Jump to content

Asoka Weeraratna

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Asoka Weeraratna
අසෝක වීරරතන
Asoka Weeraratna
Born12 December 1918
Died2 July 1999(1999-07-02) (aged 80)
Mitirigala, Sri Lanka
NationalitySri Lankan (Sinhala)
Other namesAlfred Weeraratna
Mitirigala Dhammanisanthi Thera
EducationMahinda College, Galle[1]
Known forPropagation of Buddhism

Asoka Weeraratna (December 12, 1918 – July 2, 1999) was a Sri Lankan (Sinhala) Buddhist missionary, who founded the German Dharmaduta Society in 1952.[2] He is also the founder of the Berlin Buddhist Vihara, one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Europe and Mitirigala Nissarana Vanaya, a famous meditation monastery in the Western Province, Sri Lanka.[2] Asoka Weeraratna later entered the Order of Buddhist monks in 1972 as Ven. Mitirigala Dhammanisanthi Thera and spent his later life as a forest monk at the Mitirigala Nissarana Vanaya for a period of 27 years.[3]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ German Dharmaduta Society gifts pictures to Heritage Museum of Mahinda College, The Island
  2. ^ a b Weeraratna, Senaka. "Asoka Weeraratne pioneer in developing post-war Sri Lanka-German ties". Asian tribune. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  3. ^ "Asoka Weeraratna - Germany's 'Mahinda Thera'". Daily News. 16 November 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
[edit]