Venrable Acharya Buddarakkhita is the founder President of the Maha Bodhi Society in Bangalore, India. Born in northeastern state of Manipur in India, Ven. Acharya Buddarakkhita was an engineer in the Defence Services during the Second World War. The Loss of human lives and suffering led him to turn towards spirituality. He resigned his job and walked the length and breath of India as a truth seeker and ultimately took ordination as a Buddhist monk in Kushinara. He studied Pali and Buddhism in Sri Lanka and practiced meditation under a renowned meditation master Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw in Burma. In 1952-54 he was a member of the editorial board of the Sixth Buddhist Synod held in Rangoon, which brought out a complete edition of the Pali Canon. He has taught Buddhology at the Nalanda Pali Postgraduate Institute, Nalanda, Bihar. Since then he has written numerous books and translations of Buddhist text, which have been published in many countries. Best known is the classic English rendering of the Dhammapada-The Buddha's Path of wisdom. The other major works, to name a few, are 'The Living Legacy of the Buddha', 'Mind: Overcoming its Cankers' and 'Karma and Rebirth', he also edits and publishes a monthly magazine, Dhamma.

An internationally recognized meditation master he has lived and thought abroad for many years. Firmly committed to putting Buddhist principles into practice, he has achieved distinction, in social, medical and educational activities in his native India. In May 1996 he completed a project of building Mahabodhi World Peace Buddha Vihara in Bangalore, which is a bigger replica of the Mahabodhi Temple of Buddhagaya built by Emperor Ashoka 2300 years ago. Now at 76, still active, he is concentrating on meditation, training young monks and developing a medical center.