Bio
Bhikkhu Candana
Ven. Dr. Candana (pronounced “Chandana”) is a Bhikkhu and a student of the Dhamma for over thirty five years, while teaching the Dhamma for over two decades. Bhante Candana has a Doctorate in Buddhist Ministry, as well as degrees in Psychology, Marriage & Family Counseling, and Comparative Religions.
Ven. Dr. Candana was born in Beirut, Lebanon to an Armenian family. During the Lebanese 17 year civil war, as a child, he was seriously injured. This near-death experience, along with the symptoms of PTSD and physical disabilities it incurred, led to the development of a keen interest in his mind to gain a better understanding of life’s true purpose. He later came to appreciate the Four Noble Truths taught by Lord Buddha, especially given the constant presence of death, suffering, and impermanence at every corner of one’s life. In 1995, he found his way to the College of Buddhist Studies where he met the late Ven. Dr. Havanpola Ratanasāra, who introduced him to the Theravāda Buddhist tradition and became his preceptor, giving him the name “Candana.” Since then, he has been granted numerous recognitions, including that of Master of Dhamma (M.Dh.), where his preceptor and the President of the Sangha Council of Southern California, Ven Dr. Ratanasāra, strongly encouraged him to start teaching the Dhamma to the masses in 1998, while still being an Upāsaka or lay Buddhist.
Ven. Dr. Candana has been teaching and guiding meditators to establish tranquility and understanding in their lives while facing their daily problems, as they apply simple tools geared towards bringing more wisdom and understanding within.
For several year now, Bhante Candana has taken on the colossal task of converting the Pāli Nikāyas into English by re-translating and voice-recording them, to make the discourses of Lord Buddha freely available for posterity. To this end, Ven. Dr. Candana has been spending countless hours to re-translate the suttas, in order to make them more relevant to today’s listeners and especially practitioners of meditation, by including the very important repetition sections that have been omitted in most English translations. This massive work is currently being done to help make the Dhamma (Teachings of Lord Buddha) stay accessible through the beautiful suttas that have come to us down the ages.
Recently, Bhante Candana completed a ground-breaking new translation of the “Sutta Nipāta,” a gem of the earliest teachings of Lord Buddha, often neglected and even mistranslated, as it has typically been rendered in an inaccessible language for practitioners to either understand thoroughly (their depth of meaning), but especially, to apply the powerful teachings found in them for practitioners to use, “on the ground,” so to speak.
Ven. Dr. Candana has attempted to correct this by providing a new translation for the Sutta NIpāta, by making the Teachings of Lord Buddha relatable and relevant both for beginners and advanced practitioners; departing from the typically used scholarly language, as well as the flowery or mere poetic medium, which often have caused the teachings provided in these discourses (suttas) to be sadly removed from practitioners’ day-to-day experience, on the Path.
Bhante Candana’s book, “Manual on Buddhist Meditation and Lifestyle: A Return to the Source” is in its 3rd publication, the PDF of which is freely available for download. Currently, with the help of his students, this work is being translated into different languages, including Chinese and Japanese, among others.
Ven. Dr. Candana holds regular meditation retreats both in person and via zoom with students from around the world focusing on Mindfulness, Mettā (Loving Kindness) and Vipassana (Insight Meditation), as well as in helping introduce healthier relational skills by bringing happiness back into people’s lives and reducing their suffering, through the application of psychotherapeutic techniques, that are led by the time-tested principles of the Dhamma.
Bhante Candana leads the homeless life of a Bhikkhu, having neither stable residence nor continuous support from a Buddhist community or temple. Bhante survives on occasional donations from students and supporters, and travels where is most needed and welcomed.
Bio
Bhikkhu Candana
Ven. Dr. Candana (pronounced “Chandana”) is a Bhikkhu and a student of the Dhamma for over thirty five years, while teaching the Dhamma for over two decades. Bhante Candana has a Doctorate in Buddhist Ministry, as well as degrees in Psychology, Marriage & Family Counseling, and Comparative Religions.
