Ajahn Sumedho
Luang Por Sumedho or Ajahn Sumedho ( th, อาจารย์สุเมโธ) (born Robert Karr Jackman, July 27, 1934) is one of the senior Western representatives of the Thai forest tradition of Theravada Buddhism. He was abbot of Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, UK, from its consecration in 1984 until his retirement in 2010. ''Luang Por'' means ''Venerable Father'' (หลวงพ่อ), an honorific and term of affection in keeping with Thai custom; ''ajahn'' means ''teacher''. A bhikkhu since 1967, Sumedho is considered a seminal figure in the transmission of the Buddha's teachings to the West. Biography Ajahn Sumedho was born Robert Karr Jackman in Seattle, Washington, in 1934. During the Korean War he served for four years from the age of 18 as a United States navy medic. He then did a BA in Far Eastern studies and graduated in 1963 with an MA in South Asian studies at the University of California, Berkeley. After a year as a Red Cross social worker, Jackman served ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Seattle, Washington
Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the U.S. state, state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The Seattle metropolitan area's population is 4.02 million, making it the List of metropolitan statistical areas, 15th-largest in the United States. Its growth rate of 21.1% between 2010 and 2020 makes it one of the nation's fastest-growing large cities. Seattle is situated on an isthmus between Puget Sound (an inlet of the Pacific Ocean) and Lake Washington. It is the northernmost major city in the United States, located about south of the Canada–United States border, Canadian border. A major gateway for trade with East Asia, Seattle is the fourth-largest port in North America in terms of container handling . The Seattle area was inhabited by Nat ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of its active battle fleet alone exceeding the next 13 navies combined, including 11 allies or partner nations of the United States as of 2015. It has the highest combined battle fleet tonnage (4,635,628 tonnes as of 2019) and the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with eleven in service, two new carriers under construction, and five other carriers planned. With 336,978 personnel on active duty and 101,583 in the Ready Reserve, the United States Navy is the third largest of the United States military service branches in terms of personnel. It has 290 deployable combat vessels and more than 2,623 operational aircraft . The United States Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during the American Revo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wat Pa Nanachat
Wat Pah Nanachat ( th, วัดป่านานาชาติ; ''Bung Wai International Forest Monastery'') is a Thai Theravada Buddhist monastery in northeast Thailand about 15 kilometres from the city of Ubon Rachathani. It was established in 1975 by Ajahn Chah as a training community for non-Thais according to the norms of the Thai Forest Tradition. Resident monks, novices and postulants include a wide range of nationalities. The primary language of communication and instruction is English. History The monastery was founded in response to increasing international interest, particularly from the United Kingdom, in the Theravadin forest tradition of Thailand. The first abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat was Ajahn Sumedho, an American bhikkhu trained by Ajahn Chah at Wat Nong Pah Pong, the motherhouse of Wat Pah Nanachat. Today, as a consequence, students of the Thai forest tradition are found in branch monasteries around the world under the collective label of ''The Forest Sangha' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wat Nong Pah Pong
''Wat Nong Pah Pong'' (Generally shortened to: ''Wat Pah Pong'', Thai: วัดหนองป่าพง) is a Theravada Buddhist monastery in Ubon Ratchathani Province, (Amphoe) Warin Chamrap, Thailand. It was established by the late Ajahn Chah as the main monastery of the Thai Forest Tradition. International Branch Monasteries In 1975, one of Ajahn Chah's first Western disciples, the Venerable Ajahn Sumedho, opened what was to be the first in a long line of branch monasteries (currently around 240 branches) of '' Wat Pah Pong'' specifically geared towards the growing interest in traditional Buddhist practices among Westerners. The Thai monastery '' Wat Pah Nanachat'', along with a growing list of monasteries, opened in recent years around the world, are introducing the heart of the Buddhist teachings to what was previously something of an inaccessible audience to the Thai Forest masters. Following is an incomplete list of International branch monasteries and associated mon ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bordered to the north by Myanmar and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the extremity of Myanmar. Thailand also shares maritime borders with Vietnam to the southeast, and Indonesia and India to the southwest. Bangkok is the nation's capital and largest city. Tai peoples migrated from southwestern China to mainland Southeast Asia from the 11th century. Indianised kingdoms such as the Mon, Khmer Empire and Malay states ruled the region, competing with Thai states such as the Kingdoms of Ngoenyang, Sukhothai, Lan Na and Ayutthaya, which also rivalled each other. European contact began in 1511 with a Portuguese diplomatic mission to Ayutthaya, w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nong Khai
