Ven. Ajahn Kusalo

Ajahn Kusalo is a Buddhist monk in the Thai Forest Tradition. He established and served as the co-abbot of Tisarana Buddhist Monastery in Canada before moving back to Bodhinyanarama in 2012. He was born in New Zealand and ordained as a monk in 1992 under the guidance of Ajahn Sumedho.

Prior to his ordination, Ajahn Kusalo lived a householder life and worked as a builder and carpenter. He has been trained in the lineage of Ajahn Chah, a renowned Thai Forest meditation master, and spent several years practicing in various monasteries, including Amaravati Monastery in the UK and Bodhinyanarama Monastery in New Zealand.

Ajahn Kusalo is known for his practical approach to Buddhist teachings, emphasizing mindfulness and meditation in everyday life. He has led retreats and given teachings around the world, sharing his experience and wisdom with both laypeople and monastics.

In addition to his role as co-abbot at Tisarana Monastery, Ajahn Kusalo also serves as a guiding elder for other monastic communities in North America and contributes to the wider Buddhist community through his teaching and example.

Ven. U Mangala

Ven. U Maṅgala was born in Malacca in 1968.  He was a graduate of the Law Faculty, University of Malaya.

Ven. U Mangala was ordained in 1996 by Ven. Pa-Auk Sayadawgyi and began practising Vipassana meditation under Ven. Pa-Auk Sayadawgyi’s close supervision and guidance. In 2006, Ven. Pa-Auk Sayadawgyi appointed Ven. U Mangala  as  the meditation teacher in Pa Auk Forest Monastery in Mawlamyine.

In 2008, with support from the Malaysia Dhamma Society, Venerable started teaching meditation in the newly established Tusita Hermitage (Kuching), Sarawak. Since then, Tusita Saṅgha Council has established Hermitages and Centres in Nepal Himalaya, Taiwan, Malacca, Penang and Taiping. He also established Tusita Dhamma Earth monastery at Semenyih in 2016.

Ven. U Maṅgala is the author of several Chinese Dhamma books, namely “The Price of Nature”, “Maṅgala Sayings” and “Maṅgala Zen”.  Venerable is fluent in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka and Malacca Hokkien.

Tan Chao Khun Samai

Tan Chao Khun Mahā Samai Sukhasamiddho was born in Laos in 1943. After migration to Bangkok, he was ordained as novice in 1957. His full ordination took place in June 1963. During his time as young novice and young monk he completed his Dhamma studies at the advanced level and Pali Language at level 5. Before being admitted to study at the University level, he took another three years to do the secular studies. He was graduated from Mahamakut University in 1972. After taking one year course of training for Buddhist Missionary overseas, he was sent together with the most senior meditation teacher Luang Pu Boonyarith to Sydney to look after the newly established Buddhist center in 1974. 

As a reward for his long and good service to the Buddhist Community in Australia, Tan Chao Khun Samai has been given the new titles four times in the last 42 years. His current title is Phra Thepsilaporn.

Each time the new title has been conferred upon him by the King of Thailand on his birthday, the 5th of December.  Moreover, Mahamakut University has conferred upon him PhD Honorary Degree in May 2003 in acknowledging his long service in spreading Buddhism. 

Tan Chao Khun Samai assumed the position as the leader of the Dhammayutta Sangha in Australia and New Zealand in 1998. He currently serves as a spiritual advisor to the Dhammayutta Sangha Council, and is the Abbot of Wat Pa Buddharangsee in Leumeah, NSW.

Ven. Ajahn Dhammasiha

Ven. Ajahn Dhammasiha was born in West Germany on Dec 5, 1966. After finishing High School and serving as a conscript in the German armed forces, he studied business administration in West Berlin from 1987 to 1993. During field research in India in 1994 for a PhD on "Indian Corporate Culture", he read the Dhammapada which hit him as a true revelation. He ordained in Sri Lanka in 1995 with Most Ven Pandita K Sri Jinavarisa. For 3 years he trained at Nissarana Vana, Meetisigala, a forest monastery dedicated to solitary practice of meditation and meticulous observance of the Theravada Vinaya. In 1998, he went to Australia and train at Bodhiyana Monastery and Vimokkharam Forest Hermitage in Melbourne. During this period, he received teachings from some of the foremost living teachers of the Thai Forest tradition such as LP Tui and LP Plien.

Ajahn Dhammasiha arrived in Brisbane in 2007 at the invitation of the Brisabane Buddhist Vihara to help establish a forest monastery in Brisbane. He is now the abbot of Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage, Brisbane, Australia.

Bandar Utama Buddhist Society · Tan Ajahn Dhammasiha - Dhamma Talk in BUBS on 21 June 2015

Ven. Ajahn Jutindharo

Ajahn Jutindharo grew up in Leeds. At university, he became interested in meditation and Buddhism, which culminated in a decision to join a Buddhist monastic order in 1987. His monastic life has been spent primarily in Britain, with short periods in Asia. Since 2007, he has been abbot of Hartridge Monastery in Devon, England.

