Testimonials
Lorna Al Aisari:
Defense Section Office Manager/Personal Assistant
British Embassy Muscat, Sultanate of Oman
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to you speak and learning more about mindfulness and kindfulness. I can see this is a topic that you dearly love as positivity and light radiated from you. I and many other colleagues commented on feeling an instant positive impact from listening to your words and learning about the SSMK method which I have subsequently shared along with your profile to our Wellbeing Directorate and colleagues who are part of this community. One thing that struck me after our session finished was just by listening to you I subconsciously started to breathe in a more positive way and your words helped to center and order my thoughts.
We were blessed to have been given this time with you and I thank you from the bottom of my heart, this year has been incredibly trying but you shone a light for us all on Monday and we will continue to feel your positivity going forward and learn from your wonderful example and the ancient teachings of the Buddha
Anushka Weragama:
Programme Manager | Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
British Embassy | Muscat | Oman
It was such a genuine pleasure to listen to you yesterday. Thank you once again, from indeed the very bottom of our hearts, for your valuable and most insightful session despite the challenges around time and technology.
As one of the world’s oldest religions, that is deeply complex you have made Buddhism easy to grasp and apply to everyday life, even for practicing Buddhists like myself and those simple lessons are those that we will carry with us each day.
I found myself singing the simple hymn you so beautifully captured whilst taking my daughter to bed last night and this morning she greeted me with it, being the songbird she is J.
I wish you all the very best with all your endeavours and may you have continued good health, peace of mind and good cheer always, dear Bhante.
Looking forward to meeting with you in person, when we are in Canada again one day someday soon.
Derek james giles
I met Bhante Saranapala many years ago through a family connection. I was immediately taken by his engaging nature. Each time we met subsequently we would chat about a range of topics; among them family, Buddhism, his work in Canada and current affairs. I am not a Buddhist and have never experienced proselytizing during my conversations or indeed in my friendship with Bhante. On a recent visit to the temple for a family Dane, Bhante caught my ear to explain that he’d coined a new word that expressed his initiative to make Canada a more mindful and kinder nation. “Kindfulness”
Micheal simo
Bhante, you are providing very valuable information, some of the officers have pretty stressful lives and this will help them manage it better. I know it will help me. You probably know this but police officers will rarely ask for help until their problems get very bad. They are such good men & women, I’m glad we could give them something so useful. I also enjoyed our conversation and I admire your faith & commitment.
Jacob Pawlowski
I decided to attend a weekly meditation session conducted by a residential Buddhist Monk named Bhante Saranapala. Doing this was one of the best choices I have ever made. It was only the first visit that I knew this teacher was going to make a huge difference in helping me deal with my struggles. The more and more I attended the stronger my interest became. Bhante Saranapala who has become well educated has this natural way of connecting with people. Not just people from his own country, but people from all over the world. He connects by charitable donations, reducing poverty, sharing his wisdom with seniors, students, people who are in pain, you name it, Bhante has done it all. Best of all he is doing it from his heart expecting nothing in return.
Troy Maclean
Rev. Dr. Bhante has been spreading dharma across Canada/United States for over two decades. He has brought the ancient teachings of Buddhism forward but with a contemporary way of helping us better understand the teachings of the Buddha from a western application. Rev. Dr. Bhante Saranapala's deep knowledge of meditations and neuroscience have him captivating audiences all over. If you get the chance to meet him you will soon find out how warm and caring he is, very approachable and loves to discuss Buddhism with people who have no previous knowledge of Buddhism or are academia scholar of religion, he is always keen to be meeting new people and having discussions.
Bhante Saranapala is one of the kindest human beings we have ever met. He has always been there for us. He has helped us through difficult times, and taught us different techniques to handle daily challenges. We love participating in his meditations, and listening to his stories. His smile and laugh are so infectious. Our children are learning kindfulness through his online meditations and stories. We also love to sing the kindfulness song together as a family at bedtime.
We feel grateful to have him in our lives as a teacher, mentor and friend. He truly makes the world a better place.
CHRIS & TARA PAGNUTTI
ANTU BARUA
Dear Bhante, I just wanted to send you a quick email because I was watching the Mind Explained Netflix series I saw that there was an episode about Mindfulness. I was delighted to see you on it! It was a great episode overall with a good blend of empirical, scientific data and spirituality. I was really happy with your message that mindfulness and meditation is to make you kind. It’s simple yet it holds so much meaning. Anyways, I just wanted to thank you for all of the work that you do for all of us, not just as Bengali Buddhists living in Canada, but as a human being living on planet earth. I really think the impact of your work will help to build better societies and a better world overall.