Nong Khai ( th, เทศบาลเมืองหนองคาย, ) is a city in northeast Thailand. It is the capital of Nong Khai province. Nong Khai city is located in Mueang Nong Khai district. Nong Khai lies on the Mekong River, near the site of the first Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge, spanning the river to Laos. The Thai-Lao Friendship bridge was largely funded by a gift to the Lao government from the Australian government. It is the road and railway gateway to the Lao capital, Vientiane, upriver, on the north bank opposite Thailand's Si Chiang Mai district. Construction of a rail spur to Thanaleng outside Vientiane was begun early-2007 and opened 5 March 2009. Nong Khai is north of Bangkok by road and north of Udon Thani. History The Prap Ho Monument before the old city hall (now a museum and cultural center) memorialises the dead of the Haw wars. Nong Khai has become a popular destination during the Buddhist Lent festival when mysterious balls of light, or Nag ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wat Sri Saket
A wat ( km, វត្ត, ; lo, ວັດ, ; th, วัด, ; khb, 「ᩅᨯ᩠ᨰ」(waD+Dha); nod, 「ᩅ᩠ᨯ᩶」 (w+Da2)) is a type of Buddhist temple and Hindu temple in Cambodia, Laos, East Shan State, Yunnan, the Southern Province of Sri Lanka and Thailand. The word ''wat'' is a Thai word that was borrowed from Sanskrit ''vāṭa'' (Devanāgarī: वाट), meaning 'enclosure'. The term has varying meanings in each region, sometimes referring to a specific type of government-recognised or large temple, other times referring to any Buddhist or Hindu temple. Overview Strictly speaking, a ''wat'' is a Buddhist sacred precinct with vihara (quarters for bhikkhus), a temple, an edifice housing a large image of Buddha and a facility for lessons. A site without a minimum of three resident ''bhikkhu''s cannot correctly be described as a wat although the term is frequently used more loosely, even for ruins of ancient temples. As a transitive or intransitive verb, ''w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Samanera
A sāmaṇera (Pali); sa, श्रामणेर (), is a novice male monastic in a Buddhist context. A female novice is a ''śrāmaṇerī'' or ''śrāmaṇerikā'' (Sanskrit; Pāli: ''sāmaṇerī''). Etymology The ''sāmaṇera'' is a Pali language diminutive equivalent to the Sanskrit term ''śrāmaṇera'', which indicates an ascetic practitioner. Therefore, sāmaṇera might be said to mean "small or young renunciate". In some South and Southeast Asian Buddhist traditions, the term refers to someone who has taken the initial pravrajya vows but not the upasampada or full ordination. The pratimokṣa rules do not apply to them and they do not take part in the recital of the rules on uposatha days. The Sanskrit word ''śrāmaṇerikā'' is the feminine form of ''śrāmaṇera''. History The account provided in the literature of South Asian Buddhism (and adopted by other Buddhist sects) is that when Gautama Buddha's son Rāhula was seven years old, he followed the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Novice
A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession A profession is a field of work that has been successfully ''professionalized''. It can be defined as a disciplined group of individuals, '' professionals'', who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are accepted by ... with no prior experience. Religion Buddhism In many Buddhism, Buddhist orders, a man or woman who intends to take ordination must first become a novice, adopting part of the monastic code indicated in the vinaya and studying in preparation for full ordination. The name for this level of ordination varies from one tradition to another. In Pali, the word is samanera, which means 'small monk' or 'boy monk'. Christianity Catholicism A novice in Catholic canon law and tradition, is a ''prospective'' member of a religious order who i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Borneo
Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and east of Sumatra. The island is politically divided among three countries: Malaysia and Brunei in the north, and Indonesia to the south. Approximately 73% of the island is Indonesian territory. In the north, the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak make up about 26% of the island. The population in Borneo is 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Additionally, the Malaysian federal territory of Labuan is situated on a small island just off the coast of Borneo. The sovereign state of Brunei, located on the north coast, comprises about 1% of Borneo's land area. A little more than half of the island is in the Northern Hemisphere, including Brunei and the Malaysian portion, while the Indonesian portion spans the Northern and Southern hemisph ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F. Kennedy Executive Order 10924 and authorized by Congress the following September by the Peace Corps Act. Kennedy first publicly proposed the Peace Corps during his 1960 presidential campaign as a means to improve America's global image and leadership in the Cold War; he cited the Soviet Union's deployment of skilled citizens "abroad in the service of world communism" and argued the U.S. must do the same to advance values such as democracy and liberty. The Peace Corps was formally established within three months of Kennedy's presidency, garnering both bipartisan congressional support and popular support, particularly among recent university graduates. The official goal of the Peace Corps is to assist developing countries by providing skil ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and to prevent and alleviate human suffering. Within it there are three distinct organisations that are legally independent from each other, but are united within the movement through common basic principles, objectives, symbols, statutes and governing organisations. History Foundation Until the middle of the nineteenth century, there were no organized or well-established army nursing systems for casualties, nor safe or protected institutions, to accommodate and treat those who were wounded on the battlefield. A devout Calvinism, Calvinist, the Swiss businessman Jean-Henri Dunant traveled to Italy to meet then-French emperor Napoleon III in June 1859 with the intention of discussing difficulties in conducting ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |