Nauyane Ariyadhamma Mahathera

Nauyane Ariyadhamma Maha Thera අතිපූජ්‍යය නා උයනේ අරියධම්ම මහා ථේර
Nauyane Ariyadhamma Mahathera at a monastery in Burma
Religion	Buddhism
School	Theravada
Sect	Sri Kalyani Yogasrama Samstha of Ramanna Nikaya
Personal
Nationality	Sri Lankan
Born	24 April 1939 Imihaminnegama, Kurunegala
Died	7 September 2016
Senior posting
Based in	Sri Lanka
Title	Tripitaka Vagishvaracarya, Mahopadhyaya, Maha Kammatthanacarya, Maha Thera
Religious career
Teacher	Most Ven. Matara Sri Nanarama Mahathera, Pa-Auk Sayadaw
Ordination	1957

Most Ven. Nauyane Ariyadhamma Maha Thera‍ (Sinhalese: අතිපූජ්‍යය නා උයනේ අරියධම්ම මහා ථේර, 24 April 1939 – 6 September 2016) was a Sri Lankan bhikkhu (Buddhist monk) and a senior meditation teacher. He was the spiritual advisor of the Sri Kalyani Yogasrama Samstha, and for many years resided at the Na Uyana Aranya, until 2011, when he moved to Meetirigala Dharmayataya Aranya to help revitalize this long-standing place of learning and dhamma practice.

Ven. Ariyadhamma Mahathera was born on 24 April 1939 to a traditional Buddhist family in Kurunegala and was educated at the Government School of Nilagama. His father was a supporter of Ven. Wigoda Bodhirakkhita Thera, who was resident at the nearby Na Uyana forest monastery. The close relationship with the monks from childhood inspired his decision to ordain, and he trained under Ven. Wigoda Bodhirakkhita Thera in 1956 as an upasaka. He went forth on 27 March 1957 with Ven. Matara Sri Nanarama Mahathera as his upajjhaya and received upasampada on 15 July 1959 with Ven. Madawala Dhammatilaka Mahathera as the upajjhaya.

Ven Ariyadhamma thero studied under several learned elders, including Getamanne Sri Vimalavamsa Mahathera, Ven. Kadawedduwe Sri Jinavamsa Mahathera, Ven. Devagoda Mangalasiri Mahathera and Ven. Matara Sri Nanarama Mahathera. He studied the Burmese language with Ven. Nyaninda Sayadaw while he was in Sri Lanka in 1964. Ven

Ariyadhamma thero was proficient in Pali and Sanskrit and had extensive knowledge of the Pali Canon and the Pali commentaries. He was a teacher at the Gunawardena Yogasrama (the headquarters of Sri Kalyani Yogasrama Samstha) from 1965 to 1995. Ven Ariyadhamma thero was appointed the registrar of Sri Kalyani Yogasrama Samstha in 1969, a position he held until being appointed the spiritual advisor and head of the organization in 2003. In this capacity, Ariyadhamma led about 1,500 forest monks in 193 branch monasteries.