Ajahn Amaro
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Ajahn Amaro (born 1956) is a
Theravāda ''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 ...
and teacher, and abbot of the
Amaravati Buddhist Monastery Amaravati is a Theravada Buddhist monastery at the eastern end of the Chiltern Hills in South East England. Established in 1984 by Ajahn Sumedho as an extension of Chithurst Buddhist Monastery, the monastery has its roots in the Thai Forest ...
at the eastern end of the
Chiltern Hills The Chiltern Hills is a chalk escarpment in England. The area, northwest of London, covers stretching from Goring-on-Thames in the southwest to Hitchin in the northeast - across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Bedfordshire. ...
in
South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the ITL 1 statistical regions of England, first level of International Territorial Level, ITL for Statistics, statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of england, ...
. The centre, in practice as much for ordinary people as for monastics, is inspired by the
Thai Forest Tradition The Kammaṭṭhāna Forest Tradition of Thailand (from pi, kammaṭṭhāna meaning "place of work"), commonly known in the West as the Thai Forest Tradition, is a lineage of Theravada Buddhist monasticism. The Thai Forest Tradition sta ...
and the teachings of the late
Ajahn Chah Chah Subhaddo ( th, ชา สุภัทโท, known in English as Ajahn Chah, occasionally with honorific titles ''Luang Por'' and ''Phra'') also known by his honorific name "Phra Bodhiñāṇathera" ( th, พระโพธิญาณเถ ...
. Its chief priorities are the practice and teaching of
Buddhist ethics Buddhist ethics are traditionally based on what Buddhists view as the enlightened perspective of the Buddha. The term for ethics or morality used in Buddhism is ''Śīla'' or ''sīla'' (Pāli). ''Śīla'' in Buddhism is one of three sections of ...
, together with traditional
concentration In chemistry, concentration is the abundance of a constituent divided by the total volume of a mixture. Several types of mathematical description can be distinguished: '' mass concentration'', ''molar concentration'', ''number concentration'', an ...
and
insight meditation ''Samatha'' (Pāli; sa, शमथ ''śamatha''; ), "calm," "serenity," "tranquillity of awareness," and ''vipassanā'' (Pāli; Sanskrit ''vipaśyanā''), literally "special, super (''vi-''), seeing (''-passanā'')", are two qualities of the ...
techniques, as an effective way of dissolving
suffering Suffering, or pain in a broad sense, may be an experience of unpleasantness or aversion, possibly associated with the perception of harm or threat of harm in an individual. Suffering is the basic element that makes up the negative valence of a ...
.


Biography

Ajahn Amaro was born J. C. Horner in
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
. He was educated at Sutton Valence School and
Bedford College, University of London Bedford College was in York Place after 1874 Bedford College was founded in London in 1849 as the first higher education college for women in the United Kingdom. In 1900, it became a constituent of the University of London. Having played a lead ...
. ''
Ajahn Ajahn ( th, อาจารย์, , ) is a Thai-language term that translates as "professor" or "teacher". It is derived from the Pali word '' ācariya'' and is a term of respect, similar in meaning to the Japanese ''sensei''. It is used as a ...
'' means ''teacher''. He is a second cousin of I.B. Horner (1896–1981), late President of the
Pali Text Society The Pali Text Society is a text publication society founded in 1881 by Thomas William Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pāli texts". Pāli is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism are preserved. The Pā ...
. Apart from a certain interest in the theories of
Rudolf Steiner Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (27 or 25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925) was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and claimed clairvoyant. Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century as a ...
—to which he had been introduced by
Trevor Ravenscroft Trevor ( Trefor in the Welsh language) is a common given name or surname of Welsh origin. It is an habitational name, deriving from the Welsh ''tre(f)'', meaning "homestead", or "settlement" and ''fawr'', meaning "large, big". The Cornish lan ...
, Amaro's principal enthusiasms on leaving university were, by his own admission, pretty much those standard-issue among sceptical students of the day: ''sex, drugs and rock'n'roll''. Having completed his honours degree in
psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...
and
physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...
, in 1977 he went to
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
,
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
and
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 bo ...
on an undefined "open-ended" spiritual search. He somehow found himself in northeast Thailand, at the forest monastery of Wat Pah Nanachat. Ajahn Chah's charismatic impact and the encouragement of the senior American monk Ajahn Pabhakaro were decisive. It changed his life. Having become a lay renunciate, four months later he became a
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 ...
and in 1979 he received upasampada from Ajahn Chah and took profession as a Theravadin
bhikkhu A ''bhikkhu'' (Pali: भिक्खु, Sanskrit: भिक्षु, ''bhikṣu'') is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male and female monastics ("nun", ''bhikkhunī'', Sanskrit ''bhikṣuṇī'') are members of the Sangha (Buddhist ...
. He stayed in Thailand for two years. Amaro then went back to England to help
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 Amaravat ...
establish Chithurst Monastery in West
Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
. With the blessing of his
abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...
, in 1983 he moved to Harnham Vihara in Northumberland. He made the entire 830-mile journey on foot, chronicled in his 1984 volume ''Tudong: The Long Road North''.


