Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero was a Sri Lankan scholar Buddhist monk and a personality of Theravada Buddhism in the twentieth century. He was highly respected by Sri Lankan Buddhists, who believe that he achieved a higher level of spiritual development through meditation. Sri Lankan Buddhists also considered Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero as a Bodhisattva, who will attain Buddhahood in a future life.
Geylang is a planning area and township located on the eastern fringe of the Central Region of Singapore, bordering Hougang and Toa Payoh in the north, Marine Parade in the south, Bedok in the east, and Kallang in the west.
Religion in Singapore is characterised by a wide variety of religious beliefs and practices due to its diverse ethnic mix of peoples originating from various countries. This means that Singapore is commonly termed as a "melting pot" of various religious practices originating from different religious denominations around the world. Most practised religious denominations are present in Singapore, with the Inter-Religious Organisation, Singapore (IRO) recognising 10 major religions in the city state. A 2014 analysis by the Pew Research Center found Singapore to be the world's most religiously diverse nation.
Buddhism is the second largest religion in Malaysia, after Islam, with 19.8% of Malaysia's population being Buddhist although some estimates put that figure at 21.6% when combining estimates of numbers of Buddhists with figures for adherents of Chinese religions which incorporate elements of Buddhism. Buddhism in Malaysia is mainly practised by the ethnic Malaysian Chinese, but there are also Malaysian Siamese, Malaysian Sri Lankans and Burmese in Malaysia that practice Buddhism such as Ananda Krishnan and K. Sri Dhammananda and a sizeable population of Malaysian Indians.
Buddhism in Singapore is the largest religion in Singapore, practiced by approximately 33.2% of the population. In 2015, out of 3,276,190 Singaporeans polled, 1,087,995 (33.21%) of them identified themselves as Buddhists.
Bhante Henepola Gunaratana is a Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhist monk. He is often affectionately known as Bhante G.
Acharya Godwin Samararatne was one of the best known lay meditation teachers in Sri Lanka in recent times. During his teaching career he was based at his Meditation Centre at Nilambe in the central hill country near Kandy. After his death in March 2000 letters and tributes poured in as many people around the world attested to the impact that Godwin and his teaching had made on their lives.
Piya Tan Beng Sin, also known as Piya Tan or Piyasilo, is a Peranakan full-time lay Buddhist writer-cum-teacher in Singapore. He actively teaches the Buddha's Dharma, meditation and Pali to various Buddhist groups and organisations, and also works as a meditation therapist and counsellor at The Minding Centre (TMC). He is the first full-time lay Dharma worker ("Dharmacari") in Singapore to be supported by donations from the Buddhist community.
The Burmese Buddhist Temple is the oldest Theravada institution and the only Burmese Buddhist temple of its kind in Singapore. Founded in 1875, the temple moved from its original Kinta Road premises to Tai Gin Road off Ah Hood Road in Novena in 1988. The temple houses the largest pure white marble statue of the Buddha outside Myanmar, and has become a religious landmark for Burmese and Singaporean devotees to make merit and take part in merit-sharing activities alike.
The Buddhist Library is the first dedicated Buddhist library in Singapore. The library, which is located in a shophouse in Geylang, aims to meet the needs of the Buddhist community and anyone interested in Buddhism. It is unique in that it is not a voluntary association or a temple and because it takes a non-sectarian approach to Buddhism. Besides functioning as a lending library, it also organises Dhamma talks, accredited Buddhist courses, public art exhibitions and welfare work locally and abroad.
Amitabha Buddhist Centre is a Buddhist institution in Geylang, Singapore. It is affiliated with the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), an international non-profit organisation, founded by Lama Thubten Yeshe.
Buddhist Cultural Centre (BCC) in Sri Lanka was founded by Ven. Kirama Wimalajhoti Thera who had returned to Sri Lanka after twenty years of dedicated missionary activity in Malaysia, Singapore and US. It was inaugurated on January 2, 1992 under the auspices of Ven. Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda Thera, the chief prelate of Malaysia and Singapore and a plethora of other internationally famed Buddhist scholar monks of the time. It sought to fill a need of the devoted Buddhists in Sri Lanka and the rest of the world. What made Ven. Wimalajhoti Thera start the BCC was the dearth of Buddhist publications in Sri Lanka notwithstanding its reputation as a country where Buddhism prevails in its pristine form. This fact was pointed to Ven. Wimalajhoti Thera by some of his foreign neophytes who had arrived in Sri Lanka to learn Buddhism when they had strolled quite unsuccessfully all over the outskirts of Colombo along with him in search of some Buddhist publications.
The German Dharmaduta Society is an organization established to promote Buddhism in Germany and other Western Countries, and was founded by Asoka Weeraratna, in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 21 September 1952.
Most Ven. Kaṭukurunde Ñāṇananda Maha Thera was a Sri Lankan [Sinhala] Bhikkhu and a Buddhist scholar. He is best known for the research monograph Concept and Reality in Early Buddhist Thought and the exploratory study The Magic of the Mind. Ven. Ñāṇananda was the abbot of Pothgulgala Aranya, a small forest monastery in Devalegama, Sri Lanka.
Wat Ananda Metyarama Thai Buddhist Temple is a Theravada Buddhist monastery and temple in Singapore. The monastery was originally set up by Venerable Luang Phor Hong Dhammaratano with his disciple Samanera Boonler. The temple is located at 50B Jalan Bukit Merah.
The Sri Lankaramaya Buddhist Temple is located at St. Michael's Road in Bendemeer, Singapore. The temple is the primary Sri Lanka Buddhist temple of its kind in Singapore.It is one of the Theravada Buddhist temples in Singapore which is founded years back from Buddhist monks from Sri Lanka. It is operated by the Singapore Sinhala Buddhist Association which was established in 1920.
Cheng Beng Buddhist Society, also the Vimalakirti Buddhist Centre, is a Buddhist monastery in Singapore. The foundation was originally set up by Venerable Wen Ming Hu. The present premises are located at Geylang, Singapore.
Vipassana Meditation Centre is a Buddhist monastery in Singapore set up in 1993 to propagate and perpetuating Theravada Buddhism and provide opportunity for the practice of Vipassana meditation in Singapore. This group is not related to non-sectarian society "Vipassana International Center (Singapore)", which offers 10 Day residential meditation courses, taught by SN Goenka, in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin.
The Ti-Sarana Buddhist Association is a Buddhist organisation for the English speaking Buddhist Community in Singapore. The President of the group as of 2014 is Khemaka David Chew. Notable resident monks include Venerables Pategama Gnanarama Mahāthera, Welipitiye Ratanasiri Mahāthera and Ridiyagama Ānanda Thera.
Bodhiraja Buddhist Society is a Theravada organisation in Singapore. Its headquarters is located in Geylang, Singapore.
