New Buddhist Center in Puerto Rico
by U Nandisena

We are happy to announce that the Caribbean Buddhist Center for Meditation and Study (CMEBC) has been founded in Puerto Rico and that Venerable U Silananda has kindly accepted to be its spiritual director. This new center is affiliated with the Mexican Center of Theravada Buddhism (CMBT).

The founders of this center are Ronald Martínez Lahoz and Francisco José Ramos both of Puerto Rico. Ronald Martínez Lahoz is a long time meditator and a student of Buddhism who has spent several months at Mahasi Meditation Center in Yangon, Myanmar. Also he has met Venerable U Silananda on various occasions and spent some months meditating and studying at Taungpulu Monastery. Francisco José Ramos is a philosopher and a Zen practitioner for many
years following the Soto tradition initiated by Dogen Zenji. He has been in retreats at the Zen Mountain Monastery in Mount Tremper, New York.

Currently in Puerto Rico, there are only Tibetan and Zen Buddhism. Among the objectives of the center, are (i) to practice and study Theravada Buddhism following the Mahasi Sayadaw tradition, (ii) to analyze the difference between Theravada and Zen Buddhism, (iii) to spread the practice and Buddhist teachings in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, and (iv) to build a meditation center and monastery in the Theravada tradition.

Now the center is offering meditation sittings and instructions at a house in San Juan, Puerto Rico. They have already established a presence in the World Wide Web where you can visit, get more information, and contact them. Their web address is: http://home.coqui.net/cmebc.