Luang Por Viradhammo

Luang Por Viradhammo is a Canadian monk in the Thai forest tradition of Theravada Buddhism. He was ordained as a monk in 1974 by Ajahn Chah at Wat Nong Pah Pong monastery and became one of the first residents at Wat Pah Nanachat, the international monastery in north-east Thailand. Ven. Luang Por Viradhammo is the most senior Thai Forest monk in Canada and currently the Abbot of Tisarana Buddhist Monastery in Perth, Ontario.

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Ven. Ajahn Keng

Chao Khun Keng Khemako is a Singaporean monk of the Thai Forest Tradition of Ajahn Mun Buridatto. He is commonly known as “Ajahn Keng”. He was ordained in 1987 under the recommendation of Ajahn Geoffrey (Thanissaro Bhikkhu). One of his main teachers was Luang Pu Jiak Cundo, the first generation disciples of Ajahn Mun disciples. He received the title of Chao Khun in 2012. Currently, Ajahn Keng is the Abbot of Santi Forest Monastery (JB) and the Abbot of a hill-tribes forest monastery in Om Koi, Chiangmai , President of Palelai Buddhist Temple (Singapore).

Ven. Ajahn Ṭhānissaro

Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu (Geoffrey DeGraff) is an American Buddhist monk of the Kammatthana (Thai Forest) Tradition. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1971 with a degree in European Intellectual History, he travelled to Thailand, where he studied meditation under Ajaan Fuang Jotiko, himself a student of the late Ajaan Lee. He was ordained in 1976 and lived at Wat Dhammasathit, where he remained following his teacher’s death in 1986. In 1991 he travelled to the hills of San Diego County, USA, where he helped Ajaan Suwat Suvaco establish Metta Forest Monastery. He was made abbot of the Monastery in 1993.

Ven. Ajahn Vajiro

Ven. Ajahn Vajiro was born in Malaysia in 1953. He met  Ven. Ajahn Chah and Ven. Ajahn Sumedho at the Hampstead Vihara in 1977. He joined the community in London in 1978. In 1979 he went to Wat Pah Nanchat and received upasampadā  from Ven. Ajahn Chah at Wat Pah Pong in 1980. Ven. Ajahn Vajiro returned to England in 1984, and assisted with the establishment of Amaravati Buddhist Monastery. He lived in the monasteries in the UK for many years and then went to New Zealand followed by Australia. He returned to Amaravati in 2001 and for most of this century has lived there. He has been invited to lead a community in Portugal where it is hoped that a monastery may grow.

Ven. Ajahn Jayanto

Born in Boston in 1967, Ven. Ajahn Jayanto grew up in Newton and attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison, during which time a period of world travel kindled a great interest in the spiritual life. A meditation class at the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center led him to live for a while at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, where he made plans to join the monastic community of Luang Por Sumedho as a postulant at  Amaravati Monastery in England in 1989. Taking bhikkhu (monk) ordination at the related Cittaviveka Monastery in 1991, he trained there and at Aruna Ratanagiri Monastery until 1997, at which point he embarked on a period of practice in Thailand and other Asian Buddhist countries.

He returned to the UK in 2006, where he lived at Amaravati until moving to Temple in 2014. Since 2009 Ven. Ajahn Jayanto has helped to lead the efforts to establish a branch monastery in New England, and he now serves as abbot of Temple Forest Monastery.

Āyasmā Rāhula

Āyasmā  Rāhula has lived in Asia for the last 21 years in different periods where he has practised and studied the Dhamma.

Ayasma was ordained in Myanmar with the most Venerable Sayadaw Dr. Nandamālābhivaṃsa. Since 2004 Ayasma has received meditation guidance from Sayadaw U Tejaniya and has studied Suttas and Abhidhamma with Sayadaw Dr Ukkamsacara.

In 2019 Āyasmā completed a course on Buddhist scriptures from Harvard University.

Āyasmā continues his training in Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary in Malaysia under the guidance of Ven. Ariyadhammika.

Āyasmā has offered weekly courses on the anatomy of the mind (applied Abhidhamma) in English and Spanish followed online by students in more than 15 countries.

Āyasmā continues introducing and propagating the Buddha’s teaching in South America, assisting in programs to aid parts of the society in the freedom from drug addiction and alcoholism, and supporting educational campaigns to prevent them.

Below are a few Dhamma talks by Āyasmā given in BUBS.

