Bhikkhu Bodhi
Encyclopedia
Bhikkhu Bodhi born Jeffrey Block, is an American Theravada
Buddhist
monk
, ordained in Sri Lanka
and currently teaching in the New York/New Jersey
area. He was appointed the second president of the Buddhist Publication Society
and has edited and authored several publications grounded in the Theravada
Buddhist tradition.
, NY. In 1966, he obtained a B.A. in philosophy from Brooklyn College
. In 1972, he obtained a PhD in philosophy from Claremont Graduate School.
In 1967, while still a graduate student, Bodhi was ordained as a novice monk
in the Vietnamese Mahayana
order. In 1972, after graduation, Bodhi traveled to Sri Lanka
where, under Ven. Ananda Maitreya
, he received novice ordination and, in 1973, he received full ordination in a Theravada
order.
In 1984, succeeding co-founder Ven. Nyanaponika Thera
, Bodhi was appointed English-language editor of the Buddhist Publication Society
(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
celebration, Bodhi gave the keynote address.
In 2002, after retiring as editor of BPS, Bodhi returned to the United States. He currently teaches at Bodhi Monastery (Lafayette, New Jersey) and Chuang Yen Monastery
(Carmel, New York
) and is the chairman of the Yin Shun
Foundation.
Bhikkhu Bodhi is founder of the organisation "Buddhist Global Relief", which is fighting hunger across the world.
Bodhi's on-line courses include:
Theravada
Theravada ; literally, "the Teaching of the Elders" or "the Ancient Teaching", is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India...
Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
monk
Bhikkhu
A Bhikkhu or Bhikṣu is an ordained male Buddhist monastic. A female monastic is called a Bhikkhuni Nepali: ). The life of Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis is governed by a set of rules called the patimokkha within the vinaya's framework of monastic discipline...
, ordained in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
and currently teaching in the New York/New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
area. He was appointed the second president of the Buddhist Publication Society
Buddhist Publication Society
The Buddhist Publication Society is a charity whose goal is to explain and spread the doctrine of the Buddha. It was founded in Sri Lanka in 1958 by two Sri Lankan Buddhist laymen, A.S. Karunaratna and Richard Abeyasekera, and a European-born Buddhist monk, Nyanaponika Thera...
and has edited and authored several publications grounded in the Theravada
Theravada
Theravada ; literally, "the Teaching of the Elders" or "the Ancient Teaching", is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India...
Buddhist tradition.
Life
In 1944, Block was born in BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, NY. In 1966, he obtained a B.A. in philosophy from Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...
. In 1972, he obtained a PhD in philosophy from Claremont Graduate School.
In 1967, while still a graduate student, Bodhi was ordained as a novice monk
Samanera
A samanera ) may be translated as novice monk in a Buddhist context. The literal meaning is 'small samana', that is, small renunciate where 'small' has the meaning of boy or girl. In the Vinaya monastic discipline, a man under the age of 20 cannot ordain as a bhikkhu, but can ordain as a samanera...
in the Vietnamese Mahayana
Mahayana
Mahāyāna is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice...
order. In 1972, after graduation, Bodhi traveled to Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
where, under Ven. Ananda Maitreya
Ananda Maitreya
Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero was a Sri Lankan scholar monk and a personality of Theravada Buddhism in the twentieth century. He is regarded as one of the most respected Sri Lankan Buddhist monks, who has achieved spiritual development to a very high level through meditation...
, he received novice ordination and, in 1973, he received full ordination in a Theravada
Theravada
Theravada ; literally, "the Teaching of the Elders" or "the Ancient Teaching", is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India...
order.
In 1984, succeeding co-founder Ven. Nyanaponika Thera
Nyanaponika Thera
Nyanaponika Thera or Nyaniponika Mahathera was a German-born Sri-Lanka-ordained Theravada monk, co-founder of the Buddhist Publication Society, contemporary author of numerous seminal Theravada books, and teacher of contemporary Western Buddhist leaders such as Bhikkhu Bodhi.-Chronology:*1901: born...
, Bodhi was appointed English-language editor of the Buddhist Publication Society
Buddhist Publication Society
The Buddhist Publication Society is a charity whose goal is to explain and spread the doctrine of the Buddha. It was founded in Sri Lanka in 1958 by two Sri Lankan Buddhist laymen, A.S. Karunaratna and Richard Abeyasekera, and a European-born Buddhist monk, Nyanaponika Thera...
(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
Vesākha is a holiday observed traditionally by Buddhists in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the South East Asian countries of Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, and Indonesia...
celebration, Bodhi gave the keynote address.
In 2002, after retiring as editor of BPS, Bodhi returned to the United States. He currently teaches at Bodhi Monastery (Lafayette, New Jersey) and Chuang Yen Monastery
Chuang Yen Monastery
Chuang Yen Monastery is a Pure Land buddhist monastery in Carmel, New York. The monastery was built and is maintained by the Buddhist Association of the United States on land donated by C. T. Shen...
(Carmel, New York
Carmel, New York
Carmel is a town located in Putnam County, New York, USA. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 36,465.There are no incorporated villages in the town, although the hamlets of Carmel and Mahopac each have populations sizable enough to be thought of as villages.The Town of Carmel...
) and is the chairman of the Yin Shun
Yin Shun
Yin Shun was a well-known Buddhist monk and scholar in the tradition of Chinese Mahayana Buddhism, particularly the Three Treatise school. Yin Shun's research helped bring forth the ideal of Humanistic Buddhism, a leading mainstream Buddhist philosophy studied and upheld by many practitioners...
Foundation.
Bhikkhu Bodhi is founder of the organisation "Buddhist Global Relief", which is fighting hunger across the world.
Publications and teachings
Bodhi's publications include:- The Noble Eightfold PathNoble Eightfold PathThe Noble Eightfold Path , is one of the principal teachings of the Buddha, who described it as the way leading to the cessation of suffering and the achievement of self-awakening. It is used to develop insight into the true nature of phenomena and to eradicate greed, hatred, and delusion...
: Way to the End of Suffering (1984, BPS; 2000, Pariyatti) - The Middle Length Discourses of the BuddhaGautama BuddhaSiddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
: A Translation of the Majjhima NikayaMajjhima NikayaThe Majjhima Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the second of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...
(with Bhikkhu Nanamoli, 1995, Wisdom Publications) - Numerical Discourses of the Buddha: An Anthology of Suttas from the Anguttara NikayaAnguttara NikayaThe Anguttara Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the fourth of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that comprise the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...
(with Nyanaponika TheraNyanaponika TheraNyanaponika Thera or Nyaniponika Mahathera was a German-born Sri-Lanka-ordained Theravada monk, co-founder of the Buddhist Publication Society, contemporary author of numerous seminal Theravada books, and teacher of contemporary Western Buddhist leaders such as Bhikkhu Bodhi.-Chronology:*1901: born...
, 2000, Altamira Press) - The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the Samyutta NikayaSamyutta NikayaThe Samyutta Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the third of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism. Because of the abbreviated way parts of the text are written, the total number of suttas is...
(2000, Wisdom Publications) - A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma: The Abhidhammattha Sangaha of Ācariya Anuruddha (2000, BPS Pariyatti)
- In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali CanonPāli CanonThe Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the only completely surviving early Buddhist canon, and one of the first to be written down...
(2005, Wisdom Publications)
Bodhi's on-line courses include:
- "The Buddha’s Teaching As It Is" (1981)
- A course in PaliPáli- External links :* *...
Language (2003) - Majjhima Nikaya lectures (2003–2008)