The Monk who was a Soldier.

The renowned spiritual leader and socially engaged Buddhist monk Bhikkhu Sanghasena was a soldier in the Indian Army when he was just 17. But he left the military long ago, became a monk and now fights for the downtrodden and the deprived.

In recognition of his long self-less services Sanghasena received the prestigious 7th Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam World Peace Award 2021. It was also for his lifelong efforts to promote peace and to foster the values of integrity, compassionate care, and social responsibility. The honour was conferred during the 11th International Peace Conference in Ladakh recently on the occasion of the United Nations International Day of Peace.

Sanghasena was born in the remote Himalayan region and was brought up within a deeply religious family, amongst people who followed the ancient Buddhist traditions. They believed in peacefulness, humility, and innocence as the natural way of life.

But at the age of seventeen he joined the Indian Army, where he developed a strong sense of personal discipline and responsibility. 1977 was a particularly significant year in his life, for this is when he felt the inner spiritual call and decided to leave the army. He left the mountains of Ladakh far behind and became a committed disciple of the renowned Buddhist scholar and celebrated monk, Acharya Buddharakkhita Mahathera, the abbot of the Mahabodhi Society Vihara, Bangalore and received full ordination.

Back home in 1986, Sanghasena founded the Mahabodhi International Meditation Centre (MIMC) in Ladakh. Since then, he has worked tirelessly and selflessly to put the Buddha’s teachings on loving kindness and compassion into action through multifarious charitable humanitarian services which are being carried out in 250 acres of moon-like desert that forms the impressive backdrop to the Devachan Campus at Choglamsar, Ladakh.

For the past many years, Sanghasena has also worked day and night to provide high quality education and safe shelter for underprivileged children, compassionate healthcare for the sick, empowerment and literacy programmes for women folk and other socially disadvantaged groups. He also runs a caring home for the aged and destitute, and many other humanitarian services. Today, MIMC is growing as one of the leading NGOs based in the entire Himalayan region.

Sanghasena has travelled extensively around the world urging everyone to promote spiritual and cultural values, literacy, environmental protection, non-violence, inter- religious harmony, co-existence, global family, and world peace. He actively supports the elevation of the status of women, poverty stricken and underserved people. He also raises his voice against issues concerning the whole world like destructive armaments, destruction of the environment and ecology, human injustice, consumerism, economic imbalance, and racism.

Sanghasena also founded Mahakaruna Foundation, the Save the Himalayas Foundation, and spiritual advisor to the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB). Named after Dr. Abdul Kalam, the award is presented by the All-India Council of Human Rights, Liberties and Social Justice (AICHLS). Previous recipients are Acharya Dr. Shiv Muni Ji Maharaj (2020); Dr. Kailash Satyarthi, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (2019); Most Rev. Dadi JankiJi, Chief of Brahmakumaris (2018); His Eminence Oswald Cardinal Gracias (2017); His Holiness Baba Hardev Singh Ji Maharaj (2016, posthumous); and His Holiness the Dalai Lama (2015).

Source: Himalayan News Chronicle.