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      WASHINGTON BUDDHIST VIHARA

Theravada (Teaching of the Elders) Buddhism

Theravada Buddhism is the more conservative branch of the Buddhist tradition.

In Theravada Buddhism there is a strong focus on the life of Buddha and his immediate disciples.

Theravada Buddhism favors imitating the monk’s lifestyle as the ideal to follow.

Theravada Buddhism teaches that there are three planes of existence – plane of desire, material plane, plane of immateriality. Meditation permits the abandonment of desire.

Theravada Buddhism focuses on helping practitioners move beyond desire to a state of worthiness (arhat)]

Theravada Buddhism emphasizes the importance of purifying one’s mind in order to live in harmony with nature and gain ultimate peace happiness, and freedom.

Ritual practice involves observation, focusing on the comings and goings of thoughts, emotions, sensations. The objective is awareness without judgment.

Theravada Buddhism was first popularized for lay people in Burma and emphasized being aware and present with physical and mental experiences as they are happening so as to see things clearly as they are.

Between 500,000 and 1,000,000 individuals in the U.S. could be called Theravada. Buddhists.

THE WASHINGTON BUDDHIST VIHARA

1965 - The Vihara was founded as one of the first two Theravada Buddhist groups in the United States

1966 – The Vihara was incorporated.

The founder was the Most Venerable Madihe Pannasiha Mahanayaka Thera.

The Vihara describes itself as an educational and religious organization that is dedicated to the presentation of Buddhist thought, practice, and culture.

The Vihara has established itself as an international organization, is supported by an international elite, and has attained considerable stature as a Buddhist learning center.

The Vihara was established following the visit of a prominent Sri Lankan monk who agreed to establish a temple in Washington.

Funds were raised in Sri Lanka by Sinhalese lay Buddhists affiliated with the Saama Sevaka Society , American and Sri Lankan supporters, and the Sri Lankan embassy. |

Members include individuals from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bangladesh, Burma, and the U.S.

Asian participants typically attend devotional services while Americans seek meditation and sutta study classes.

There has been no tension with the dominant institutional order since the Vihara’s inception.

Other early viharas established by the Sri Lankans

• Early 1970s - the Los Angeles Buddhist Vihara
• 1988 - the Houston Buddhist Vihara