Ven S Sugathasara Thero

Buddhist Vihara of Queensland Inc (Goodna Temple) was established in 1998. It is an incorporated, non-profit, voluntary organization dedicated to community welfare. It caters for people of all ethnic backgrounds and religious denominations. The temple serves Brisbane and greater Brisbane extending to Toowoomba, Gold Coast and Sun Shine Coast communities.

Ven Sitinamaluwe Sugathasara Thero is the chief priest of Goodna Temple and Ven Wilegama Anandasiri Thero is assisting him in performing all religious and other community services.

The temple is managed by an annually elected nine member committee led by Ven Sugathasara Thero. Other committee members are two Vice-Presidents, Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Treasure and three committee members. The membership has grown in the last couple of years, and includes expatriate Sri Lankans, mainstream Australians and Australians originally from South East Asia. The Temple draws its strength from erudite resident and visiting monks and meditation teachers / instructors, voluntary teachers and counsellors from the international Buddhist community.

Devoted volunteers consist of various educational backgrounds and experiences, who are dedicated and committed to give their expertise to community welfare programs organised by the temple.

To provide a centre of excellence to study the Buddha’s teachings and pursue the practice of the Theravada Tradition, as taught by the Buddha, by all for the benefit and peace here and now as well as beyond. All our services are provided to everyone interested in Buddhism free of charge.

Buddhist Vihara of Queensland Inc. was established as a place for worship and practice Buddhism according to Theravada tradition, with a vision,

• To provide a traditional village monastery for use as a residence for the Buddhist monks
• To provide a place of Buddhist worship for all
• To provide opportunities for all members of the community to become familiar with the Buddhist way of life by practicing sila (morality), Samadhi (concentration) and Panna (wisdom) through learning of the teachings and participating in meditation programs
• To invite erudite meditation monks from time to time for short visits to guide the practitioners of meditation
• To organize and lead the congregation, worshipping and other traditional religious activities
• To organize religious instruction for children and youths so that they may be aware of the ethical and moral values and so become better citizens of Australia
• To provide religious services for the Buddhists and for Buddhists of other nationalities
• To be the spiritual body to guide, assist and care for Buddhists in general and aged Buddhists in particular
• To promote and safeguard friendship and understanding among Buddhists in general and other religious organizations.

The temple has a large collection of books/ audio/ video media for use by earnest students of Dhamma. These books represent Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions of Buddhism. There are many books meant for use by children of all ages. The entire Tripitaka in Pali and Sinhalese languages is available at the Library for reference. Books other than reference material may be borrowed free of charge for a period of two weeks by arrangement with the resident monks.

Audio recordings of Buddha’s Teachings by learned monks may also be borrowed for study.