4👑☸ Cattāri Ariya-saccaṃ 四聖諦

Who’s who

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Important note: Appearing on this list does not mean lucid24.org endorses their views and practices. It only means they have relevance to the discussion of meditation practices based on EBT in the 21st and 20th centuries. As usual, you should do their own due diligence. It’s your personal responsibility to decide to what extent each teacher can be relied upon.

Anālayo, Bhikkhu Anālayo

🔗free articles he's published 🔗his post at Barre Center B. Anālayo‍: Bhikkhu Anālayo is a bhikkhu (Buddhist monk), scholar and meditation teacher. He was born in Germany in 1962, and went forth in 1995 in Sri Lanka. He is best known for his comparative studies of Early Buddhist Texts as preserved by the various early Buddhist traditions.[1] Bhikkhu Anālayo temporarily ordained in 1990 in Thailand, after a meditation retreat at Wat Suan Mokkh, the monastery established by the influential 20th-century Thai monk Ajahn Buddhadasa.[2] In 1994 he went to Sri Lanka, looking to meet Nyanaponika Thera after having read his book The Heart of Buddhist Meditation.[2] Nyanaponika Thera died just days before Analayo's arrival but he stayed on and studied with Bhikkhu Bodhi.[2] In 1995 he took pabbajja again under Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero.[citation needed] He received his upasampada in 2007 in the Sri Lankan Shwegyin Nikaya (belonging to the main Amarapura Nikaya), with Pemasiri Thera of Sumathipala Aranya as his ordination acariya.[citation needed] Bhikkhu Bodhi has been Bhikkhu Anālayo's main teacher.[3] The late Bhikkhu Kaṭukurunde Ñāṇananda has also been an important influence in his understanding of the Dhamma. Scholarly career and activity Bhikkhu Anālayo completed a PhD thesis on the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta at the University of Peradeniya in 2000, which was later published as Satipaṭṭhāna, the Direct Path to Realization.[4] During the course of that study, he had come to notice the interesting differences between the Pāli and Chinese Buddhist canon versions of this early Buddhist discourse. This led to his undertaking a habilitation research at the University of Marburg, completed in 2007, in which he compared the Majjhima Nikāya discourses with their Chinese, Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit and Tibetan Buddhist canon counterparts.[5] In 2013 Anālayo then published Perspectives on Satipaṭṭhāna,[6] where he builds on his earlier work by comparing the parallel versions of the Satipaṭṭhāna-sutta and exploring the meditative perspective that emerges when emphasis is given to those instructions that are common ground among the extant canonical versions and thus can reasonably well be expected to be early. Bhikkhu Anālayo has published extensively on early Buddhism.[7] The textual study of early Buddhist discourses in comparative perspective is the basis of his ongoing interests and academic research.[8] At present he is the chief editor and one of the translators of the first English translation of the Chinese Madhyama-āgama (Taishō 26),[9] and has undertaken an integral English translation of the Chinese Saṃyukta-āgama (Taishō 99), parallel to the Pali Saṃyutta Nikāya collection.[10]

Important note

Though he professes to use EBT for his interpretation of jhāna meditation, his views are actually much more closely aligned with LBT and (VRJ🐍) (V)isuddhi-magga (Re)-definition of (J)hana. A detailed audit of this is given in this section: V&V💭. His views on sati are also problematic, resembling more of a hybrid between psychotherapy and secular Buddhism definition of 'mindfulness' than a faithful straightforward reading of the Buddha's definition of sati.

Anan, Ajahn Anan

🔗Ajahn Anan books and media (famous senior disciple of Ajahn Chah) Venerable Ajahn Anan Akiñcano was born in the provincial town of Saraburi, Central Thailand, on the 31st of March, 1954, with the name of Anan Chan-in. From an early age he regularly accompanied his parents to the local temple to chant and pay respects to the monks, and felt great faith at seeing monastery images of the Buddha. He excelled in his studies and was hired soon after graduation as an accountant at the Siam Cement Company. Though a diligent employee, he found himself increasingly drawn to Buddhist practice and began living at a nearby monastery during his hours away from work. For the next year, he worked as an accountant while strictly observing the eight precepts of a lay practitioner and increasing his efforts in practice. After offering food to the monks each morning, he traveled to work and then returned to the monastery in the evening to meditate. The insight resulting from his practice eventually removed any remaining doubts about committing his life to the Buddha’s teachings, and he decided to enter the monastic order. On July 3rd, 1975, he took full ordination under his preceptor and teacher, the Venerable Ajahn Chah and was given the Pali name Akiñcano, meaning “One Without Worries.” He spent the next four years practicing meditation at Ajahn Chah’s main monastery, Wat Nong Pah Pong, and associated branches, developing a close relationship as Ajahn Chah’s personal attendant. Ajahn Anan’s understanding of the practice developed quickly from spending so much time near his teacher, and he was soon encouraged by Ajahn Chah to search out more secluded places to further his efforts in meditation. Wandering the arid forests of Isaan and thick jungles of Central Thailand for the next five years, Ajahn Anan met with wild animals, five near-fatal bouts of malaria, and other difficulties of the untamed wilderness. In 1984, Ajahn Anan ended his wandering to found a monastery on a newly-offered section of uninhabited land on the coast of Central Thailand. Accompanied by two other monks and a novice, the group settled in the dense forest of Rayong province at what is now known as Wat Marp Jan, or “Monastery of the Moonlit Mountain”. Over thirty years later, Ajahn Anan’s reputation as an accomplished meditation teacher has grown, along with the number of monks coming to live under him. While his teachings stress the fundamentals of day-to-day meditation and mindfulness practice, Ajahn Anan is also known for his ability to articulate the Buddhist path in terms that practitioners of varied backgrounds can understand. His instruction has attracted a large following of foreigners, with monks from Australia, Brazil, Sri Lanka and elsewhere residing at Wat Marp Jan and its branches. Today, Ajahn Anan attends to his duties as abbot and teacher, looking after a growing number of branch monasteries in Thailand and overseas, teaching visiting laity, and instructing the monks who practice under his guidance.

