Bhikkhu Bodhi (born December 10, 1944), born Jeffrey Block, is an American

Theravada ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

, ordained in Sri Lanka and currently teaching in the New York and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

area. He was appointed the second president of the

Buddhist Publication Society The Buddhist Publication Society (BPS) is a publishing house with charitable status whose objective is to disseminate the teaching of Gautama Buddha. It was founded in Kandy, Sri Lanka in 1958 by two Sri Lankan lay Buddhists, A.S. Karunaratna and ...

and has edited and authored several publications grounded in the

Buddhist tradition.

Life

In 1944, Block was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, to

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

parents. He grew up in Borough Park, where he attended elementary school P.S. 160. In 1966, he obtained a B.A. in philosophy from Brooklyn College. In 1972, he obtained a PhD in philosophy from Claremont Graduate University. In 1967, while still a graduate student, Bodhi was ordained as a sāmaṇera (novitiate) in the Vietnamese

Mahayana ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing br ...

order. In 1972, after graduation, Bodhi traveled to Sri Lanka where, under Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero, he received sāmaṇera ordination in the Theravada Order and, in 1973, he received full ordination (

Upasampadā Upasampadā (Pali) literally denotes "approaching or nearing the ascetic tradition." In more common parlance it specifically refers to the rite and ritual of ascetic vetting (ordination) by which a candidate, if deemed acceptable, enters the co ...

) as a Theravāda bhikkhu or monk. In 1984, succeeding co-founder Nyanaponika Thera,In Bodhi, ''Connected Discourses'' (2000), p. 5, Bodhi dedicates the tome to "the memory of my teacher Venerable Abhidhajamaharatthaguru Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Mahanayaka Thera (1896–1998) and to the memories of my chief kalyanamittas in my life as a Buddhist monk, Venerable Nyanaponika Mahathera (1901–1994) and Venerable Piyadassi Maha Thera (1914–1998)". Bodhi was appointed English-language editor of the

(BPS, Sri Lanka) and, in 1988, became its president. In 2002, he retired from the society's editorship while still remaining its president. In 2000, at the United Nations' first official

Vesak Vesak (Pali: ''Vesākha''; sa, Vaiśākha), also known as Buddha Jayanti, Buddha Purnima and Buddha Day, is a holiday traditionally observed by Buddhists in South Asia and Southeast Asia as well as Tibet and Mongolia. The festival commemora ...

celebration, Bodhi gave the keynote address. In 2002, after retiring as editor of BPS, Bodhi returned to the United States. After living at Bodhi Monastery (

Lafayette Township, New Jersey Lafayette Township is a township located in the Skylands Region of Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 2,538, reflecting an increase of 238 (+10.3%) from the 2,300 counted ...

), he now lives and teaches at Chuang Yen Monastery (

Carmel, New York Carmel (pronounced ) is a town in Putnam County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the town had a population of 33,576. The town may have been named after Mount Carmel in Israel. The Town of Carmel is on the souther ...

), and is the president of the Buddhist Association of the United States. Bhikkhu Bodhi is founder of the organization

Buddhist Global Relief Buddhist Global Relief is an organization of socially engaged Buddhists with a mission to "combat chronic hunger and malnutrition" founded by Bhikkhu Bodhi. History When the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami happened, Bhikkhu Bodhi was mo ...

, which funds projects to fight hunger and to empower women across the world.

Works

* * * * * * * * * * * *Bodhi, Bhikkhu (2009). ''The Revival of Bhikkhuni Ordination in the Theravada Tradition''. Inward Path. ISBN 978-983-3512-63-8 * * * * * * *

Wheel Publications (BPS)

*
Nourishing the Roots and Other Essays on Buddhist Ethics (WH259/260)
' *
Transcendental Dependent Arising (WH277/278)
' *
Going for Refuge; Taking the Precepts (WH282/284)
' *
Dana: The Practice of Giving (WH367/369)
' *
Maha Kaccana: Master of Doctrinal Exposition (WH405/406)
' *
Facing the Future: Four essays on the social relevance of Buddhism (WH438/440)
'

Bodhi Leaf Publications (BPS)

*
Taste of Freedom (BL71)
' *
The Living Message of the Dhammapada (BL129)
' *
Discourses of the Ancient Nuns (BL143)
' *
The Good, the Beautiful, and the True (BL154)
'

References

External links