|
Venerable Sumangalo
(1903 ~ 1963)
 |
|
The Venerable
was born as Robert Stuart Clifton in Birmingham, Alabama in
the United States in 1903. After receiving his Doctorate in
Literature, he lectured on Buddhism in the United States
before moving to Asia to further his study of Buddhism. In
1957, he joined the Theravada Order in the Kingdom of Laos
and received the Dharma name ‘Sumangalo’ meaning ‘very
auspicious’. He then left for Penang.
Youth Circle
In Malaya, he
was active in introducing the Youth Circle (YC) concept
which became very popular.
Venerable
Sumangalo visited Singapore on a Dharma tour in November ~
December 1959 with another American Buddhist monk, Venerable
Susiddhi. Through his efforts, a number of Youth Circles and
Sunday schools were set up. Some of these were at Maha Bodhi
School (Geylang), Poh Ern Shih (Pasir Panjang), Singapore
Buddhist Lodge (Kim Yan Road), Meow Im Kok Yuen (Sommerville
Road), Bodhi Larn Yah (Telok Kurau) and World Fellowship of
Buddhists Singapore Regional Centre (Singapore Buddhist
Youth Circle). |
Abbot
of Poh Ern Shih
Earlier in January 1959,
he was offered the honorary abbotship of Poh Ern Shih at Pasir
Panjang. He became the first westerner to be the abbot of a Buddhist
temple in Singapore. While in Singapore, he assisted Miss Pitt Chin
Hui in her translation of the Ksitigarbha Sutra from Chinese to
English. For the area of Buddhist services, besides the traditional
chants, he introduced the English liturgy, especially in the form of
responsories and modern hymns.
Venerable Sumangalo
organized a Pan-Malayan Buddhist Youth Convention on 24 ~ 27
December 1958 in Penang which was attended by a Singapore
delegation. He passed away in February 1963 in Penang.
|
|