Origins of California's Abhayagiri Monastery

In the early 1990s Amaro made several teaching trips to northern California. Many who attended his meditation retreats became enthusiastic about the possibility of establishing a permanent monastic community in the area. Amaravati, his mother house back in England, meanwhile received a substantial donation of land in
Mendocino County Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish for "of Mendoza) is a county located on the North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 91,601. The county seat is Ukiah. Mendocino County consists whol ...
from
Chan Chan may refer to: Places *Chan (commune), Cambodia *Chan Lake, by Chan Lake Territorial Park in Northwest Territories, Canada People *Chan (surname), romanization of various Chinese surnames (including 陳, 曾, 詹, 戰, and 田) *Chan Caldwel ...
Master
Hsuan Hua Hsuan Hua (; April 16, 1918 – June 7, 1995), also known as An Tzu, Tu Lun and Master Hua by his Western disciples, was a Chinese monk of Chan Buddhism and a contributing figure in bringing Chinese Buddhism to the United States in the lat ...
, founder of the
City of Ten Thousand Buddhas The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas () is an international Buddhist community and monastery founded by Hsuan Hua, an important figure in Western Buddhism. It is one of the first Chan Buddhist temples in the United States, and one of the largest Bud ...
in Talmage. The land was allocated to establish a forest retreat. Since for some years Ajahn Sumedho had venerated the Chinese master, both abbots hoped that, among its other virtues, the center would serve as a symbolic bond between the otherwise distinct Theravāda and
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 bra ...
lineages. Care for what became Abhayagiri was placed in the hands of a group of lay practitioners, the Sanghapala Foundation.
Ajahn Pasanno Ajahn Pasanno (born Reed Perry, Manitoba, Canada, July 26, 1949) is the most senior Western disciple of Ven. Ajahn Chah in the United States, and most senior in the world after Ajahn Sumedho and Ajahn Khemadhammo. For many years he was the abbo ...
was appointed founding co-abbot of Abhayagiri with Ajahn Amaro. The latter announced on 8 February 2010 that he would be leaving Abhayagiri and returning to England, having accepted a request from Ajahn Sumedho to succeed him as abbot at Amaravati.


Thai honorific ranks

* 5 December 2015 – Phra Videsabuddhiguṇa (พระวิเทศพุทธิคุณ) * 28 July 2019 – Phra Raj Buddhivaraguṇa Vipulasasanakiccadara Mahaganissara Pavarasangharama Gamavasi (พระราชพุทธิวรคุณ วิบูลศาสนกิจจาทร มหาคณิสสร บวรสังฆาราม คามวาสี)


Bibliography

*
Tudong: The Long Road North
' (1984, English Sangha Trust) *
Silent Rain
' (1994, Amaravati Publications) *''Words of Calm and Friendship'' – by Ajahn Pasanno & Ajahn Amaro (1999, Abhayagiri Monastery) *
The Pilgrim Kamanita: A Legendary Romance
' – by Karl Gjellerup, Ajahn Amaro ed. (1999, Amaravati Publications) *
The Dhamma and the Real World
' – by Ajahn Pasanno & Ajahn Amaro (2000, Abhayagiri Monastery) *
Broad View, Boundless Heart
' – by Ajahn Pasanno & Ajahn Amaro (2001, Abhayagiri Monastery) *
Food for the Heart
' – by Ven. Ajahn Chah; Introduction by Ajahn Amaro (2002, Wisdom Publications) *
Small Boat, Great Mountain: Theravadin Reflections on the Natural Great Perfection
' (2002, Abhayagiri Monastery) *
Who Will Feed the Mice?
' (2003, Abhayagiri Monastery) *''The Sound of Silence'' – by Ven. Ajahn Sumedho; Introduction by Ajahn Amaro (2007, Wisdom Publications) *
Rugged Interdependency
' (2006, Abhayagiri Monastery) *
Like a River
' – by Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Amaro et al. (2008, Patriya Tansuhaj)
''The Island: An Anthology of the Buddha's Teachings on Nibbāna''
(2009, Abhayagiri Monastery) – by Ajahn Pasanno & Ajahn Amaro *
Rain on the Nile
' (2008, Abhayagiri Monastery) *
Finding the Missing Peace
' (2010, Abhayagiri Monastery) *
For the Love of the World
' (2013, Abhayagiri Monastery) *''The Long Road has Many a Turn'' – by Nick Scott with Ajahn Amaro (2013, Amaravati Publications)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amaro, Ajahn Theravada Buddhism writers Theravada Buddhist monks 1956 births Living people English Theravada Buddhists People educated at Sutton Valence School Converts to Buddhism English emigrants to the United States Alumni of Bedford College, London