Bhante Sujato, known as Ajahn Sujato or Bhikkhu Sujato (born Anthony Best
), is an Australian
Theravada Buddhist monk ordained into the
Thai forest lineage of
Ajahn Chah.
Life
Bhante Sujato identifies as an
anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
. A former musician
with the
post punk Alternative rock Australian band
Martha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the Northeastern United States, located south of Cape Cod in Dukes County, Massachusetts, known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes the s ...
, who had toured with, amongst others,
Simply Red,
INXS
INXS (a word play, phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian Rock music, rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. The band's founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboar ...
,
Eurythmics
Eurythmics were a British pop duo consisting of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart. They were both previously in The Tourists, a band which broke up in 1980. The duo released their first studio album, '' In the Garden'', in 1981 to little succ ...
, and
proto-punk
Proto-punk (or protopunk) is rock music played mostly by garage bands from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock movement. The phrase is a retrospective label; the musicians involved were generally not originally associated wit ...
garage band The Saints before disbanding in 1990, Sujato became a monk in 1994 in the
ascetic
Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...
Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah, a
religious order
A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practi ...
which encourages a life of
contemplation and
meditation.
He took
Upasampadā higher ordination in Thailand and lived there for years before returning to Australia.
He spent several years at Bodhinyana Monastery in Western Australia before going on to found Santi Forest Monastery in 2003 where he served as the abbot. Following Bhante Sujato's wishes, Santi became a
Bhikkhunī (
Buddhist nun's )
monastery Vihara in 2012, and he returned to live in Bodhinyana.
Monastic work
In 2005, Bhante Sujato co-founded the Buddhist website SuttaCentral
along with Rod Bucknell and John Kelly, to provide access to early Buddhist texts in their original language and make translations available in modern languages. After being unable to secure copyright-free digital translations of the
Pali Canon for SuttaCentral, Bhante Sujato moved to the island of Chimei, off the coast of Taiwan,
to undertake the task of creating English translations of the four
Nikāyas, living there from 2015 to 2018. These translations have since been published on SuttaCentral, and as free edition books.
In 2019, Bhante Sujato moved to Sydney to establish Lokanta Vihara (the Monastery at the End of the World) with his long term student, Bhante Akaliko, to explore what it means to follow the Buddha’s teachings in an era of climate change, globalised consumerism, and political turmoil.
He is also involved with
Engaged Buddhism.
Sujato aligns himself with
anarcho-pacifism, which he explains as being compatible with Buddhist lay and renunciant life, as well as being in accord with the monastic ''
vinaya
The Vinaya (Pali & Sanskrit: विनय) is the division of the Buddhist canon ('' Tripitaka'') containing the rules and procedures that govern the Buddhist Sangha (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). Three parallel Vinaya traditions remai ...
''.
Bhikkuni
Bhante Sujato along with his teacher
Ajahn Brahm were involved with
Re-establishing Bhikkhuni Ordination in the Forest sangha of Ajahn Chah.
Sujato along with other scholars such as Brahm and
Bhikkhu Analayo had come to the conclusion that there was no valid reason the extinct bhikkhuni order couldn't be re-established.
The ordination ceremony led to
Brahm's expulsion from the Thai Forest Lineage of Ajahn Chah. Bhante Sujato however, was not deterred or intimidated by such a response, and, remaining faithful to his convictions that there was no reason the
Bhikkhunī order should not be revived, went on to successfully found Santi Forest Monastery, and following Bhante Sujato's wishes, Santi has since flourished as a
Bhikkhunī (
Buddhist nun)
monastery Vihara since 2012.
Bibliography
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References
External links
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Sujato's BlogDhamma talks by Ajahn SujatoLokanta Vihara website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sujato, Bhante
1966 births
Australian alternative rock musicians
Australian rock singers
Australian rock guitarists
Converts to Buddhism
Theravada Buddhist monks
Theravada Buddhism writers
Engaged Buddhists
Living people