Ven. Dr. Candana was born in Beirut, Lebanon to an Armenian family. During the Lebanese 17 year civil war, as a child, he was seriously injured. This near-death experience, along with the symptoms of PTSD and physical disabilities it incurred, led to the development of a keen interest in his mind to gain a better understanding of life’s true purpose. He later came to appreciate the Four Noble Truths taught by Lord Buddha, especially given the constant presence of death, suffering, and impermanence at every corner of one’s life. In 1995, he found his way to the College of Buddhist Studies where he met the late Ven. Dr. Havanpola Ratanasāra, who introduced him to the Theravāda Buddhist tradition and became his preceptor, giving him the name “Candana.” Since then, he has been granted numerous recognitions, including that of Master of Dhamma (M.Dh.), where his preceptor and the President of the Sangha Council of Southern California, Ven Dr. Ratanasāra, strongly encouraged him to start teaching the Dhamma to the masses in 1998, while still being an Upāsaka or lay Buddhist.
Ven. Dr. Candana has been teaching and guiding meditators to establish tranquility and understanding in their lives while facing their daily problems, as they apply simple tools geared towards bringing more wisdom and understanding within.
For several year now, Bhante Candana has taken on the colossal task of converting the Pāli Nikāyas into English by re-translating and voice-recording them, to make the discourses of Lord Buddha freely available for posterity. To this end, Ven. Dr. Candana has been spending countless hours to re-translate the suttas, in order to make them more relevant to today’s listeners and especially practitioners of meditation, by including the very important repetition sections that have been omitted in most English translations. This massive work is currently being done to help make the Dhamma (Teachings of Lord Buddha) stay accessible through the beautiful suttas that have come to us down the ages.
Recently, Bhante Candana completed a ground-breaking new translation of the “Sutta Nipāta,” a gem of the earliest teachings of Lord Buddha, often neglected and even mistranslated, as it has typically been rendered in an inaccessible language for practitioners to either understand thoroughly (their depth of meaning), but especially, to apply the powerful teachings found in them for practitioners to use, “on the ground,” so to speak.
Ven. Dr. Candana has attempted to correct this by providing a new translation for the Sutta NIpāta, by making the Teachings of Lord Buddha relatable and relevant both for beginners and advanced practitioners; departing from the typically used scholarly language, as well as the flowery or mere poetic medium, which often have caused the teachings provided in these discourses (suttas) to be sadly removed from practitioners’ day-to-day experience, on the Path.
Bhante Candana’s book, “Manual on Buddhist Meditation and Lifestyle: A Return to the Source” is in its 3rd publication, the PDF of which is freely available for download. Currently, with the help of his students, this work is being translated into different languages, including Chinese and Japanese, among others.
Ven. Dr. Candana holds regular meditation retreats both in person and via zoom with students from around the world focusing on Mindfulness, Mettā (Loving Kindness) and Vipassana (Insight Meditation), as well as in helping introduce healthier relational skills by bringing happiness back into people’s lives and reducing their suffering, through the application of psychotherapeutic techniques, that are led by the time-tested principles of the Dhamma.
Bhante Candana leads the homeless life of a Bhikkhu, having neither stable residence nor continuous support from a Buddhist community or temple. Bhante survives on occasional donations from students and supporters, and travels where is most needed and welcomed.
Lumbini
Dedication
The purpose of this website is to help alleviate some of the suffering beings endure, especially in these hard times. Additionally, while sharing videos of Dhamma Talks given, it is hoped that listeners may develop a better understanding of how we have a say, a choice in the experience of happiness, or pain. Therefore, to do the work for yourself, is to discover what it means to be connected on a visceral level with life, while developing a sense of tranquility and compassionate discernment.
After all, the grandest of achievements that might be possible for us may truly amount to nothing when there is no wisdom gained at the end, hence no growth in our humanity.
Here, therefore, the objective is to encourage to ask questions of ourselves that may help find our humanity within the nitty-gritty, that is our life; offering us the beautiful in every one of its challenging nuances and relationships; starting with the one we have with yourself...
Lumbini
Dedication
The purpose of this website is to help alleviate some of the suffering beings endure, especially in these hard times. Additionally, while sharing videos of Dhamma Talks given, it is hoped that listeners may develop a better understanding of how we have a say, a choice in the experience of happiness, or pain. Therefore, to do the work for yourself, is to discover what it means to be connected on a visceral level with life, while developing a sense of tranquility and compassionate discernment.
After all, the grandest of achievements that might be possible for us may truly amount to nothing when there is no wisdom gained at the end, hence no growth in our humanity.
Here, therefore, the objective is to encourage to ask questions of ourselves that may help find our humanity within the nitty-gritty, that is our life; offering us the beautiful in every one of its challenging nuances and relationships; starting with the one we have with yourself...