Houston Buddhist Vihara

06/04/2026

Vihara Building Project and Fundraising: 🏛️Message from Bhante Rahula

On May 30th at our Vesak ceremony, participants witnessed the introduction of the new Vihara building project. To accommodate our growing congregation, we plan to construct a new three-story building. The model structure (prepared by Andrew Cao) was displayed, and the project was introduced by Ven. Basnagoda Rahula Thero, Suren, Thusitha Silva, and Andrew.

The new building will include a large hall for music and dance classes, a state-of-the-art kitchen, classrooms, and a few rooms to accommodate visitors and temporary lodgers. We will provide full architectural details as soon as the building plan is finalized. The estimated cost is $500,000 to $600,000. Mr. Richard Thomas has graciously agreed to serve as the builder.

With the initial distribution of our Pledge Form, fundraising was launched the same day with notable success. This weekend, we will publish the first day’s list of donors. Over the next few months, Ven. Rahula Thero will personally contact families, friends, supporters, and former Sunday school students to request their vital support.

We have envisioned a fundraising program that will not place an unfair burden on our congregation. We welcome support in a few different ways:

Established Dayaka Families & Friends: We request those who are well-established with higher financial success to contribute freely according to their means.
General Congregation Pledge: We request other families and individuals to consider a pledge of $100.00 per month for one year (amounting to $1,200.00).
New Families & Alternative Contributions: We know some individuals have recently moved to the United States and need time to get established. We deeply appreciate their participation through lesser financial donations, or by providing their unique skills, labor, and expertise.
Let us come together to bring this building project to life. I am certain that, together, we will achieve even greater success than we anticipate.



Wishing you the Greatest Blessings of the Triple Gem!

06/03/2026

Vesak celebration 2026 🙏🏻☸️🙏🏻

06/03/2026

Vesak celebration 2026 🙏🏻☸️🙏🏻☸️🙏🏻

06/01/2026

🍀 When we extend our hands to help others with loving-kindness, something beautiful happens within us: we are nourished by the very act of nourishing. Joy grows in the giving. Peace deepens in the sharing. Happiness multiplies when offered freely. This is the quiet miracle of loving-kindness—in caring for others, our own hearts also get healed and cared for within themselves.

May you and all beings be well, happy and at peace. 🙏✨

06/01/2026

🙏 Every long journey has a beginning, and every mindful step on the Walk for Peace carries the quiet blessing of the teachers who paved the way.

This photograph, taken on May 29, 2026, at the Houston Buddhist Vihara in Houston, TX, captures a beautiful and deeply moving reunion between Venerable Bhikkhu Paññākāra and his Kammavācācariya Ācariya, Venerable Nanda. Venerable Nanda is the revered teacher who guided his ordination ceremony exactly 16 years ago on the Vesak Full Moon Day, which this year falls on May 31, 2026. In the Theravāda tradition, the Kammavācācariya is the elder monk who formally recites the ordination proceedings on behalf of the Saṅgha—the monastic community of venerable monks.

While the Walk for Peace now crosses oceans and touches many nations, Venerable Bhikkhu Paññākāra always looks back with deep gratitude to those who nurtured and shaped his monastic life. Without the dedication of his teachers and the unbroken lineage of the Saṅgha, this path of peace would not exist today.

We are profoundly grateful to Venerable Nanda for his sacred role at the very beginning of this journey. We are equally grateful to Most Venerable Ratanaguṇa—the primary teacher and spiritual guide of Venerable Bhikkhu Paññākāra—whose wisdom, oversight, and unwavering support have guided and sustained this path of peace, making it possible for all of us to walk together on this journey.

To Venerable Nanda, Most Venerable Ratanaguṇa, and the entire Saṅgha — we bow with the deepest respect and gratitude. May the Triple Gem bless you all with peace, excellent health, and enduring strength. May your lamps of wisdom continue to shine brightly, inspiring generations of practitioners to walk this path of peace, mindfulness, compassion, and harmony.

May you and all beings be well, happy and at peace. 🙏✨

06/01/2026

2026 Vesak celebration at Houston Buddhist vihara 🙏🏻☸️🙏🏻☸️

06/01/2026

05/31/2026

All are welcome!🙏