Ānandajoti, Bhikkhu

🔗Ancient Buddhist Texts: The Ancient Buddhist Texts website is being prepared by Bhante Ānandajoti who has been resident in the East since 1987, mainly in Sri Lanka, India, and Malaysia. He ordained in the Theravāda tradition in 1995 and received higher ordination the following year. Being already familiar with Indian languages from his stay in India, in his first Rains Retreat he began an intensive study of Pāḷi. For a couple of years he worked for the Sri Lanka Tripitaka Project, correcting and re-editing the databases of the Sinhalese edition of the Canonical texts, and since then he has also studied Sanskritised Prākṛt and Classical Sanskrit. Ānandajoti started Ancient Buddhist Texts in 2002 as a way of publishing material from the broader early Buddhist Tradition in the original languages. The website, which is still expanding, includes texts, translations, and studies from both the early and medieval periods, in Pāḷi, Sanskritised Prākṛt (BHS), and Classical Sanskrit, with a special emphasis on the collection and organisation of the texts, and also their grammar and prosody.

Assaji

Assaji - a Buddhist yogi scholar in Europe 🔗Pali terms He specializes in research of the full spectrum of Theravada texts, taking into account their temporal strata. He looks for the earliest available sources for the definitions of Buddhist terms - sometimes finding them in the Sutta, and sometimes in later texts, all the way to the 20th century. He researches all kinds of texts, from Agamas to Abhidharma-Samuccaya and even Yoga-Sutra or Tattvartha Sutra. To reverse the semantic shift that happened with the meanings of the Buddhist terms, he goes to the earliest available substantiated definitions of them. This allows him to avoid as much as possible the extremes of either late, semantically shifted interpretations, or fictitious, unsubstantiated interpretations thought to be "early". To estimate the relative age of Pāli texts, he uses the 🔗research on temporal strata by Dr. Bimala Churn Law, published in his book "A History of Pāli Literature".

Bodhi, Bhikkhu

Bhikkhu Bodhi‍: Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi is an American Buddhist monk from New York City. He obtained a BA in philosophy from Brooklyn College (1966) and a PhD in philosophy from Claremont Graduate School (1972). After completing his university studies he traveled to Sri Lanka, where he received novice ordination in 1972 and full ordination in 1973. For many years he was the president and editor of the Buddhist Publication Society in Sri Lanka. He has been living at Chuang Yen Monastery since 2006. Ven. Bodhi has many important publications to his credit either as author, translator, or editor, most recently a translation of the entire Anguttara Nikaya, The numerical Discourses of the Buddha (Wisdom Publications 2012). In 2008, together with several of his students, Ven. Bodhi founded Buddhist Global Relief, a non profit supporting hunger relief, sustainable agriculture, and education in countries suffering from chronic poverty and malnutrition. In May 2013 was elected president of BAUS.

Brahm, Ajahn Brahmavaṃso

Ajahn Brahm‍: Phra Visuddhisamvarathera AM (Thai: พระวิสุทธิสังวรเถร), known as Ajahn Brahmavaṃso, or simply Ajahn Brahm (born Peter Betts[1] on 7 August 1951), is a British-Australian Theravada Buddhist monk. Currently Ajahn Brahm is the Abbot of Bodhinyana Monastery, in Serpentine, Western Australia, Spiritual Adviser to the Buddhist Society of Victoria, Spiritual Adviser to the Buddhist Society of South Australia, Spiritual Patron of the Buddhist Fellowship in Singapore, Patron of the Brahm Centre in Singapore, Spiritual Adviser to the Anukampa Bhikkhuni Project in the UK, and the Spiritual Director of the Buddhist Society of Western Australia (BSWA). He returned to the office on 22 April 2018 after briefly resigning in March, following a contentious vote by members of the BSWA during their annual general meeting.[2] Peter Betts was born in London.[1] He came from a working-class background and went to Latymer Upper School. He won a scholarship to study theoretical physics[3] at Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge in the late 1960s.[4] After graduation he taught mathematics at a high school in Devon, United Kingdom for one year before travelling to Thailand to become a monk and train with the Venerable Ajahn Chah Bodhinyana Mahathera.[1] Ajahn Brahm was ordained in Bangkok at the age of twenty-three by Somdet Kiaw, the late Abbot of Wat Saket. He subsequently spent nine years studying and training in the forest meditation tradition under Ajahn Chah.

