Vesak in Los Angeles at Lankarama (5/9)

Visit Lankarama Buddhist Temple for Vesak

Dhammakaya in Azusa will hold Vesak on 5/31

🙏 INVITATION: CELEBRATE PEACE AND MINDFULNESS AT LANKARAMA BUDDHIST TEMPLE: The Los Angeles Sri Lankan Theravada monks of Lankarama are honored to invite everyone to join in a profound Vesak celebration, marking the birth, great enlightenment, and final passing of the Buddha Siddhattha Gotama (Shakyamuni).

This sacred event is an opportunity for community, introspection, and spiritual growth.

• 🗓️ Date: Saturday, May 9, 2026
• 🕔 Time: Starts at 5:00 pm (PT)
• Who? Everyone is welcome!

All participants are encouraged to observe the Eight Precepts and join us for a meditation retreat throughout the Vesak program. It is a wonderful chance to deepen practice and find inner tranquility.

La Puente is a suburb in the SGV of LA County

How to join: 📍 ON SITE (in-person): Experience the celebration firsthand at Lankarama Buddhist Temple, 398 Giano Ave., La Puente, Los Angeles County, California, USA.

💻 ONLINE (virtual): If unable to attend in person, join live on: Facebook, YouTube, or TikTok.

Follow and subscribe to @BhanteDevananda for livestreams and updates. For more information or inquiries: 📞 Phone: (626) 913-0775 📧 Email: LankaramaUSA@gmail.com. May all beings be well and happy!

• "Buddhist Christmas," VESAK 2026, in Los Angeles
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• 2026 Los Angeles Vaisakhi Celebration in Los Angeles
• Visakha (Vesak) Day 2026, Dhammakaya, Azusa: A Celebration of the Buddha, Sunday, May 31  •  6:00 PM-8:45 PM | Eventbrite
• 🌺 Preparing for Vesak 2026: Sacred Gathering for Peace

#Vesak #Vesak2026 #LankaramaBuddhistTemple #BhanteDevananda #MeditationRetreat #EightPrecepts #Buddhism #BuddhistCelebration #LaPuente #CaliforniaBuddhism #Mindfulness #Peace

The Yakkhas of Sri Lanka: Stone Agers

(EBS World) Life with the Axe: Sri Lanka's Last Vedda Tribe

Living a Stone Age existence with magic metal axes

The Yakkha or Yakshi are "ogres" -- Sasquatch, Almas, Asian Bigfoot, Orang pendek (living Indonesian Hobbit), "Wild Men" Yeti and Chinese Yeren -- in Buddhist cosmology and Hindu, Jain, and the lore of the subcontinent. It may be that known human tribes living in the wild were referred to as Yakkhas and Yakshas as well:

Yaksha (Sanskrit यक्ष, Yakṣa, Pali Yakkha, female Yakkhini or Yakshi, likely the source of Yeti) are a broad class of nature spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness [4][5].

• YAKKHA: A class of non-human beings (amanussā), they are mentioned with devas, rakkhasas, dānavas, gandhabbas, kinnaras, and Mahoragas (? Nāgas) (e.g., J.v.420). In other lists (e.g., PvA. 45, 55) they range immediately above the ghosts (petas); in fact, some of the happier petas are called yakkhas. Elsewhere (e.g., A.ii.38) they rank, in progressive order, between humans (manussā) and deva-messengers (gandhabbā). There are many different kinds: spirits, ogres, dryads, ghosts, spooks. In the early records, yakkha, like nāgā, as an appellative, was not depreciative. Thus, not only is Sakka, king of the devas, so referred to (M.i.252; J.iv.4; DA.i.264), but even the Buddha is spoken of as a yakkha in poetic diction (M.i.386). Many devas, such as Kakudha, are also so addressed (S.i.54). More: palikanon.com

