Vipassana / Insight · In-person residential
Sri Lankan Theravada monastic training center in West Virginia, founded by Bhante Gunaratana. Long-term residential training and lay-teacher mentorship in the Sri Lankan forest tradition.
The Bhavana Society Forest Monastery is a Sri Lankan Theravada monastic center in High View, West Virginia, founded in 1985 by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana. Bhante Gunaratana is one of the most widely known Theravada monks in the United States, particularly through his books Mindfulness in Plain English and Beyond Mindfulness in Plain English, which have introduced many English-speaking practitioners to the Theravada methodology. The monastery serves as the primary Sri Lankan forest tradition training center in the western United States. Bhavana Society follows the traditional Sri Lankan Theravada monastic pattern with the full vinaya, daily alms, formal meals, sustained meditation practice, and group discipline. The monastery offers both ordained monastic training for men and women and lay-teacher mentorship for serious practitioners who do not seek ordination. Bhikkhuni ordination is part of the lineage's offering, distinguishing Bhavana Society from many Theravada traditions where bhikkhuni ordination has been suppressed or discontinued. The monastery sits on substantial wooded land in West Virginia and operates extended retreats throughout the year alongside ongoing monastic life. Lay yogis attend retreats ranging from weekend programs to extended multi-month residencies. Long-term residents include both ordained monastics in formal training and lay yogis pursuing sustained practice under the senior monks' guidance. Formation is donation-based, following traditional Theravada economics. The monastery accepts no fees for retreats; supporters provide dana including monthly food offerings, financial donations, and volunteer service. Authorization to teach in the lineage is granted by senior monastics over years of accumulated training and is typically associated with completing substantial monastic residence rather than discrete course work. Many practitioners from the wider Western Insight Meditation field have engaged with Bhavana Society over the years, drawn by Bhante Gunaratana's accessible teaching and the monastery's openness to lay practitioners. Bhante Gunaratana himself is now in advanced age, with senior monastics carrying more of the active teaching, and the monastery's continuation depends on the senior body he has trained.
There is no curriculum in the conventional sense. Monastic and yogi training follows the traditional Sri Lankan Theravada pattern: vinaya observance for ordained monastics, sustained meditation practice in the satipatthana methodology, sutta and abhidhamma study at the appropriate level, and engagement with the formal teaching given by senior monks. Topics include the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, dependent origination, the four foundations of mindfulness, the seven factors of awakening, and the cultivation of insight through sustained practice. Bhante Gunaratana's books are accessible introductions for newer practitioners; deeper students engage the suttas, the Visuddhimagga, and the wider commentarial tradition.
Training is residential. Ordained monastics observe the full vinaya including the morning alms round, formal meal before noon, sustained meditation, and group discipline. Long-term lay yogis follow a parallel intensive practice schedule under the senior monks' guidance. Daily life centers on alternating sitting and walking meditation, periodic Dhamma teaching, and the rhythms of monastic community life. Long retreats are interwoven through the year. Authorization to teach lay students or engage in senior service comes from senior monastics over years.
Long-term monastics and senior lay yogis recognized within the Bhavana Society lineage may go on to teach at the monastery, establish their own teaching presence, or serve in the wider Sri Lankan Theravada international community. The credential is monastic or lineage standing within the tradition, granted by senior monastics rather than through any formal external credential. There is no external accreditation.
Aspiring monastics need substantial prior Buddhist meditation experience and direct relationship with the monastery before formal ordination. Long-term lay yogis similarly typically come with substantial prior practice. Shorter retreat attendance is open to practitioners with less experience but extended residence assumes serious commitment.
Bhavana Society sits within the wider Western Theravada landscape alongside Wat Pah Nanachat in the Ajahn Chah lineage, the various Pa Auk and Mahasi affiliated centers, and lay-oriented insight centers like Spirit Rock and Insight Meditation Society. Bhavana Society is distinct in its Sri Lankan rather than Burmese or Thai roots, in offering bhikkhuni ordination, and in Bhante Gunaratana's particularly accessible teaching voice through his published books. For practitioners drawn to Sri Lankan Theravada and to a US-based monastic training option, Bhavana Society is the primary home.
| Location | In-person residential |
| Country | United States |
| Tradition | Vipassana / Insight |
| Format | In-person |
| Duration | Multi-year |
| Estimated cost | Free (donation-based) |
| Accreditation | Bhavana Society Lineage Teacher |