“The Himalayan Journey – The Land & its Peoples” A Slide Presentation By Ven. S. Dhammika
Date : 04 Nov 2006 (Sat) Time : 1900 hours - 2130 hours (7.30 pm - 9.30 pm) Venue : Ngee Ann Cultural Centre, Ngee Ann Auditorium. Teochew Building, 97 Tank Road
This event will feature the life, culture and natural beauty of India's Himalayan region and particular its Buddhist heritage and cultures. A major feature of the show will revolve around Buddhist monasteries in Dharmasala where the Dalai Lama lives, Rawalasa where there are six monasteries, and also Bhutan.
Venerable Shravasti Dhammika was born in Australia in 1951 into a Christian family, and converted to Buddhism at the age of eighteen. In 1973 he went to Thailand with the intention of becoming a monk but was unimpressed by what he saw in the monasteries there. He then went to Laos, Burma and finally to India. For the next three years, he traveled around India learning yoga and meditation, and finally ordaining as a monk under Venerable Matiwella Sangharatna, the last disciple of Anagarika Dharmapala. In 1976 he went to Sri Lanka where he studied Pali at Sri Lanka Vidyalaya, and later became one of the co-founders and a teacher, of Nilambe Meditation Centre in Kandy. Since then, he has spent most of his time in Sri Lanka and Singapore. Bhante Dhammika, as he is known to his students and friends had written over twenty-five books and scores of articles on Buddhism and related subjects. He is also well-known for his public talks and represented Theravada Buddhism at the European Buddhist Millennium Conference in Berlin in 2000. Apart from Buddhist philosophy and meditation, Bhante Dhammika has a deep interest in the historical topography of Buddhism and the phenomenon of pilgrimage and has traveled widely in India and other Buddhist lands. His others interests include Indian history, art and botany.
