Wisdom Meditation Center is a monastery of the Mahamevnawa Bhavana Asapuwa, an international Theravāda Buddhist monastic order founded by Ven. Kiribathgoda Gnanananda Thero. Mahamevnawa has quietly grown into one of the largest monastic communities in the world dedicated solely to the original teachings of the Buddha as preserved in the Pāli Canon.
Our monks, trained in Sri Lanka and now serving communities across the world, live by the same rules of simplicity, humility, and service laid down more than two and a half millennia ago.
Mahamevnāwa is an ancient park in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, created by King Mutasiva. It is home to the Samadhi Statue, the sacred Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi tree, and the Ruvanveli and Thuparama stupas, some of the most revered sites in the Buddhist world. For more than two thousand years it has offered monks and seekers a tranquil place for meditation and reflection.
We carry that name with humility. Our center in New Jersey is meant to be, in some small way, a piece of that quiet grove, here in America, for anyone who needs it.
Ven. Kiribathgoda Gnanananda Thero began Mahamevnawa with a simple conviction: that the Buddha's own words, unadorned, unaltered, are sufficient. He has dedicated his life to making these teachings accessible to ordinary people, through plain language, warm teaching, and an unwavering emphasis on practice over ceremony. His work has been received by millions across the world.
Every program, every meal, every resource, offered without charge.
Any belief, any color, any politics. All are welcome here.
No pressure, no conversion, no expectations. Come as you are.
2,500 years of unbroken practice. Not a reinvention.