Yakshas appear in Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist texts (where they are cannibal humanoid ogres with telepathic shapeshifting powers of transformation, who are known to cohabitate with human women and produce hybrid offspring, suggesting they are with the same species at least to some extent, the most famous of these being the Yakkha Alavaka and his very wise questions put to the Buddha in Sn I.10 Āḷavaka Sutta, ), as well as ancient and medieval era temples of South Asia and Southeast Asia as guardian deities [5][6]. The feminine form of the word is Yakṣī [7] or Yakshini (Sanskrit यक्षिणी, Yakṣiṇī, Pali Yakkhini) [8]. More

• These are the remaining members of the Vedda Tribe: The Vedda (Sinhalese වැද්දා, Tamil வேடர் or Vēḍar, also the Wanniyalaeto [4]. They are a minority indigenous group of people in Sri Lanka who, among other sub-communities such as Coast Veddas, Anuradhapura Veddas, and Bintenne Veddas [5], are accorded "indigenous" status. The Vedda minority in Sri Lanka may become completely assimilated [6]. Most already speak the dominant Sinhalese language (Sinhala) instead of their exotic indigenous languages, which are nearing extinction. It has been hypothesized that the Vedda were likely the earliest inhabitants of the island of Sri Lanka and have lived there since before the arrival of other groups from the nearby Indian mainland [7][8]. More

It's easier to believe these are modern Sri Lankans who got lost in the woods

Kirat Yakkha in traditional dress

Yakkha or Dewan (Nepali याक्खा, Yākkhā) is an indigenous ethnic group from the Indian subcontinent, mainly in modern-day Nepal and present-day India (related to other Kirat groups, like the Limbu, Sunuwar, Rai, and more distantly all other Sino-Tibetan peoples). It is one of the descendants of Nepal's prehistoric Kirat Dynasty.

The Yakkha people are subsistence farmers who inhabit the lower Arun valley in Eastern Nepal. They number only a few thousand and their language is nearly extinct [4][5]. They are closely related to Limbu people. More

• The Herbal Highway Archives | KPFA

Asia Unveiled: A visit to Buddhist Sri Lanka

This video plays fast and loose with the facts. For example, No. 20 states that the Na tree, or Ceylon Ironwood, was the tree under which THE Buddha attained enlightenment. That is completely wrong and an egregious error because the actual tree under which Siddhartha the Buddha Gautama awakened under a tree that lives on the island, known as the Bodhi tree -- at least a cutting of the original tree from Bihar (proto-India). That tree is destroyed, but its direct ancestor lives on: Mesua ferrea.

Four earlier buddhas had as their enlightenment tree the Na tree, but not THE Buddha, the Buddha of our time, the historical Shakyamuni. Visiting his tree is a tree because it is enormous and hallowed and the oldest historically attested tree in the world: Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi Tree

Bhikkhu Bodhi: A Mahā Kassapa for Today

American monk Bhikkhu Bodhi via Ven. Ānandajoti (dharma-records.buddhasasana.net, May 13, 2012); Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

Painting of one the Buddha's great disciples Ven. Maha Kassapa (Kizil Caves, China)

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This reflection about Ven. Ñāṇavimala by Bhikkhu Bodhi is part of series of articles. Others include Ajahn Brahm meets Ven. Ñāṇavimala, Chittapala’s Ven. Ñāṇavimala’s Advice, and Ven. Ñāṇatusita’s Life of Ñāṇavimala Thera.

A Mahākassapa for Our Time

Ven. Ñāṇavimala (formerly Friedrich Möller) circa 1955

It has often struck me that certain Buddhist monks I [American Theravada Buddhist monk Bhikkhu Bodhi] have known bear an uncanny resemblance to great disciples of the Buddha, at least in so far as we know them through the sutra texts.

This has raised in my mind the intriguing question whether the great disciples represent human archetypes (fixed molds that shape human character and behavior) or whether, to the contrary, Buddhist monastics tend to model themselves on their great predecessors.

I have no way to answer my question with any certainty, but I believe the correspondence I have noted is real and not merely my projecting or a figment of my imagination.

