Dr. Sreedharan Sobhana

India

Wife of 1. Mother of 2. Master and Spiritual Healer of many. Master Sobhana chooses to ride with time in life, and knows that her work on earth will continue after she departs.

Born the 6th of 9 children, she completed high school despite a lack of resources, and then went to work in her father’s hair salon at the age of 16. Later, she worked as a Production Technician for GM and in Quality Control for healthcare products, and along the way had an arranged marriage, all in Singapore.

In 1988 she began practicing Nichiren Daishonim Buddhism until 1993. In 1989, she gave birth to her daughter, a special needs child. She tried various methods to assist her daughter including Aromatherapy and Herbal treatments. She accepted full responsibility for her daughter’s care and finances, and remembers when her daughter started school. The pain -- she witnessed in the hearts of the other parents. So, she gave her skills and accepted responsibility for trimming the hair of the special needs’ children. Each session gave her joy, the children love, and the parents felt gratitude that someone else in society respected and loved their children.

Since 1995 she travelled in and out of India in search of her roots. By mid-2002, she moved back to India, built a house, and made use of her early training in hair trimming to manage veggies, rice and other medical expenses for herself and her daughter. After some years, she had a dream from the Buddha. In the dream, the Buddha conveyed to her to spread his teachings and assist others out of suffering. Thus, in 2007, in Bangalore, India, Dr. Sreedharan Sobhana established a humble Buddhist-Hindu temple, Sri Dharma Bodhi Temple, and started People’s Buddhism.

Master Dr. Sobhana brings a fresh approach to Buddhism, including: meditation, offering prayers for flood & rape victims (Nirbhaya of Delhi), chanting, spiritual counsel, free Dharma books, free food offerings to the public every full & half-moon day; free medical/dental clinic days, detoxification, Reiki healing, allopathy & aromatherapy camps; sports day, music, art, sky watching, cultural dance, hair trimming for children, aromatherapy/massage for special needs children, donations to children in orphanages; donating telephone & powerlines into the area; the celebration of Buddhist holidays, Independence Day & lantern/moon cake festival.

At first it was difficult as people did not take the Buddha seriously, as he was only a man, yet she never stopped. The masses who chose to have faith opened their minds and came. In 2013, Master Dr. Sobhana’s life story aired on TV9, and she has twice received honorary doctoral degrees, as well as, numerous honors and awards. Her mission is to assist as many as possible to walk the Buddha’s path, to alleviate all suffering. She notes, “With the increasing number of people finding meaning in life, and as they slowly come out of their own suffering and even help others to come out of theirs, I find more will help more.”