Nyanatiloka Thera

Nyanatiloka Thera (19 February 1878, Wiesbaden, Germany – 28 May 1957, Colombo, Ceylon), born as Anton Walther Florus Gueth, was highly influential Buddhist monk and scholar in the Theravada tradition.

Access to Insight states:

Ven. Nyanatiloka Mahathera was the first Continental European in modern times to become a Buddhist monk and one of the foremost Western exponents of Theravada Buddhism in the twentieth century. Born in Germany, he developed a keen interest in Buddhism in his youth and came to Asia intending to enter the Buddhist Order. He received ordination in Burma in 1903. The greatest part of his life as a monk was spent in Sri Lanka, where he established the Island Hermitage at Dodanduwa as a monastery for Western monks. His translations into German include the Anguttara Nikaya, the Visuddhimagga, and the Milindapañha. Ven. Nyanatiloka passed away in Colombo in 1957.

He is the author of the first version of the Buddhist Dictionary: Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines.

See also

• Nyanaponika Thera - German Theravada Buddhist monk and co-founder of the Buddhist Publication Society.
• Nanamoli Bhikkhu - British Theravada Buddhist monk and translator of Pali literature.
• Nanavira Thera - British Theravada Buddhist monk.
• U Dhammaloka - Irish Theravada Buddhist monk, ordained in Burma (1900).
• Lokanatha - Italian Buddhist monk and missionary.
• Sīlācāra - ordained as Theravada Buddhist monk in 1906.

Sources

• Bhikkhu Nyanatusita and Hellmuth Hecker, The Life of Nyanatiloka: The Biography of a Western Buddhist Pioneer Kandy, 2009.
• Buddhist Annual of Ceylon (1929). "The 'Island Hermitage' (Polgasduwa Tapas-arama)" in "The Buddhist Annual of Ceylon" (vol. 3, no. 3), p. 189. Retrieved 19 Dec 2008 from "MettaNet" at http://www.metta.lk/temples/ih/1929.htm.
• Acccess to Insight (2013). "Nyanatiloka Mahathera" in "Contributing Authors and Translators: Biographical Notes", edited by Access to Insight. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 17 December 2013, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/index.html#nyanatiloka.

External links

• Nyanatiloka Mahathera (1st ed. 1952; 2nd rev. ed. 1956; 3rd rev. ed. 1972; 4th rev. ed. 1980; repr. 1988). Buddhist Dictionary: Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society. Retrieved 19 Dec 2008 from "BuddhaNet" at http://www.buddhanet.net/budsas/ebud/bud-dict/dic_idx.htm.
• Nyanatiloka Mahathera (1994). Fundamentals of Buddhism: Four Lectures (Wheel Nos. 394/396). Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society. Retrieved 19 Dec 2008 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nyanatiloka/wheel394.html.
• Nyanatiloka Mahathera (14th ed., 1967). The Word of the Buddha. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society. Retrieved 20 Dec 2008 from "BuddhaNet" at http://buddhanet.net/budsas/ebud/word-of-buddha/wobtoc.htm or http://www.urbandharma.org/pdf/wordofbuddha.pdf
• Ven Nyanatiloka’s message to the German Dharmaduta Society (May, 1953)
• Ven. Nyanatiloka Maha Thera (1878-1957)
• A Palavra do Buddha, 2013 (Portuguese)