Venerable Bhante Buddharakkita was born in Uganda, Africa. He first encountered Buddhism in 1990 while studying and living in India. He was ordained as a Buddhist monk by the late Most Venerable U Silananda in 2002 at the Tathagata Meditation Center in San Jose, California. He then spent eight years under the guidance of Bhante Henepola Gunaratana at the Bhavana Society, West Virginia. He is the founder and Abbot of the Uganda Buddhist Center in Uganda.

Besides spending time at the Uganda Buddhist Center, he is a visiting professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, and he holds an Honorary Doctorate in Buddhist Studies from Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University (MCU), Thailand. He is long-time member of Global Buddhist Relief’s advisory council in New Jersey.

He has been teaching mindfulness meditation in Africa, the U.S., and worldwide since 2005, and he is a much-loved teacher in many countries. His book, Planting Dhamma Seeds: The Emergence of Buddhism in Africa, tells the story of his religious and spiritual work in the continent of his birth.

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