Bhante Nyanadassana
The Greek-born Buddhist monk Nyānadassana or Ñāṇadassana (Ioannis Tselios) has been a monk in the ancient Buddhist Theravāda tradition for over 40 years and lives mostly in Sri Lanka.
Born in 1959 in Serres, Greece, he finished high school in Thessaloniki and studied sociology at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany. In 1981, at the age of 22, a trip to India became a turning point in his life when, looking at a tourist brochure, he read these memorable words of the Buddha:
This is my last birth. I have crossed the ocean of existence.
Reflecting deeply on these words and determined to learn more about the Buddha and his Teaching, he visited Kusināra, the place where the Buddha attained his final rest in Nibbāna (Parinibbāna). Here, under the guidance of an elder Indian Buddhist monk, the director of the Kusināra Museum, Ioannis Tselios not only practised meditation but also read about Buddhism. With increased interest, he decided to seek the original and authentic teachings of Buddha, eventually arriving in Sri Lanka.
In 1982, at the age of 23, he was ordained as a novice by his preceptor (upajjhāya), Venerable Kaḍavedduve Shrī Jinavaṃsa Mahāthera, a state-recognised scholar (rājakīya paṇḍita), and entered the monastic life for full-time study and practice. For four years, he trained under the guidance of Venerable Mātara Ñāṇārāma Mahāthera, a state-recognised scholar (rājakīya paṇḍita) and renowned meditation teacher at the Nissaraṇa Vanaya Monastery in Mītirigala.
In 1986, he received higher ordination (upasampadā) from his preceptor, Venerable Kaḍavedduve Shrī Jinavaṃsa Mahāthera. He then studied the ancient Indian language of Pāḷi and the Buddhist Triple Canon (Tipiṭaka), as well as its Commentaries and Subcommentaries, under three learned Elders (Mahāthera) at the Gnānārāma Dharmāyatanaya Monastery in Mīti-rigala, where he stayed for 16 years.
In 1997, after written and oral examinations, he received the title of Vinayācariya (Teacher of Monastic Discipline). Inspired by his teacher, he began teaching the Pāḷi language and the Tipiṭaka for several years. From 2003 to 2007, he practised meditation in Myanmar (Burma), and then returned to Sri Lanka. He has been repeatedly invited by Buddhist centres in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Taiwan to deliver Dhamma talks and classes on meditation.
In 2019, following an invitation from the Theravada Center in Athens, he arrived in Greece, where he conducted meditation seminars, extensive courses in Buddhist philosophy and psychology, and authored seven books, covering a period of six years.
He is the author and translator of approximately twenty Buddhist books in German, English, Sinhalese (the official language of Sri Lanka), Pāli, and Greek. An experienced speaker, he has given numerous lectures in English, Sinhalese, and Greek.
His monastic name Ñāṇa-dassana means ‘Knowing and Seeing’ and he is considered Most Senior monk (Mahāthera) in his tradition.