Former monk Yantra Amaro died at his Sunnataram monastery in California on Sunday at the age of 73, according to an announcement by the temple on its Facebook page.
No details were provided about his death, just the statement: “We offer our condolences to the Venerable Father who has attained nirvana.”
Yantra was expelled from the Thai monkhood in 1994, after he implicated in a sex scandal involving his female disciples. He evaded legal action by fleeing to the US, where he established the Sunnataram monastery in California and developed a strong following.
After the expiry of the statue of limitations on the criminal charges in 2014, he made several low-profile visits to Thailand, the last being on February 6th this year.