Ven. Ajahn Achalo

Ajahn Achalo was born in Brisbane Australia in 1972. He developed a keen interest in meditation at the age of twenty and a year later left for Thailand to study Buddhism more intently.  After a two year period practising in various centres and monasteries, in 1996 Ajahn Achalo ordained as a Theravada Bhikkhu (monk) under Ajahn Liem at Wat Nong Pah Pong, the monastery founded by venerable Ajahn Chah. Although most of his training has taken place in Thailand, Ajahn Achalo has also lived in several international Forest Monasteries in the Ajahn Chah lineage.  

Ajahn Achalo is deeply grateful for his many opportunities to study with well-practiced monks as well as for having been able to train in several traditional contexts, including meditation monasteries, remote forests, and periods on pilgrimage. During his years of training, he has received personal guidance from many remarkable teachers, among them, Ajahn Sumedho, Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Jayasaro and Ajahn Kalyano. For most of his Bhikkhu life, he has considered Tan Ajahn Anan, abbot of Wat Marp Jan, to be his principal mentor. In addition, he has found the Dalai Lama's instructions and example to be of tremendous value.

via www.peacebeyondsuffering.org (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Ven. Ajahn Kittisobhāņo (Bhante Huat Poh)

Ordained in the Dhammayut Thai Forest Tradition, Bhante Huat Poh has been instrumental in sharing the profound Dhamma to the lay community, in ways that promote deeper understanding of the Buddha’s Teachings and inspire faith to walk the Path that leads to Liberation. Born and bred in Penang, Bhante Huat Poh was first introduced to Theravada Buddhism in his teens, and his interest and practice in the Dhamma has steadfastly progressed as he grew into adulthood. Finding his true calling, he decided to give up his career as an engineer, to go forth. Having spent the past 15 years of his monkhood practicing in remote areas of Thailand, Bhante Huat Poh currently divides his time between Vihara Boon Raksa in Penang, and a monastery in Omkoi, north Thailand. Phra Ajahn is currently spending his time between Omkoi and Malaysia and is proficient in giving Dhamma teachings and meditation in English as well as Hokkien.

Ven. Ajahn Siripanyo

Ven. Ajahn Siripanyo is a Thai-Malaysian monk born in London and educated in UK. He was ordained in Thailand and lived there as a Thai forest monk. Ven. Ajahn Siripanyo is now the Abbot of hermitage Dtao Dam on the Thai-Burmese border in Saiyok National Park, beyond Kanchanaburi

Below are selected talks by Ajahn Siripanno.

Sayadaw Nyanapurnik Mahathera

Ven. Sayadaw  Nyanapurnik Mahathera, a Pali scholar and Vipassanacariya has been working actively for the progress and development of Theravada Buddhism in Nepal. He was born on 21st November, 1939 in Tansen, Palpa which is about 90 kilometers north of Lumbini, the birth-place of Lord Buddha. Ordained as a novice at the early age of 16, he spent a year in Buddhist studies in Nepal and went to Myanmar for further study.

In 1963, he was awarded the prestigious ‘Sāsanadhaja Dhammāchariya’ title, a highly-respected honour in Burmese Buddhist monastic education. Besides this Dhamma education, he has also completed various levels of formal education which includes School Leaving Certificate (SLC) in 1971, IA (1974), BA (1977) and MA (Culture and History) from Tribhuvan University, Nepal along with Diploma in Sanskrit from Banaras Sanskrit University, India. He is an author and translator of about 50 books on Buddhism, both in Nepali and Nepal Bhasha languages. He was also one of the members of the publication team of the Pali Burmese World Dictionary, Burma (1964-66). He has travelled extensively around the world as a Meditation instructor. 

In 1984, Sayadaw founded the Vishwa Shanti Vihāra in Kathmandu, and became its spiritual director.  The vihāra was expanded in 1997 to house the ‘World Peace Buddhist School’ for the education of Buddhist monks and nuns, in order to further propagate Theravāda Buddhism in Nepal.

He was bestowed the ‘Agga Mahā Saddhammajotikadhaja’ title in 2001 from the Government of Myanmar for his outstanding service to the propagation of Buddha-Sāsana around the world.

Sayadaw Nyanapurnik visited and delivered many teachings in Malaysia, which included this Dhamma teaching given in BUBS during his visit in 2015.

Ven. Ajahn Karuniko

Ven.  Ajahn Karuniko (Christopher John Woodfine) was born in 1953 near Manchester, England. He graduated from Sheffield University in 1975 with an honours degree in electronics engineering. After graduation, he worked as an engineer in North London. His first contact with Buddhism was from reading a book in 1976, which made a deep impression on him. Two years later, he had the good fortune to meet Ven Ajahn Sumedho who had recently taken up residence in Hampstead Vihara, North London. He then became an anagarika (novice) in 1982 under the guidance of Ven Ajahn Sumedho at Cittaviveka Chithurst Buddhist Monastery, England. In July 1984, he took the monk’s (bhikkhu) ordination with Ven. Ajahn Sumedho. Ven. Ajahn Karuniko had spent most of his monastic life helping to establish monasteries in England and New Zealand. At present, he is the Abbot at Cittaviveka Chithurst Monastery.

