Bhante Jinalankara (Bhante Ji) is a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk who has been ordained for over 36 years in the forest monastic order of Sri Lanka. He left his home life for homelessness at the age of nineteen and undertook the ten preceptor-training for nearly one year and then ordained as a novice. After sufficient time training as a novice, he took the vows of higher ordination to become a fully ordained Bhikkhu and joined the monastic sangha.
In the early years, he studied the Pali language to facilitate reading the Buddha’s teachings in the original.
The Buddhist canon has three sections or Pitaka, the Vinaya Pitaka which deals with the rules for monks, the Sutta Pitaka which contains the Dhamma or teachings given by the Buddha and the Abhidhamma Pitaka or Buddhist philosophy. All three sections were given due importance in his years of study with the help and encouragement of competent senior monks. Bhante Ji studied all three Pitakas under the supervision of competent senior monks in Sri Lanka for many years.
After this foundation in the basic teachings and training there came a period of practice in meditation. Bhante Ji moved to quieter branch monasteries to pursue his meditation for a few years.
With this extensive and comprehensive training to support him, Bhante Ji then became the abbot of a monastery for five years during which time he passed on his knowledge to monks training under him.
His grounding in the Sri Lankan forest tradition and further study and investigation of other meditation teachers and techniques including Ajahn Chah, the Mahasi meditation method, and the Pa Auk method has given him a wide range of experience which enables him to teach most of the people who come to him for guidance.
Bhante Ji is a skilful dhamma teacher who teaches in Sinhala and English languages and also conducts meditation classes and retreats, often tirelessly answering the questions of laypeople and encouraging them to continue their practice In his life as a monk. Motivated by his wish to share the dhamma, Bhante Ji travelled extensively including Myanmar, India, Thailand, Nepal, Australia, USA, United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland, Vietnam, Bhutan, Fiji and New Zealand, where he currently resides as the abbot and meditation teacher of Dhamma Gavesi Meditation Centre, Wellington New Zealand.
