Paths of Practice with Bhante Buddharakkhita, PhD

Bhante Buddharakkhita was born in Uganda to a Christian family in 1966 in Kampala, Uganda, East Africa. He first encountered Buddhism in 1990 while studying in India. He was fully ordained as a Theravada Buddhist monk by the late Most Venerable U Silananda in 2002 at the Tathagata Meditation Centre in San Jose, California. He then spent eight years under the guidance of Bhante Henepola Gunaratana at the Bhavana Society, in West Virginia.

Founder/Abbot of the Uganda Buddhist Centre, Bhante is also the founder of the Buddhist Peace School (Pre-School), Buddhist Peace School (Primary section), and African Buddhist High School in Garuga, Entebbe, Uganda.

Bhante has been teaching mindfulness meditation in Africa, the U.S., Singapore, and worldwide since 2005. He is a Teaching Professor of Theravada Buddhism at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University, New York City, USA.

He is a long-time member of Buddhist Global Reliefs’ advisory council in New Jersey. Bhante is a much-loved teacher in many countries. His book, Planting Dhamma Seeds: The Emergence of Buddhism in Africa, tells the story of his religious and spiritual work in Africa.

For more information about Bhante and the Uganda Buddhist Centre, please visit the following links:

https://ugandabuddhistcenter.org/https://bhantebuddharakkhita.org/

We discussed:

*The Uganda Buddhist Centre's 20th anniversary and Bhante's reflections on it's past, present, and future

*Ordination and repaying his mother through sharing the dharma with her

*Meeting HH The Dalai Lama, international travel, and eventually finding that Buddhism "hit the spot"

*And the importance of meditation and undertaking the fascinating work of observing your own mind