Āyasmā Ariyadhammika

Ven. Ariyadhammika (born Björn Selic on May 8, 1976) is an Austrian Thera (Elder) Buddhist monk. As a layman, he studied economics and music at the University of Graz, Austria. His interest in Buddhism was sparked at the age of 14, when he first encountered the Buddha’s teachings in the local library. Ten years later at age 24, he started to attend meditation courses in the U Ba Khin tradition in Austria, followed by his own sutta studies. In 2005, at age 28, he decided to become a Buddhist monk, left Austria and went to Pa-Auk Forest Monastery in Myanmar.

Ordained on July 14, 2005 with Pa-Auk Sayadaw as his preceptor and meditation teacher, he spent five years practising in the forest of Pa-Auk, maintaining a very simple lifestyle and living most parts of the year out in the open, under trees. He dedicated himself to the practice of Ānāpānassati (mindfulness of breathing), and later on also to other meditation methods. After five years at Pa-Auk, he went to seek out other teachers in Myanmar and was initiated into the meditation techniques of Mogok, Mahasi, Shwe Oo Min/U Tejaniya and Sunlun.

A growing interest in the lifestyle of the Thai Forest Tradition brought him to Thailand in the year 2010, where he stayed for the next 3 years. He spent the initial period in the north-east of Thailand undergoing the traditional training of a Thai forest monk at the international branch monastery of the Ajahn Chah lineage, Wat Pah Nanachat. The last year of his three years in Thailand was spent wandering and journeying throughout the country, seeking out suitable places for meditation and Dhamma studies, staying either at Ajahn Chah’s branch monasteries or at forest monasteries belonging to the Dhammayuttika Nikāya.

After eight years as a monk, Ven. Ariyadhammika returned for the first time to Austria and spent his vassa (rains retreat) of 2013 in a caravan, in the vicinity of his parents’ home. When the rains retreat was over, he returned to Asia and stayed in Malaysia from 2013 to 2015, spending time at Sāsānarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary (SBS), also studying Pāli, Suttanta and the Vinaya under the guidance of Ven. Aggacitta Mahāthera at the Mahāthera’s hermitage, Mūla Vihāra. The Mahāthera has since then become one of Ven. Ariyadhammika’s most influential and respected teachers.

In 2015, Ven. Ariyadhammika went on to Sri Lanka to gain familiarity with the customs, practices and interpretations of the DhammaVinaya prevalent in the third of the three main Theravāda countries (the other two being Myanmar and Thailand). He spent a year at Nā Uyana Aranya Senāsanaya, where he had time for his own meditation practice, but also gave regular Dhamma lectures and meditation instructions to foreign monks and lay practitioners.

Ven. Ariyadhammika returned to SBS (Malaysia) in 2016 to fulfil an earlier request from Ven. Aggacitta to ordain two Western monks and become their preceptor (upajjhāya). After some initial hesitation, followed by a period of preparation, Ven. Ariyadhammika agreed to take up the responsibility and subsequently returned with them to Sri Lanka. They spent the vassa at Island Hermitage, an ancient monastery founded in 1911 by the German monk, Ven. Ñānatiloka. Thereafter, they went on thudong in the hillsides of Sri Lanka. Ven. Ariyadhammika spent the rains retreat of 2017 at a branch monastery of K. Gnanananda, where he gave the going forth to another two disciples who requested training under his guidance.

After five years in Burma, three years in Thailand, two years in Malaysia and three years in Sri Lanka, Ven. Ariyadhammika felt that his original intention to explore the three main Theravāda countries (for their respective meditation methods and monastic cultures) was accomplished. In 2018, for the first time after all his ventures since his 5th vassa in 2009, Ven. Ariyadhammika said he eventually felt ready to settle long term and would make himself available for taking up a formal position which is dedicated to offer support and guidance to fellow monastics. He kindly accepted our invitation to take over the role of Saṅghaṇāyaka at SBS Monk Training Centre.

According to Ven. Ariyadhammika, his main interests these days are:

• Meditation – from the perspective of “Early Buddhism” (Pāli scriptures and their parallels),

• Dhamma studies – from the perspective of “Early Buddhism”, and

• provision of guidance and training to like-minded monastics.

Ven. Kai Zhao

Ven. Khai Zhao was born in Ipoh, Perak. In 1987. He took ordination with most Ven. Book Kian at Penang Ang Hock Si Temple. After graduation from Malaysia Buddhist College in Penang, he started teaching Dhamma in local prisons, especially to death penalty inmates from 1998. Since 2006, he has been travelling locally and abroad teaching Dhamma in prisons, conducting retreats and giving counselling and guidance.