As an eleven-year-old monk, Venerable Sumitta attended the funerals of community members. He did not like it, but his teacher insisted. And in time, he learned that he could be of comfort to his community and that everyone would face death.

Young Venerable Sumitta was no stranger to death.  His father died, when he was three,  one of his sisters died when he was nine. Later he would lose his brother to a brain tumor. Once he became a more experienced monk, his family and friends relied on him to help them all through their grief. They looked to Him for wisdom and guidance.

 Now, as a well-traveled senior monk, living far away from his brothers and sisters, he still helps his family. You see, we are all his family. Wherever he stays, the people he stays with are his family. And he is always ready to help us out with a Dhamma talk, a kind word, and advice on how to keep moving forward with our practice.