Resident Monks

Ven. Seewalie, fondly known as Bhante Seewalie, is the founder and current chief monk of Minnesota Buddhist Vihara. He is originally from Sri Lanka. After ordaining at age 12, he educated in a monastic school and received his higher ordination “upasampada” when he reached age of 20. With the completion of basic monastic training, he pursued his higher education from modern universities.

Before moving to United States, he served as a principal monk of monastic school, Parama Dhamma Cetiya Pirivena, which was the premier center of Buddhist monastic education in modern Sri Lanka.