Venerable Khippapanno Kim Trieu was born on December 5, 1930 in the village of Phuong Thanh of Tra Vinh province, Vietnam. Since childhood, his mother having much spiritual devotion often took him to temples and encouraged him to get accustomed to life in the temple. Unfortunately, his mother died when he was barely nine years old. Not long after, his father also passed away when he reached the age of twelve.

Bhante Kim Trieu took the novice (sāmaṇera) vows at the age of seventeen, and had a great desire in learning Pàli, which he considered to be the language that the Buddha used to spread the Dhamma. On May 11, 1949, he received the upasampada ordination and entered into the life of a bhikkhu at Cao Quy Temple located in Phương Thạnh village of Trà Vinh Province, which at the time was renamed as Vĩnh Bình Province. His root teacher gave him the dhamma name of Khippa-Panno which means wholesome mind or quick mind. He is usually referred to as Master Panno or Master Kim Triệu. In 1950, Bhikkhu Panno studied buddhism at Giac Quang Temple, Binh Dong Quay in Cho Lon, and in 1956 he entered Summer Retreat at Ky Vien Tu Temple in Ban Co, Saigon. In 1957, he learned Pali and buddhist doctrine at Tam Bao Tu Temple under the guidance of Venerable Gioi Nghiem and Venerable Shanti Bhadra from Sri Lanka. In 1958, Venerable Gioi Nghiem, then as President of the Vietnamese Theravada Buddhist Sangha Congregation, assigned Bhikkhu Khippapanno to teach Buddhism at Phuoc Quang Temple in Binh Dinh.

Bhikku Khippapanno frequently collaborated with the local Buddhist community there to establish the Buddhist Youth Association, taught sutras and gave teachings to children. Towards the end of 1958, when Phap Quang Buddhist Institute in Gia Dinh began offering classes on dhamma and Pali, he returned to resume his studies. He received the honorable mentioned certificate of Elementary Pali, degree in Secondary Bhuddist Studies, and remained there to assist with teaching Pali grammar and sutras.

From 1962 to 1964, Bhikkhu Khippapanno studied at Buu Quang Temple located in the town of Tam Binh, Thu Duc district. In 1964, upon receiving a scholarship from Nalanda University, he left for India to study with teachers from India, Sri Lanka and Burma. By 1970, he received his B.A. in Buddhist Studies and M.A. in Pali as well as the degree of Acharya in Pali (authority to teach Pali). Later, he attended classes in Ancient Indian History at Maghadh University.

In 1974, Bhante Khippapanno moved to Thailand to engage in meditation practice for 6 months. In 1975, an American Buddhist named Larry Gregory invited him to Nepal, near the city of Kathmandu, to teach 7 meditation retreats in the course of 7 months. In 1979, he returned there for the second time to guide another 10-day meditation retreat.

From 1975 to 1979, while serving two terms as Assistant General Secretariat of the International Meditation Center in Bodh Gaya, Bhante Khippapanno assisted with the construction of the Center. In 1978, he continued with his studies and meditation practice at Bodh Gaya and Pondichery under the guidance of Venerable Tuangpulu Kaba Aye Sayadaw, a high ranking Burmese master. He entered Summer Retreat for two years from 1978 to 1979 at Asoka Mission Vihara, New Delhi. During this time, he assisted the Vietnamese American Buddhist Association in Washington DC in providing reliefs to fellow countrymen in India.

In July 1980, Bhante Khippapanno traveled to Rangoon (Burma) to practice the Four Foundations of Mindfulness for six months under the guidance of the Most Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw, and he had achieved many fruitful results. Since 1976, encouraged by the Venerable Ghosananda, Venerable Khippapano pursued his studies with many renowned meditation masters in India such as Shree Acharya Anagarika Munindra, S.N. Goenka, Rastrapal Mahathera, Venerable Tuangpulu Kaba Aye Sayadaw. In Burma finally, he had the auspicious opportunity to receive direct guidance from the Most Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw.

At the invitation of Mrs. Nghiem Thanh Le, President of the Vietnamese American Buddhist Association in Washington DC, Venerable Khippapano visited the US in 1981 and became the resident abbot for Ky Vien Temple in Washington. It is here at this temple, ever since 1982, besides the weekly program, Venerable Khippapanno has offered 10 day meditation retreats during each season of the year: spring, summer, autumn and winter.

Temples from other states such as Insight Meditation Society (MA), Tathagata Meditation Center (CA), Phap Van Temple (CA), Lake Wood Cambodian Temple (CA), Kim Son Temple (CA), Veluvana Temple (AL), Taungpulu Kaba Aye Burmese Temple (CA) and Phat An Temple (MN) also invited him to guide meditation retreats. From 1990 to 1992, Phat Bao Temple in Savigny-sur-Orge (France), Sakyamuni Meditation Center in Saint Agnan (France), and various Buddhist groups from Paris and its vicinity also invited him to France to guide meditation retreats. In 1994, on the occasion of the welcome ceremony of the Tipitaka at Phap Bao Temple in My Tho, Vietnam, and at the request of the abbot of Phuoc Son Monastery in Dong Nai City, Venerable Khippapanno also guided meditation retreats.

Recognizing the great benefits of meditation retreats under the guidance of Venerable Khippapano and to meet the needs of local Buddhists, in 1986, Buddhists from California requested the Bhante to establish a meditation center. Thus, on July 15, 1988, Sakyamuni Meditation Center in Riverside began its operations. Since then, a meditation retreat is offered every season during the year. The center has been expanded ever since with the major portion of the construction of the center being successfully completed, and a completion ceremony was held on March 23, 1997.