There is no doubt at all which of the great disciples the late Ven. Ñāṇavimala represents. Ven. K. Ñāṇananda (author of Concept and Reality, The Magic of the Mind, and other works) expressed the fact most succinctly one day when I met him in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

He said, “If you want to get a sermon from Mahā Kassapa, go see Ven. Ñāṇavimala.” The austere deportment, the ascetic bent of character, the firm self-assurance, the individualistic mode of practice: all these traits of Ven. Ñāṇavimala are reminiscent of Mahā Kassapa [Thera] (a kind of founding father of Buddhism).

 

Chinese painting of Mahākāśyapa in patched robes

And though we have, of course, no portraits of the great elder, I could not help noting the resemblance in physical stature and facial features between Ñāṇavimala and Mahā Kassapa as he is depicted in Chinese Buddhist statuary.

They even share the same penetrating eyes, the broad forehead, and the large ears. My relationship with Ven. Ñāṇavimala goes back almost 40 years, to my first year as an American Theravada Buddhist monk in Sri Lanka.

In June 1973 a few weeks after my higher ordination, my teacher, Ven. Balangoda Ānandamaitreya, brought me to the Kanduboda Meditation Centre for a course in insight (vipassanā) meditation.

At the time, another American monk, a novice (samanera) named Samita, was living at Kanduboda. When I arrived, he was in Colombo taking medical treatment, but he returned to the center a few days after I started my retreat.

One day after the midday meal, he came to see me, and we struck up a conversation. He told me that he had recently met Ven. Ñāṇavimala in the General Hospital in Colombo and had been deeply impressed, even awed, by the encounter.

I had earlier heard of Ven. Ñāṇavimala from another German monk but was led to believe that, because of his itinerant lifestyle (always wandering in the style of the ancient Buddhist ascetics), it was almost impossible to meet him in person.

Now that door was about to open. As a result of his encounter with Ven. Ñāṇavimala, Samita said he had lost faith in the type of vipassanā meditation that was taught at Kanduboda, the “dry insight” practice stemming from the Burmese meditation teacher Mahasi Sayadaw, under whom the Kanduboda meditation master, Ven. Sumatipāla, had trained in the 1950s.

The novice Samita told me that Ven. Ñāṇavimala had claimed that absorption (jhāna) is necessary as a basis for insight (vipassanā) and that there can be no genuine insight not rooted in the absorptions.

Since I was just beginning to read the Sutra Collection (Nikāyas) in Pāli, I had been struck by the role that the absorptions/i played in the “gradual training” sequence of the Middle Length Discourses (Majjhima Nikāya).

I felt this report (on the firm conviction of Ven. Ñāṇavimala) conveyed an important point. More

The German Dharmaduta Society

Society Founder Asoka Weeraratna, Sri Lanka

Eight prominent Theravada Buddhist monks led by the German monk Ven. Ñânatiloka Mahâthera and including Ven. Balangoda Ânanda Maitreyya, Ven. Galle Anuruddha, Ven. Akuretiye Amaravamsa, Ven. Ñânaponika Thera (German), Ven. Kudawella Vangîsa, and Ven. Vappo (German) were attached to the Center. These monks offered their services to train German Buddhists and others in the study of Buddhist philosophy. Friedrich Möller, a teacher from Hamburg and the first German recruit of the Society, arrived in Sri Lanka in 1953. He completed his period of training and received ordination under the name of Ven. Ñânavimala. More

On the Buddhist island of Sri Lanka: Sigiriya

Sigiriya: An Incredible Example of Ancient Engineering

Lion's Rock is built on a mesa in the forest.

(Megaprojects) Aug. 19, 2022. Sigiriya or "Lion's Rock" is an amazing feature on the mostly Buddhist island of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon and Serendib). It was a first a fortress then a Buddhist monastic hermitage, famous for its views of the surrounding jungle and terrain. It is famous for its frescoes and ancient graffiti. Simon Whistler does an adequate job of presenting it, but sadly he conflates Moggallana I of Anuradhapura with the famous Buddhist male chief disciple Maha Moggallana, inadvertently using his image as if it were the royal person associated with Sigiriya.

