Pure Inspiration

9
Inspiring Virtues
Ven. K. Pemasiri
Ven. K. Pemasiri Mahāthera is a renowned meditation teacher in Sri
Lanka and is abbot of Sumathipāla Araṇa, Kanduboda. He first met
Ven. Ñāṇavimala Mahāthera in 1967 and then on many more
occasions in the following decades at various locations in Sri Lanka.
The recollections below have been compiled from translations of talks
Ven. Pemasiri gave in Sinhala in November 2016 and February 2018 at
Sumathipāla Araṇa.
Even before I was ordained I had heard of Ven. Ñāṇavimala.
After I ordained, I met him for the first time in 1967. He became
ill with fever in Jaffna, moved to Habarana, and later came to
Arankele, Kurunegala where I was staying. He was like a
skeleton at that time, very weak and didn’t have enough strength
to draw water to bathe or even wash his under robe. I offered to
wash his robe and help him bathe, but he flatly refused my help.
Later, wherever I happened to be living, he would sometimes
visit, staying a few days longer than he normally would in one
place. Whenever this occurred, we saw his way of life and
saddhā (faith) would arise in us. He had a lot of viriya, mettā
and upekkhā (energy, loving-kindness and equanimity) and
other wholesome qualities.
In 1968, when I was living in Gampola, I met him near Nuware
Eliya around 7:30 in the morning. It was wet and cold and he
was coming down from a forest area. I was in a vehicle and
offered him a ride, but he refused and continued on foot. Later