Bhikkhu Bodhi Explained

Birth Name:Jeffrey Block
Birth Date:10 December 1944
Birth Place:Brooklyn, New York, United States
Religion:Buddhism
School:Theravada
President of the Buddhist Association of the United States
Location:Chuang Yen Monastery
Buddhist Publication Society
Sangha Council of Bodhi Monastery
Yin Shun Foundation
Education:Brooklyn College
Claremont Graduate University
Occupation:scholar-monk; president, Buddhist Publication Society
Teacher:Ven. Ananda Maitreya
Predecessor:Ven. Nyanaponika Thera (BPS editor and president)
Successor:Mr. Kariyavasam (BPS editor), P.D. Premasiri (BPS president) Buddhist Publication Society

Bhikkhu Bodhi (born December 10, 1944), born Jeffrey Block, is an American Theravada Buddhist monk ordained in Sri Lanka. He teaches in the New York and 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.

Life

In 1944, Block was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Jewish parents. He grew up in Borough Park, where he attended elementary school P.S. 160.[1] In 1966, he obtained a B.A. in philosophy from Brooklyn College. In 1972, he obtained a PhD in philosophy from Claremont Graduate University.[2]

In 1967, while still a graduate student, Bodhi was ordained as a sāmaṇera (novice) in the Vietnamese Mahayana order. In 1972, after graduation, he traveled to Sri Lanka, where, under Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero, he received sāmaṇera ordination in the Theravada Order and, in 1973, received full ordination (upasampadā) as a Theravāda bhikkhu or monk.

In 1984, succeeding co-founder Nyanaponika Thera,[3] Bodhi was appointed English-language editor of the Buddhist Publication Society (BPS, Sri Lanka). He became its president in 1988.[4] [5] In 2002, he retired from the society's editorship while still remaining president.

In 2000, at the United Nations' first official Vesak celebration, Bodhi gave the keynote address.[6]

In 2002, after retiring as editor of BPS, Bodhi returned to the U.S. After living at Bodhi Monastery (Lafayette Township, New Jersey),[7] he now lives and teaches at Chuang Yen Monastery (Carmel, New York), and as of May 2013 he has been the president of the Buddhist Association of the United States.[8] [9]

Bhikkhu Bodhi is founder of Buddhist Global Relief, an organization that funds projects to fight hunger and empower women across the world.[10]

Selected Works

Wheel Publications (BPS)

Bodhi Leaf Publications (BPS)

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6U8-GTX5Puw, time 6:53.
  2. Web site: Climbing to the Top of the Mountain. https://web.archive.org/web/20120417154104/http://www.dharma.org/ij/archives/2002b/bhikkhu_bodhi.htm. The Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. April 17, 2012. May 24, 2015.
  3. 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)".
  4. Web site: About BPS. Buddhist Publication Society. May 24, 2015.
  5. Web site: BPS "Newsletter" (1st Mailing 2008, No. 59). "Note: The author [Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi, related to the article "The Buddhist Publication Society of Kandy: A Brief Account of Its Contributions to Buddhist Literature," pp. 4–7] served as the editor of the BPS from 1984 until 2002 and has remained its president since 1988.".
  6. Web site: Lecture on Vesak Day by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi. Buddhanet. May 24, 2015.
  7. McLeod, Melvin, ed. The Best Buddhist Writing 2008, p. 333. Shambhala Publications, 2008. . Accessed May 10, 2017. "Bhikkhu Bodhi, an American Buddhist monk, was ordained in Sri Lanka in 1972.... He currently lives at Bodhi Monastery in Lafayette, New Jersey."
  8. Web site: Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi. Bodhi Monastery. May 24, 2015.
  9. Web site: BAUS President Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi, 2013 -. 2016-09-08. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160916203130/http://www.baus.org/en/?p=4622. September 16, 2016. mdy-all.
  10. Web site: Buddhist Global Relief. May 24, 2015.

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