Madawela Punnaji

Madewela Punnaji
Born	1930 Sri Lanka
Nationality	USA
Education	M.D.
Occupation	(formerly a physician), Buddhist monk
Known for	Buddhist teacher, author, monk
Home town	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Religion	Buddhism, Theravada

Bhante Madewela Punnaji is from Sri Lanka and is a scholar of the Pali Canon and also has extensive studies in science, medicine, and western psychology. He wrote the Foreword to author David N. Snyder's Buddha’s Lists and has written and presented several other articles around the globe as well.

Biography

Born Pushpananda Madawela, Ven. Punnaji began meditating when he was five years old . As he grew up in Sri Lanka, he began getting interested in Buddhism while other children were starting school.

Academically, he went on to medical school to become a general practicioner, where his name was Dr. Pushpanda Madawela.

Early Dr. Pushpanda

Ten years later, the doctor changed his name to Ven. Madawela Punnaji and then changed aspirations to become a monk. In 1968, Rev. Madihe Pannaseela at Sri Vajiragnana Dharmaya Ayathanaya, Sri Lanka, ordained the now Ven. Punnaji as a monk.

Family

Ven. Punnaji's ancestry traces to Herat Mudiyanselage Madawela Basnayake Nilame (1830), whose son was Sri Lankan politician Godfrey Edward Madawela (1878 - 1932).

Brickfields Malaysia

Ven. Punnaji took the place of the famous and late K. Sri Dhammannda in Malaysia as spiritual head of the Brickfields Malaysian........

Relations to Vipassana Foundation

A member of the Board of Directors of Vipassana Foundation, Ven. Punnaji wrote the forward to Buddha's Lists.

External links

• Article about Bhante Punnaji
• "A scientific approach to religion" - Ven. Punnaji says there is a correlation between Western psychology and Buddhism