HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE

Sambuddhaloka Buddhist Vihara was founded on June 15th, 2003 by Venerable Wathogala Saranasiri Thero, on the direction of Agga Maha Panditha Walpola Piyananda Thero of the Dharmavijaya Vihara in Los Angeles, to meet the religious needs of the Sri Lankan community in the Riverside/ Moreno Valley area. Meditation Master Venerable Shibuya Subhuti (from Japan) was instrumental in financially supporting the temple at its infancy.

Built on what was originally a partially garbage filled lot, the temple has grown overtime to become a complete temple including a Shrine Hall, a Pagoda, a Bo Tree, and an Almsgiving Hall. These developments were realized due to the vision and drive of the venerable monks in residence and the generosity and commitment of the lay community.

MONKS IN RESIDENCE

Wathogala Saranasiri Thero

Venerable
Wathogala Saranasiri Thero

Venerable Wathogala Saranasiri Thero is the founder and chief abbot of the Sri Sambudhaloka Vihara. Hailing from the southern coast of Sri Lanka, he was ordained as a monk in 1982 at the Sri Sadharmodaramaya Vihara in Walahudulla, Galle. The Venerable Thero received his BA (Honours) from the Ruhuna University, Sri Lanka in 1995 and MA (Pali Language Studies) from the Pali University, Sri Lanka in 1997.

Arriving in United States in the year 1998, the venerable thero, based at the Dharmavijaya Vihara in Los Angeles, spent the next five years providing spiritual guidance to the Sri Lankan community in the Los Angeles area. In year 2003 he founded the Sri Sambudhaloka Vihara and has since been of immense service to the Buddhist community in the area.

Walpola Anuruddha Thero

Venerable
Walpola Anuruddha Thero

Venerable Walpola Anuruddha Thero was born in the city of Galle in southern Sri Lanka and received his ordination at Kalugalamawatha Sri Saddhamodayarama Vihara in Galle. He subsequently received his higher ordination from the Malwathu Maha Vihara in Kandy.

Having completed his Piriven education in Sri Lanka, he arrived at the Sri Sambudhaloka Vihara in 2005. Serving as the Secretary of the temple from that time, Ven Thero has since been a livewire behind the religious activities of the Buddhist community in the area. Ven Anuruddha Thero takes a leading role in the Sunday Dhamma School for the young children.

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~ Oïumoh ~

ධර්මයේ හැසිරෙන පුද්ගලයා ධර්ම දේශනා කරන්නේ ටිකක් වෙන්න පුළුවනි. නමුත් ඔහු ඒ ධර්මයේ පිහිටලා රාග, ද්වේෂ, මෝහ දුරුකරනවා. ධර්මාවබෝධය තුළින් දුකෙන් නිදහස් වෙච්ච සිතක් ඇති කර ගන්නවා. මෙලොව, පරලොව කිසි දේකට ඔහු බැඳෙන්නෙ නෑ. තමන්ගේ ශ්රමණ ජීවිතෙන් උතුම් මග ඵල ලබාගැනීමේ හිමිකාරයා වෙන්නෙ අන්න ඒ භික්ෂුව තමයි. (ජේතවනාරාමයේදී යහළු තෙරුන් දෙනමක් අරභයා වදාළ ගාථාවකි.)