Society of India.
15. Founding member of Buddhist Catholic Dialogue — in the late 1980’s.
16. Member of Inter Religious Council of Southern California – in late 1980’s.

17. Trained Sri Lankan monks and established temples for them in the United States:
– Houston Buddhist Vihara in Texas
– Nevada Buddhist Vihara
– Ohio Buddhist Vihara
– Sambuddhaloka Viharaya in California
– Colorado Buddhist Vihara
– San Diego Buddhist Vihara in California
18. Serves as Spiritual Advisor to temples throughout the United States that he was instrumental in establishing:
– Georgia Buddhist Vihara,
– Florida Buddhiat Vihara,
– Oregon Buddhist Vihara,
– Phoenix Buddhist Vihara in Arizona,
– St. Louis Buddhist Vihara in Missouri,
– Chicago Buddhist Vihara in Illinois,
– Indiana Buddhist Vihara,
– Massachusetts Buddhist Vihara.
– Dallas Buddhist Vihara in Texas
– Vipassana Meditation Center in Willis, Texas
19. Helped bring to the United States the following bhikkhus:
– 1979, Venerable Khunchi to establish the 1st Cambodian Buddhist Temple in Long Beach,
– 1980, Venerable Buncha to establish the 1st Laotian temple in San Diego,
– 1980, Venerable Khampiro to establish the 2nd temple in San Bernardino,
– Late 1990’s Venerable U. Rewata (Yewata) to establish Dhammasukha Vihara, a Burmese Buddhist temple in Norwalk,
– Late 1990-2, Venerable Sadha to establish a Burmese temple in India
20. Founder of Metta From US, a scholarship program for needy university medical
students, monks, and English classes for villagers in Sri Lanka and
21. Founder of Vision Vijaya, an organization which sends used and new glasses to poor villagers in Sri Lanka.
22. The Achievements or Education of Venerable
B.A, Honors, Kelaniya University, Sri Lanka,
M.A, Calcutta University,
M.A, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A,
Ph.D, Course work completed, University of California at Los Angeles,
Ph.D, College of Buddhist Studies, Los Angeles, California and
Honorary Degree from Ruhuna University, Sri Lanka.
21. Author of the following books:
(1) Saffron Days in LA [translated into Korean, Chinese, and Sinhalese; the Thai translation being finalized for publication].
(2) The Bodhi Tree Grows in LA [translated into Sinhalese].
(3) Thus We Heard; the Recollections of the Life of the Buddha
[translated into Sinhalese and available as an E-book].
(4) Love in Buddhis [translated into the Indian language of Kannada] (5) Loving Kindness Meditation, a CD
(6) Meditation for Experiencing Inner Peace, a CD
(7) Sansayana Ha Nikaya Bhedaya (Sinhalese), and
(8) Numerous articles in Buddhism for journals and newspapers.

Abstraction of Venerable Dr. Walpola Piyananda Thera

Ven. Dr. Piyananda was born in 1943, in Sri Lanka. He received his first ordination in 1955 and full ordination as a bhikkhu in 1970. While attending Kelaniya University from 1963 to 1967, he was a part-time teacher at the Sri Lanka College in Maradana until 1969. At the university, he was the leader of the debate team, winning second place in 1965 and first place in the 1966 Inter-University Oratorical Contest sponsored by the Indian Embassy in Sri Lanka. After graduating with Honors with a BA in Buddhist Studies from Kaleniya University he joined the faculty at Vidyodaya University as an assistant lecturer and was also a member of the faculty at Colombo University as a visiting lecturer. He taught at these two universities until he resigned in 1972 to continue his studies abroad in India (M.A. Calcutta University) with a Commonwealth Scholarship. In the United States Ven. Piyananda received an additional M.A. from Northwestern University in Chicago in 1980, and in 1985 he completed his requirements for his Ph.D. at U.C.L.A. He also received a Ph.D. from the College of Buddhist Studies in Los Angeles in 1997. He received the title of Tripitaka Dharma Visarada Rohana Kirthi Sri from the University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka in 2003.
Ven. Dr. Piyananda built 37 houses for the 2005 Tsunami survivors in Sri Lanka by raising over $260,000.00 U.S. He also raised $2500.00 U.S. for the victims of the Myanmar cyclone which was given to the Myanmar Association of Southern California for disbursement.
He has a continuous program of meditation classes and Dhamma discussions both locally and abroad. He lectures at various colleges and universities throughout the United States. He has a deep understanding of human nature and always propagates Dhamma for world peace. He has visited many countries promoting world peace. More information is available on the internet on Google.
The above mentioned information is true and correct, and
Yours in the Dhamma,

Venerable Dr. Walpola Piyananda
Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara
1847 Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90019,
America (U.S.A)