Check out squarespace.com/megaprojects for 10% off first purchase. Got a beard? Good. Simon's got something for that: beardblaze.com. Simon's Social Media: twitter.com/SimonWhistler, instagram.com/simonwhistler. This video is #sponsored by Squarespace.

Burma's most esteemed American monk

Pat Macpherson and, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly based on Burmese article by Wei Yan Aung translated by Thet Ko Ko, Irrawaddy Times (irrawaddy.com, May 25, 2020)

The sad day Burma's most esteemed foreign monk passed away

RANGOON, Burma - Today in 1966, Italian-American Buddhist monk and missionary Ven. U Lokanatha (who was born Salvatore Cioffi in 1897 and raised in Brooklyn, New York) passed away in Pyin Oo Lwin (Maymyo, Mandalay region). He dedicated his life to promoting Buddhism worldwide.

• Brooklyn Bhikkhu: How Salvatore Cioffi became Ven. Lokanatha (Philip Deslippe, researchgate.net)*

Inspired by the Dhammapada, the "Sayings of the Buddha," New York University graduate in chemistry Cioffi became interested in Buddhism and entered the monastic order in Burma in 1925 at the age of 28.

• The first Westerner to ordain as a Buddhist monk was the Irish freethinker from California Laurence Carroll, who became Ven. U Dhammaloka

Irish Laurence Carroll was the first Western monk.

From his base in Burma, the Italian-American monk traveled to many countries including Thailand, Sri Lanka, Italy, France, and the United States, promoting Buddhism.

When World War II broke out, he was in British India and like other Europeans abroad, he was confined by British authorities in a prison camp, where he introduced some of his fellow prisoners to Buddhism. He also organized a dramatic 96-day hunger strike to demand his religious rights as a Buddhist, until he was eventually forcibly fed by the jailers.

Ananda Metteyya (Elizabeth J. Harris)

He was later incarcerated for seven days in France for collecting alms, which many misunderstand to be begging. [It is offering others the opportunity to volunteer to support and thereby make merit by cultivating charity called dana.]

Although U Lokanatha (Cioffi) preached widely and wrote numerous books about Buddhism, the compassionate vegetarian spent much of his time meditating in caves and forests.

As such he garnered a higher esteem than his predecessor, the foreign monk and English Buddhist missionary Ananda Metteyya (Charles Henry Allan Bennett), and the British writer in Burma George Orwell (Nineteen Eighty-Four, Burmese Days, and 1936's "Shooting an Elephant").

• 

  The Awakening of the West

  Allan Bennett, a colleague of the infamous occultist Aleister Crowley, received the name "Ananda Metteyya" in British Ceylon (Sri Lanka) when he ordained as a Buddhist monk, studying and practicing in the East. He was the second Englishman to become a Theravada Buddhist monk (bhikkhu) and was instrumental in introducing Buddhism to England [as the PTS scholars had done since at least 1881, modeled on EETS of 1864], where he established the first Buddhist mission in the UK (WQ, Wiki, Stephen Batchelor's The Awakening of the West, p. 40).

The Religion of Burma (Bennett)

U Lokanatha attracted many devotees as he crossed Burma and asked spiritual questions of senior monks who were widely considered to be enlightened (arhats), those awakened and thereby freed from the endless cycle of rebirth and suffering.

The Italian-American monk lived in Burma for many decades, moving from the colonial period to post-independence and military domination. He passed from cancer at the age of 68.

• Buddhism in Southeast Asia
  

*The Italian-American monk from Brooklyn

Bennett, Buddhist in England

(Philip Deslippe) BIOGRAPHY: Salvatore Cioffi, who became Venerable Lokanatha (1897–1966), was born in Italy and raised in Brooklyn, New York, USA.

