Forest meditation
Ajaan Mun's mode of practice was solitary and strict. He followed the vinaya (monastic discipline) faithfully, and also observed many of what are known as the 13 classic dhutanga (ascetic) practices, such as living off alms food, wearing robes made of cast-off rags, dwelling in the forest and eating only one meal a day. Monks following this tradition are known as thudong, the Thai pronunciation of this Pali word.
Searching out secluded places in the wilds of Thailand and Laos, he avoided the responsibilities of settled monastic life and spent long hours of the day and night in meditation. In spite of his reclusive nature, he attracted a large following of students willing to put up with the hardships of forest life in order to study with him.
Chah Subhaddo also known by his honorific name "Phra Bodhiñāṇathera" was a Thai Buddhist monk. He was an influential teacher of the Buddhadhamma and a founder of two major monasteries in the Thai Forest Tradition.
Dhammayuttika Nikaya, or Thammayut is an order of Theravada Buddhist bhikkhus (monks) in Thailand, Cambodia, and Burma, with significant branches in the Western world. Its name is derived from Pali dhamma + yutti + ka (group). The order began in Thailand as a reform movement led by a prince who would later become King Mongkut of Siam, before also spreading to Cambodia and Burma. The movement became formally recognized as its own monastic order by the Thai government in 1902, with any Thai Theravada bhikkhus not within the order being referred to as part of the Maha Nikaya order. The Dhammayuttika Nikaya plays a significant political role in Thailand. The order has historically been favored by the Thai government and monarchy, with the order holding the majority of all royal monastic titles in Thailand and most of the Supreme Patriarchs since its founding having come from the Dhammayuttika Nikaya, despite the order making up less than ten percent of all bhikkhus in Thailand.
The Kammaṭṭhāna Forest Tradition of Thailand, commonly known in the West as the Thai Forest Tradition, is a lineage of Theravada Buddhist monasticism.
Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu is an American Buddhist monk. Belonging to the Thai Forest Tradition, for 10 years he studied under the forest master Ajahn Fuang Jotiko. Since 1993 he has served as abbot of the Metta Forest Monastery in San Diego County, California — the first monastery in the Thai Forest Tradition in the US — which he cofounded with Ajahn Suwat Suvaco.
Dhutanga is a group of thirteen austerities or ascetic practices most commonly observed by the practitioners of the Thai Forest Tradition of Theravada Buddhism. While the Buddha did not require these practices, they were recommended for those wanting to practice greater asceticism.
Ajahn Maha Bua was a Thai Buddhist monk. He was thought by many of his followers to be an arahant. He was a disciple of the esteemed forest master Ajahn Mun Bhuridatta, and was himself considered a master in the Thai Forest Tradition. Following the death of Ajahn Thate in 1994, he was considered to be the Ajahn Yai of the Thai Forest Tradition lineage until his death in 2011.
Ajahn Sao Kantasilo (1859–1942) was a monk in the Thai Forest Tradition of Theravada Buddhism. He was a member of the Dhammayuttika Nikaya.
Ajahn 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 title of address for high school and university teachers, and for Buddhist monks who have passed ten vassa. The term "ajahn" is customarily used to address forest-tradition monks and the term Luang Por, "Venerable father", is customarily used to address city-tradition monks in Thai Buddhism.
Wat Aranyawiwake is a monastery (wat) in the Thai Forest Tradition of the Theravada lineage of Buddhism. It is in Mae Taeng, Chiang Mai Province, northern Thailand. Phra Ajahn Plien Panyapatipo is the current abbot of Wat Aranyawiwake, where he has resided since 1966. Wat Aranyawiwake was established and named by Luang Pho Mun Bhuridatta, the "father" of the current tradition of forest meditation monastics.
Luang Pu Waen Suciṇṇo was a Buddhist monk in Thailand, and part of the Thai Forest Tradition.
Wat Pa Ban Tat is theravada buddhist monastery (Wat) in Udon Thani Province of Thailand. Wat Pa Ban Tat was set up by a famous Thai meditation bhikkhu called Venerable Ajahn Maha Bua.
Birken Forest Buddhist Monastery, or Sītavana, is a Theravada Buddhist monastery in the Thai Forest Tradition near Kamloops, British Columbia. It serves as a training centre for monastics and also a retreat facility for laypeople. Its abbot is Venerable Ajahn Soṇa.
Phra Ajahn Thate Desaransi (1902–1994), also known as Ajahn Tate, Luangpu Thet Thetrangsi, Phra Desarangsee, or by his monastic title Phra Rajanirodharangsee, was a famous meditation master and Buddhist monk from northern Thailand. He was a disciple of Ajahn Mun and thus a first generation student of the Thai Forest Tradition and one of the founding teachers of the lineage. Following the death of Ajahn Mun in 1949, he was considered to be the Ajahn Yai, or the head of the Thai Forest Tradition lineage until his death in 1994.
Śrī Kalyāṇī Yogāśrama Sansthā, also known as the Galduwa Forest Tradition is an independent part of the Sri Lankan Amarapura–Rāmañña Nikāya Buddhist ordination line, with their headquarters in Galduva, Kahawa, Ambalangoda. They keep a strict standard of Vinaya, recognised as the strictest standard of any major organisation in Sri Lanka. It is the largest forest sect of the Sri Lankan Sangha. Their monks are easily recognised by the palm-leaf umbrella they use and by the habit of wearing the Sanghati whenever they walk outside the monastery boundaries. Remarkably for Sri Lanka, all castes are accepted for ordination. Foreign monks, who wish to become resident at one of their monasteries, are usually expected to undergo the so-called "Dalhi-Kamma" at Galduva, a short ceremony meant to reconfirm the validity of their original Upasampada according to Galduva standard. After that they are accepted according to their normal seniority.
Phra Suddhidhammaransi Gambhiramedhacarya (1907–1961), commonly known as Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo, was a meditation teacher in the Thai Forest Tradition of the Dhammayuttika Nikaya order of Theravada Buddhism. He was born in the Ubon Ratchathani Province of Isan and was a student of Mun Bhuridatta.
The Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah is a Mahanikai monastic organization in the Thai Forest Tradition composed of the students of Ajahn Chah Subhaddo. Strictly speaking, the Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah denotes the institutions who have a branch affiliation with Wat Pah Pong, the administrative center of the organization.
The Kammatthana meditation tradition originally grew out of the Dhammayut reform movement, founded by Mongkut in the 1820s as an attempt to raise the bar for what was perceived as the "lax" Buddhist practice of the regional Buddhist traditions at the time. Mongkut's reforms were originally focused on scriptural study of the earliest extant Buddhist texts, revival of the dhutanga ascetic practices, and close adherence to the Buddhist Monastic Code. However, the Dhammayut began to have an increasing emphasis on meditation as the 19th century progressed. During this time, a newly ordained Mun Bhuridatto went to stay with Ajahn Sao Kantasīlo, who was then the abbot of a small meditation-oriented monastery on the outskirts of Ubon Ratchathani, a province in the predominantly Lao-speaking cultural region of Northeast Thailand known as Isan.
Ajahn Fuang Jotiko was a Thai Buddhist monk and abbot in the Thai Forest Tradition of Theravada Buddhism.
The history of Theravāda Buddhism begins in ancient India, where it was one of the early Buddhist schools which arose after the first schism of the Buddhist monastic community. After establishing itself in the Sri Lankan Anuradhapura Kingdom, Theravāda spread throughout mainland Southeast Asia through the efforts of missionary monks and Southeast Asian kings.
