Ven. Wadigala Samitharathana Thero has become the first Sri Lankan Buddhist monk in 105 years to study at Britain’s University of Oxford. Currently pursuing an MPhil in Buddhist Studies as a Glorisun Scholar at St Cross College, University of Oxford, the Thero’s academic journey is marked by exceptional accomplishments.

His foundational education in oriental languages—Sinhala, Pali, and Sanskrit—along with related disciplines such as philology, etymology, grammar, semantics, metrics, prosody, logic, ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics, was undertaken at Siri Sunanda Pirivena, Beliatta, and Mahavihara Maha Pirivena, Kandy, in Sri Lanka.

In 2013, he was awarded the ‘National First Prize’ with a Korean Government Scholarship for achieving the highest marks in the Buddhist Religious Final Examination. In 2016, he earned the academic honour of ‘Royal Pandita’ in recognition of his successful completion of oriental studies in Sri Lanka.

In 2019, the Thero commenced a BA (Hons) in Philosophy at the University of Peradeniya while continuing his in-depth study of the Pali canon, exegetical commentaries, and Vedic, non-Vedic, and Buddhist Sanskrit texts. His scholarly excellence was further recognised in 2017 when the International Buddhist College in Thailand presented him with the ‘Outstanding Young Buddhist Scholar Award.’

He later received an offer from Oxford Brookes University, accompanied by an International Student Scholarship Award, enabling him to complete the final two years of his undergraduate programme. In 2023, he earned a BA (Hons) in Philosophy, submitting a dissertation titled ‘Aristotle and Buddhism: A Comparative Study of the Aristotelian Concept of Eudaimonia and the Buddhist Perspective of Nibb?na’.

The Tibet Foundation Award facilitated his pursuit of an MA in Buddhist Studies at SOAS University of London in 2024. There, he conducted groundbreaking research on ‘Buddhaghosa’s Critique of Meditation (Visuddhimagga): An Emphasis on Ethics, Epistemology, and Metaphysics in Buddhist Meditation’.

Over the years, Ven. Samitharathana Thero has delivered papers at international research conferences in Zürich, Paris, Oxford, Cambridge, Madrid, Berlin, New York, Colombo, and Kandy. He also founded the Oxford Buddhist Society, serving as its Founding President, with the aim of preserving Therav?da Buddhism for the benefit of humanity.

In Michaelmas Term 2024, he matriculated at the University of Oxford as a Glorisun Scholar, joining St Cross College to pursue his MPhil in Buddhist Studies. His scholarship follows in the footsteps of Venerable Suriyagoda Sumangala, who was the first Sri Lankan Buddhist monk to study at Oxford. In Michaelmas Term 1919, Venerable Sumangala enrolled as a non-collegiate student and later studied for a BLitt at Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford.