Kamala (Kamal)

Bhikkhu Mihintala [Missaka] Kamalasiri is a guided meditation teacher, primarily focusing on Vipassana techniques sourced from the Buddhist Sutras. He believes this path will arm every sentient being against life’s different challenges.

In 1970, Bhikkhu Missaka Kamalasiri was born in Mihintale, Sri Lanka, near the site where the Buddhist monk Mahinda and King Devanampiyatissa inaugurated the presence of Buddhism on this small island nation.
He has held a special interest in meditation since childhood. He started his practice under the guidance of Venerable Ananda Maitriya Maha Nayaka Thero. While there, he also received guidance from the renowned Dhamma teacher, Godwin Samararathne.

When he was only 14-years-old, Bhante received his novice ordination from his teacher, Balangoda Anandamaitrie, a well-known Sri Lankan Buddhist monk, who many considered a Bodhisattva. From there, he continued his training and education at the Vegirikanda Meditation Center and Gnanalankara Bhikkhu training center in Peradeniya. He earned his higher education at the Sangaraja Monks Training School in Kandy and Vidyodaya, Colombo.
For three years,Bhikkhu Kamalasiri lived in the Himalayan Mountains, researching Vajrayana and Hindu meditation techniques. He visited the Shivananda Ashram numerous times. Accounts of those visits were documented in a Sinhala language book titled, Mihidugiren Himagirata.

For a while, he practiced meditation in the caves of the Yelmo Mountains, where the Tibetan saint, Yogi Milarepa, once practiced. Bhante also spent some time at the Tusita Meditation Center.

Positions: From 1986 until 2008 he was the teacher of the Dhamma School in Peradeniya, and taught for a couple of years at the Bhikkhu Training College in Peradeniya. He was the coordination secretary in the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the wise secretary of the Kandy District Committee of Buddhist Authority, adviser for The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, and the adviser for the documentary “2550 Years of Buddhism in Sri Lanka”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oorjkuY1e2c

He was also a part of the Apprenticeship Program organized by the State of Department of the United States, a member of the Board of Trustee for the National Environmental Forum and the adviser for the same committee that issued the Bank of Ceylon coin.

Publishings:
He has written 7 books in Sinhala:
1. Minissu -“Humans”
2. Aprakata Bauddha Lokaya- “Unknown Buddhist World“
3. Heladiwata Wasiyathiwarayano, Sikim Mahinda The Sikkim Mahinda – “Monk who from the Himalayas to Sri Lanka”
4. Mihindu Giren Hima Girata – “From Minithale to Himalaya” National Literature Award Winner
5. Baudda Ahillaha Dakma – “The Buddhist World and Vision”
6. Asa Taru Saha Mama – “The Sky, The Stars and Me”
7. “Messiah”

He has had many published articles in newspapers and magazines in Sri Lanka and Australia, and also has spoken for radio and television.

Meditation Teachings out of Sri Lanka:
He has taught in Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, India, Nepal, China, England and Italy and the United States.