After becoming a Buddhist in his late-20s, U Lokanatha travelled to Burma, took ordination as a monk, and began a remarkable 40 year career as a writer, lecturer, organizer, and Buddhist "missionary" throughout South Asia and the world.

U Lokanatha garnered various responses. They are contextualized in the different cultural spheres in which he operated, from the anti-colonial Buddhist revival in Burma to the mocking indifference U Lokanatha found in the United States.

Scholarship on modern Buddhism, particularly recent work on the Irish monk, who first traveled to California then Asia, U Dhammaloka [Laurence Carroll], is used to situate U Lokanatha's life and its facets of conservative reformer and transnational actor.

Finally, an account of the source material used to reconstruct the life of U Lokanatha is employed.

It offers a practical methodological explanations for his absence from conventional narratives of modern Buddhism and what his inclusion along with other figures might mean in the future. More

Buddhism arrives in Sri Lanka: Poson (L.A.)

Bhante (Los Angeles Buddhist Vihara); Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit

Gold Buddha decorated with colorful flowers, Sarathchandra Buddhist Center, NoHo

   

India and Sri Lanka connected by land bridge

Poson full moon is an annual festival held by Sri Lankan Buddhists celebrating the arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka in the 3rd Century BCE.

The festival is the most important full moon (poya) holiday of the year and the second most important Buddhist holiday of the year behind Vesak.

Poson is celebrated throughout the island off the tip of India, with most important ceremonies being held in ancient Anuradhapura and Mihintale. The festival is held in early June, coinciding with the June full moon.

The festival

Buddhism teaches compassion for all. - Nice!

Poson is celebrated to commemorate the introduction of Buddhism to Sri Lanka by the enlightened children of Emperor Asoka, the Buddhist nun Sanghamitta and her elder brother the arhat Mahinda in 236 BC.

The focal point of the religious festival is the Buddhist monastic complex on the mountain of the village of Mihintale, where Mahinda taught Buddhism to one of the kings of Sri Lanka.

Buddhism saved Sri Lanka. US and India destroyed it.

Celebrations are also centered around Buddhist sites in Anuradhapura, which was one of the first cities in Sri Lanka to convert to Buddhism.

During Poson, these two locations attract thousands of pilgrims from across Sri Lanka. These pilgrims dress in white and venerate the spiritual locales.

Many of the most devoted pilgrims spend hours in quiet contemplation to honor the traditions of Buddhism.

 

Celebrate: LA Buddhist Vihara, Pasadena, June 9, 2018

Outside of Anuradhapura and Mihintale, the festival is celebrated with the telling of stories, music, dancing, the offering of free food and teas (provided by special vendors known as Dansals), and the hanging of paper lanterns.

Some parts of Sri Lanka prohibit the selling of meat and alcohol during the festival -- in honor of a customary proclamation by the ancient Indian Buddhist Emperor Asoka.

He prohibited killing and harming in his empire on special occasions in honor of the Buddha's compassion for all living beings. Muslims and Christians on the island do not much care for such prohibitions, so they continue their Abrahamic ways. More

Sri Lanka floods, "Sri Lanka Day" L.A.

Dhr. Seven, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Sri Lanka Foundation (slday.com); TheGuardian.com

Sri Lankan beauties walk around Pasadena in traditionally colorful garb (slday.com).

Climate change causes deadly floods in Sri Lanka, 100,000 displaced (theguardian.com)

Sri Lanka Day is on Saturday, July 15, 2017 in the City of Pasadena (slday.com)

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Ancient artificial bridge to India

[Sinhalese] Sri Lankans often refer to themselves as “Lions” or “The Lion Nation.” One of the reasons they do so is due to the obvious lion symbol on the country’s flag. [A better reason is that sinha means lion, and other non-Buddhist people on the island call themselves Tamil tigers, infamous for their separatist inclinations.]

• Sri Lanka ("Sacred Land") is famous as a citadel of early Buddhist teachings preserved in the Pali language from India and Scythia (Gandhara and northwestern hinterlands around Afghanistan where the Buddha was born and first promulgated the Dharma). Sri Lankan Buddhists, in their recorded history called the Mahavamsa or "Great Chronicles" speak of coming from that land by boat to settle Sri Lanka. They are not Dravidians from South India like the neighboring Tamils of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state in India.

