Director Board

Main Advisor: Dr. Walpola Piyananda

Bhante Piyananda is the author of Saffron Days in LA and The Bodhi Tree Grows in LA – both of them subtitled “Tales of a Buddhist Monk in America.” Saffron Days in LA has become a classic in American Buddhist literature, and it is often used as a textbook in Buddhist Studies courses in major universities. It has been translated into Mandarin, Korean, and Sinhalese. Bhante Piyananda was ordained as a novice monk in Sri Lanka at the age of twelve, and received his higher ordination at the age of twenty-six. He received his post-graduate degrees from the University of Calcutta in India, and from Northwestern University in Chicago. He also completed extensive coursework at the University of California, Los Angeles. He first came to America on July 4, 1976 and found himself in the middle of a bi-centennial parade in San Francisco. He founded Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara in Los Angeles in 1980. As a naturalized American citizen, he has been engaged in a variety of Buddhist activities in North America ever since his arrival. He is the President of the Sri Lankan Buddhist Sangha Council of America and Canada, Chief Sangha Nayake of America, President of the Sangha Council of Southern California, and Abbot of Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara