Some journeys begin with a destination.
Others begin with a quiet calling that never leaves.
For Venerable Nimala, that calling began in the small village of Nakulugamuwa, in the deep south of Sri Lanka.
Long before he understood the teachings of the Buddha, he found himself naturally drawn towards them. While many children spent their days playing, he was happiest arranging flowers before a Buddha statue, lighting oil lamps, offering incense, and quietly visiting the village temple. These moments were never duties. They were simply where he felt most at peace.
Looking back, he often reflects that the path had already begun long before he consciously chose it.
As he approached adulthood, he asked his mother for permission to become a Buddhist monk.
Within the Theravāda Buddhist tradition, parental blessing is an important part of ordination, and her answer came not from disagreement, but from love.
As the youngest son in a family of six children, he shared a particularly close bond with his mother. Through tears, she explained that she hoped he would remain beside her and care for her in later life. Out of deep respect for her wishes, he quietly laid aside his aspiration and stepped into the world as a layman.
Over the next decade, he explored many different paths. He studied accounting and management, hospitality, horticulture, landscaping, and interior design. Every experience taught him something valuable, yet none answered the deeper question that remained quietly alive within him.
Although he gave each profession his full commitment, he realised he was searching for something that could not be found in a career alone.
The quiet calling of his childhood never disappeared.
Perhaps it is this part of his own journey that allows him to meet so many retreat guests with patience and understanding today. Having spent years searching for purpose himself, he understands that lasting transformation rarely happens all at once. More often, it begins quietly, long before we recognise it ourselves.
At the age of twenty-eight, he returned to his mother and once again asked for her blessing. By then, she had witnessed his continual search for purpose and understood that this aspiration had remained unchanged for many years. Believing he might spend only a short period in monastic life before returning home, she gently gave her permission.
Instead, it became the beginning of a lifelong vocation.
At the age of twenty-nine, Venerable Nimala ordained under Most Venerable Dodampahala Chandasiri Mahānāyaka Thera, one of Sri Lanka’s most respected Buddhist masters and a renowned scholar of the Pāli Tipiṭaka, meditation, and monastic discipline. His teacher was widely honoured both in Sri Lanka and internationally for his lifelong service to the Buddha Sāsana.
For the next five years, he trained at Gothama Thapovanaya Monastery, immersing himself in the traditional education of a Theravāda monk. His days were devoted to studying the Pāli Tipiṭaka, particularly the profound philosophy of the Abhidhamma, Satipaṭṭhāna meditation, and the discipline and simplicity of monastic life.
His original aspiration was simple.
He wished to dedicate his life to meditation and quiet contemplative practice.
Yet his teacher saw a different path.
One day, his teacher encouraged him not to remain in solitude forever. He reminded him that there would be time later in life for long periods of secluded practice. While he was still young, he said, there was another responsibility, to bring the Dhamma into the lives of others.
Trusting his teacher’s wisdom, Venerable Nimala accepted the appointment as Chief Incumbent of Somagiri International Meditation Centre near his home region.
That decision transformed the course of his life.
What began as serving local communities gradually expanded into teaching people from around the world.
Today, those who come to practise with Venerable Nimala arrive from every corner of the world. Some are seeking relief from stress and burnout. Others are curious about meditation, searching for clarity, or simply sensing that there is another way of living. His role is never to tell people what to believe, but to gently guide them towards discovering their own understanding through direct experience.
Since 2017, he has served as a meditation teacher and spiritual guide at Sen Wellness Sanctuary, later extending his work to Rekawa Wellness Resort, Amanwella, Anantara Peace Haven, and other leading wellness destinations in southern Sri Lanka.
As his work expanded internationally, so did the needs of the people seeking guidance. While his foundation has always remained firmly rooted in the teachings of the Buddha, he recognised that many people first arrive through the language of wellbeing rather than religion or philosophy.
In response, he gradually integrated complementary practices-including mindful movement, yoga, breathwork, sound experiences, Buddhist psychotherapy, and contemplative life guidance, into his teaching. Rather than standing apart from Buddhist practice, these complementary disciplines serve as skillful means, supporting the cultivation of mindfulness, emotional balance, self-understanding, and inner transformation.
Today, Venerable Nimala guides individuals and groups through residential retreats, workshops, private consultations, and immersive wellness programmes. His work bridges the wisdom of the Theravāda Buddhist tradition with the realities of modern life, helping people discover practical ways to cultivate awareness, resilience, compassion, and lasting wellbeing.
Guests often remark that what stays with them is not simply a meditation technique, but the quiet presence with which he teaches. There is no sense of performance or urgency-only a calm, thoughtful invitation to explore one’s own experience with honesty, curiosity, and compassion. His guidance encourages people not to become someone different, but to understand themselves more deeply.
Alongside his international work, his commitment to the local community has remained unwavering.
On full moon days, he continues to offer meditation retreats and Dhamma teachings for Sri Lankan practitioners. Through the Friends for Nature Foundation, which he established more than a decade ago, he has supported children and young people through education, leadership development, mental wellbeing, and community programmes designed to create sustainable opportunities for future generations.
More recently, he was appointed Chief Incumbent of the ancient Bisōgala Monastery, where he continues preserving Sri Lanka’s living Buddhist heritage while welcoming both local and international practitioners seeking authentic training in meditation and monastic life.
Despite years of teaching, Venerable Nimala continues to see himself first and foremost as a student. Alongside his lifelong study of the Pāli Tipiṭaka, he continues exploring psychology and complementary contemplative traditions, believing that learning itself is part of the practice.
Throughout every stage of his journey, one principle has remained unchanged.
Wisdom is not preserved merely by reading ancient texts.
It is preserved by living them.
Whether teaching in a forest monastery, guiding a retreat beside the Indian Ocean, leading meditation, facilitating breathwork, offering sound experiences, supporting someone through Buddhist psychotherapy, or simply sharing a quiet conversation, his intention remains the same: to help people reconnect with the clarity and wisdom already present within themselves.
For Venerable Nimala, the Buddha’s teachings are not relics of the past.
They are a living tradition.
A tradition that continues each time awareness is cultivated, compassion is practised, and wisdom is embodied in everyday life.
Today, those who join him on retreat at Rekawa Wellness Resort are not simply learning meditation. They are stepping into a living tradition that has been carefully preserved, deeply practised, and quietly shared across generations. The invitation is not to become someone different, but to rediscover the awareness, wisdom, compassion, and inner freedom that have always been present beneath the noise of everyday life.
