The Sangha of
"The fertile ground for wisdom"
Paññābhūmi is a Theravāda Buddhist monastery in Jalisco, Mexico. Its community, however, reaches far beyond the surrounding forest: through the retreats and sessions Bhante Rāhula guides across different continents, the Dhamma today walks in 18 countries.
This page brings together the spiritual roots of the monastery (the teachers who formed Bhante), his biography and journey, and the global sangha woven together retreat by retreat, person by person.
(Preceptor of Bhante Rāhula)
Sayadaw Dr. Nandamālābhivaṃsa, born in 1940 in Myanmar, is a renowned scholar, teacher and author of Theravāda Buddhism.
As rector of important Buddhist institutions, he founded centers for advanced Dhamma studies and has shared the Buddha's teachings worldwide with practical insight, lightness and compassion.
Sayadaw U Tejaniya began his meditation practice as a young man in Myanmar and is known for his distinctive approach to mindfulness in daily life.
His teaching centers on cultivating a relaxed yet precise awareness, integrating wisdom and understanding into every moment of practice.
Sayadaw U Ukkamsacara has devoted his life to the deep study of the suttas and Pali texts and to meditation practice in accordance with the Theravāda tradition.
He has offered teachings in Macao centered on the Abhidhamma. His approach combines rigorous textual study with contemplative practice, guiding practitioners toward a full understanding of the Buddha's teaching from both a doctrinal and an experiential perspective.
Ven. Āyasmā Ariyadhammika, born in Austria in 1976, was ordained as a Theravāda monk in 2005 at the Pa-Auk monastery in Burma, where he practiced intensive meditation for five years.
He later trained in other Burmese traditions and in the Thai forest tradition, living as a wandering monk. He also resided in Malaysia and Sri Lanka, guiding new monks and deepening his Dhamma studies.
Bhante Rāhula Thero
Born in Mexico, Bhante Rāhula, a former musician and composer, earned a master's degree in music therapy. Raised Catholic yet drawn to spirituality from an early age, he began to question his inherited faith at the age of twelve. This search led him to Hindu meditation and Native American ceremonies, which he practiced for nearly a decade, before exploring Sufism in New York and Islam in New Delhi, until he finally found in the Buddha's teachings the answers he had long sought and, for that reason, embraced monastic life.
In 2001 he moved to Asia, where he lived for 20 years studying and practicing the Dhamma. He was ordained in Myanmar under the tutelage of the Most Venerable Sayadaw Dr. Nandamālā-bhivaṃsa. Since 2004 he has received meditation guidance from Sayadaw U Tejaniya. He studied the Suttas and the Abhidhamma with Sayadaw Dr. Ukkamsa-cara in Macau, and continued his monastic training and study of the Vinaya at SBS in Malaysia, under the guidance of Venerable Ariya-dhammika for two years, while offering talks, retreats and activities for the local community. In 2019, Bhante completed a course in Buddhist scriptures at Harvard University.
Since 2016, Bhante has offered weekly teachings, both in person and online, accompanying students from 18 countries in their practice and exploration of the Dhamma. He leads retreats and teaching tours across South America, North America and Asia in Spanish, English and Portuguese. In 2025, Bhante was invited to lead a retreat-pilgrimage to the sacred sites of the Buddha in India and Nepal, with practitioners from Malaysia, Singapore, Mexico and Brazil.
Bhante is currently building the Mexican Buddhist Center (Paññābhūmi Monastery) to share the Buddha's teachings, and envisions the creation of a monastery for nuns to support the saṅgha of nuns in Latin America. Recognizing the challenges of the region, Bhante supports programs in palliative care centers, hospitals, universities, youth education and addiction rehabilitation centers, keeping inner cultivation as his priority.
Through these opportunities for service, the Dhamma is shared for one's own well-being and that of others, on the path to liberation.
Bhante Rāhula accompanies students in 18 countries in their practice and exploration of the Dhamma. These are some of the communities that have received his teachings on retreats and tours around the world, and some of the people with whom he walks the path.
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