Our Founder and Abbot
Venerable Dr. Kaboggoza Buddharakkhita
He was born in Uganda to a Christian family in 1966 in Kampala, Uganda, East Africa. He first encountered Buddhism in 1990 while studying in India. He was fully ordained as a Theravada Buddhist monk by the late Most Venerable U Silananda in 2002 at the Tathagata Meditation Centre in San Jose, California. He then spent eight years under the guidance of Bhante Henepola Gunaratana at the Bhavana Society, in West Virginia.
Founder/Abbot of the Uganda Buddhist Centre, Bhante is also the founder of the Buddhist Peace School (Pre-School), Buddhist Peace School (Primary section), and African Buddhist High School in Garuga, Entebbe, Uganda.
Bhante has been teaching mindfulness meditation in Africa, the U.S., Singapore, and worldwide since 2005. He is a Teaching Professor of Theravada Buddhism at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University, New York City, USA.
He is a long-time member of Buddhist Global Reliefs’ advisory council in New Jersey. Bhante 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 Africa.
Selected Interviews
- BPF talks Non-Violence with the Venerable Bhikkhu Buddharakkhita – Buddhist Peace Fellowship
- Buddhism Takes Root In Africa – Tricycle Magazine
- Buddhism With an African Flavour – BBC
- Overcoming Difficult Emotions in a Chaotic World — Tricycle Magazine
- What a Buddhist Monk Learned from Nearly Being Assassinated–ABC Radio
- ‘It’s not weird or foreign’: the Ugandan monk bringing Buddhism to Africa –The Guardian
Featured Talks
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Meditation is not about the content of our lives; it’s about how we relate to our daily experiences, whatever they may be. Meditation is about waking up and seeing clearly how we’re doing, what we’re doing, and why we’re doing it. Meditation is a reality check.
Bhante Buddarakkhita