Thousands of years of Buddhism

The other reason is less known but much more meaningful. The lion has frequently been linked to words such as courageous and proud. The Sri Lanka Foundation is a foundation dedicated to the preservation of Sri Lankan culture. It strives to exhibit courage and pride in their charitable work and events.

 

One of the foundation’s most significant events is “Sri Lanka Day.” Every year the foundation works diligently to bring the sights, tastes, colors, and the general feel of Sri Lanka to spectators who gather in one location from all over California.

• (The Guardian, May 28, 2017) Landslides and floods in Sri Lanka have killed at least 151 people and the country faces the risk of more mudslides as torrential rains [from global climate change] continue. More than 100 people are still missing after the worst rains in the Indian Ocean island since 2003. The state-run National Building Research Organization warned people in seven out of the country’s 25 districts on Sunday to evacuate from unstable slopes if rains continued for the next 24 hours. More

Last year in Pasadena for the second year in a row was a great time with delicious food.

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Massive Buddha in Sri Lanka

It is an annual celebration and tribute to the culture and heritage of the Sri Lankan people. In coordinating the event the foundation seeks to inform the public about their country and its customs. The foundation also aspires to bring generations of Sri Lankans together as a community, to pass along history from one generation to another. The event will take all who attend on a short trip to Sri Lanka through traditional foods, music, dances, art, and theater.

Colorful costumes of an island culture

Attendees hear the echo of handmade drums each with its unique tone. They experience a visual feast of vibrant island costumes, colorful clothing, and ornate jewelry. Participants explore the sweets, spices, and aromas of curries and traditional foods while being captivated by dancers and performers.

Children and adults alike revel in the Kandy Parade (Perahera), the famous Sri Lankan spectacle that features theater elephants the size of real elephants. And all of these experiences can be enjoyed without ever leaving California.

 

In previous years “Sri Lanka Day” has attracted more than 100,000 visitors. The 2015 SL Day was special because it was the first year the event was held in the City of Pasadena. It was also the first year the foundation sponsored its own dance troupe to perform. Every year the foundation works harder to reach new heights... More

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What is tea? Buddhist "cha" ceremony (video)

TheTeaSpot.com; CC Liu, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; Kirsten Dirksen; KY; TL

Buddhism and tea go way back: Ch'an tea culture, China (BuddhistChannel.tv).

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Maybe American yerba mate (a kind of Holly introduced by the Guarani Native Americans in South America) is better than Chinese (sine=chine) "tea" (Camellia sinensis or cha). Matcha means powdered young green tea leaves, which is extra potent with phytonutrients and caffeine. But what is "tea"?
 

The Tea Leaf

Darjeeling is from Buddhist Himalayan India

Many people are surprised to learn that all teas -- white, green, oolong, black, and pu-erh -- are made from the leaves of the same species.

 
While the varietal of the particular Camellia sinensis plant as well as the weather conditions and soil contribute to the final taste of the tea, the significant differences of tea type develop in the processing of the leaves.
 

The distinguishing factor that determines whether a tea plant will become white, green, oolong, or black tea is oxidation. [More oxidation turns an anti-oxidant rich green leaf black or "in between" called oolong.]

Oxidation begins after the leaf has been plucked from the plant to begin the process of being dried, withered, rolled, and heat-treated. A black tea is fully oxidized, causing it to turn black, while a white tea is barely oxidized at all, thus retaining its soft, silvery down.

(TeaLeaves) Chado Ceremony with Kazue Kojima, June Yoriko Tanemura, and Yasuko Takahashi, who all practice the Japanese "Way of Tea" in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Most of us tend to call many things we infuse in hot water a "tea." But technically, it’s only tea if it’s made from the leaves of Camellia sinensis, an evergreen plant indigenous to China and India [particularly Ceylon/Sri Lanka, the Buddhist teardrop-shaped island at the tip of India]. Today tea is grown in over 100 countries to meet the worldwide demand.

Do you fresh young green tea powder yet?

Tea is the world’s second most popular beverage, after water. More people in the US are drinking tea than ever before, joining a booming worldwide trend. Increased understanding of the role antioxidants play in weight loss as well as the prevention of cancer and cardiovascular disease has revealed tea as an ideal health beverage.

Fresh brewed tea is 100% natural, fat-free, calorie-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, preservative-free, and low in caffeine -- tea is the healthy choice. More

(Kohei Yamamoto) What is the tea ceremony procedure?
 
The Tea Ceremony
Kirsten Dirksen (faircompanies.com) edited by Wisdom Quarterly

I've got a principle in my hand.

Cha-do ("tea-way") is often translated as "tea ceremony," but it or chanoyu ("way of tea") is neither a ceremony nor a ritual in the strictest sense. It is more a culinary celebration of arts or crafts and philosophy, particularly in Zen Buddhism.

It originated in China in the 8th century, spread to Japan in the 9th, and became an art sometime around the 12th century. It wasn't until this past century that the "way of tea" became accessible. In Japan it can now  be studied like home economics or in a college club.

The lure may be partly in the brew. Tea has always been used for health. Christy Bartlett of the San Francisco Urasenke Foundation explains that following the form, which she compares to the practice of music, helps one to find intense focus in the moment. As you sip, be here now. More

One of the world's best chefs says you can taste the love in really good food

Avalokiteshvara in Sri Lanka (Natha)

Photographer Dennis Candy; LW; Dhr. Seven, CC Liu, Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly

Avalokiteshvara  in Weligama, Sri Lanka, near Matara on south coast: this 10 foot (3 meter) tall bodhisattva is sculpted in bas-relief within a hillside niche, identified by iconographical details, including the seated Buddha in his crown. Signage dates figure to 6th century ACE; other proposed dates have run as late as 8th-9th century (art-and-archaeology.com).

Avalokiteshvara carved from gold-colored stone, Kelaniya Temple, Sri Lanka (Dennis Candy)

Devotees in one of the image house rooms, Kelaniya Temple near Colombo, Sri Lanka (DC).

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The Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara

This large statue represents the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara [whom history transformed into the beloved Goddess Kwan Yin] at Kelaniya Temple, Sri Lanka.

Avalokitesvara ("the lord [deva] who looks down" from on high and hears the cries of the world) is an important bodhisattva from the Mahayana Buddhist tradition who has been to some extent incorporated in to Sri Lanka's Theravada Buddhist tradition by identification with the Sri Lankan deity Natha.

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  Natha deva in Tusita (LW)

  Natha: This virtuous deva lives in Tusita heaven and will become the next buddha Maitreya. He is the most powerful deva in [that] heaven and possesses ultimate powers of merit. He spends most of his time in meditation observing strict precepts. Sometimes he comes to the human plane and helps good people no matter what religion or path (dharma) they follow. This deva can hear mental requests by reading thoughts and can surely help. His main hangout or devala is in Kandy, at the famous Temple of the Tooth. Therefore, people identify him as Senkadagala Deva. More

The Buddha, Sri Lanka (Malka001)

The Kelaniya Great High Temple is one of Sri Lanka's most revered sacred Buddhist sites as it is believed to mark the location of a discourse given by the Buddha during what is believed to have been his third visit to the island or dipa in ancient times.

Kelaniya is one of 16 Solosmasthana sites on the island that Sinhalese Buddhists believed were visited by the Buddha during his three visits to the island. Most of the structures at the temple have been built or cut from a beautiful gold-colored stone, as seen here.

Female statue, not Avalokiteshvara but a devi, yakshi, or perhaps royal servant (DineshC).

• Wisdom: Sri Lankan Meditation Techniques
• How Kwan Yin (Avalokita) won her 1,000 arms