important note:

While he generally teaches Early Buddhism based on pali suttas, and his teacher Ajahn Chah taught jhāna in accordance with EBT, Ajahn Brahm practices and teaches Jabrama🤡-jhana, essentially a close relative of (VRJ🐍) (V)isuddhi-magga (Re)-definition of (J)hana devoid of underlying Abhidhamma theory.

Buddhadust.net

🔗BuddhaDust.net. A site with many useful resources. 3 Full sets of the Pali Text (The PTS edition, the BJT edition, and one (the BJT edition) proofed against the PTS edition and unabridged); the Pali Text Society translations of the Four Nikayas proofed against the PTS hard copy, unabridged, and with sutta citations in the footnotes linked to their suttas; most translations of the other major/influential translators (including all the suttas of Bhk. Thanissaro to date; all the freely available translations of Bhk. Bodhi; and numerous modern and historical translations of significance); (see: 🔗Index to Sutta Indexes) with all the translations linked to each other and to the Pali; a digital version of the PTS's 🔗Pali English Dictionary, proofed against the Corrected 2015 edition; a comprehensive 'course' on 'Pali Buddhism' 🔗(The Pali Line) based on The Gradual Course and The Ten Questions; a section called 🔗'Glossology' giving color to the study of the most important terms in the Dhamma and including comparative translation charts; and 🔗many other features of specialized interest.

buddha-vacana.org

🔗buddha-vacana.org The author seems to want to keep a low anonymous profile. The website contains some nice pali and english translations and analysis of key pali words, by means of independent thinking and research.

Cassandra

Cassandra‍ was a Trojan priestess of Apollo in Greek mythology cursed to utter true prophecies, but never to be believed. In modern usage her name is employed as a rhetorical device to indicate someone whose accurate prophecies are not believed. On lucid24.org, we’ll also use Cassandra in a looser sense of not necessarily declaring truths about the future, but simply truth in general, and the astounding density of the general population and their inability to discern truth. Instead, they do the following: 1. Relinquish their right to think freely and critically 2. Decide on ‘truth’ by dogmatically clinging to popular teachers’ opinions 3. Inability to be self aware of cognitive dissonance, bias, lack of reason and logic and rationality. 4. Revile and abuse people of common sense and logic who declare truths contrary to their own. On the positive side, being a Cassandra toughens you up, really tests your conviction of truth, ability to think independently and abide in truth even if everyone else thinks you’re insane. Truth is truth, and only the insane think that wrong views are sane.

Chah, Ajahn Chah

🔗Audio Bio: Stillness Flowing Website ajahnchah.org watnongpahpong.org watpahnanachat.org Chah Subhaddo (Thai: ชา สุภัทโท, known in English as Ajahn Chah, occasionally with honorific titles Luang Por and Phra) also known by his honorific name "Phra Bodhiñāṇathera" (Thai: พระโพธิญาณเถร,[1] Chao Khun Bodhinyana Thera;[2] 17 June 1918 – 16 January 1992[3]) 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. Respected and loved in his own country as a man of great wisdom, he was also instrumental in establishing Theravada Buddhism in the West. Beginning in 1979 with the founding of Cittaviveka (commonly known as Chithurst Buddhist Monastery)[4] in the United Kingdom, the Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah has spread throughout Europe, the United States and the British Commonwealth. The dhamma talks of Ajahn Chah have been recorded, transcribed and translated into several languages.

Chu, William Chu

🔗audio dhamma talks William Chu completed his PhD in Buddhist Studies from UCLA in 2006 and is on the faculty at University of the West.

DPR, Digital Pali Reader

DPR‍ = Digital Pali Reader 🔗https://digitalpalireader.online: Excellent pali canon study tool. Written by Bhikkhu Yuttadhammo.

Dtun, Ajahn Dtun (Thiracitto)

Sacred Equation: A Compilation of dhamma talks 2015. Doesn't really give a full picture of what the main methods he practices, but it does repeatedly emphasize the importance of why samadhi training is critical, and that mindfulness practice without sufficient samadhi will be superficial. 🔗Ajahn Dtun Autobiography: epub version has table of contents added 🔗Ajahn Dtun video talks Ven. Ajahn Dtun is considered to be one of the greatest living meditation masters in Thailand. Renowned for his gentle demeanour and deep wisdom, Ven. Ajahn Dtun has always had an impeccable reputation as a well-practised monk in the Ajahn Chah Tradition. Even as a junior monk, there was a buzz among the monks regarding Ven. Ajahn Dtun due to his dedication to practise and an aura of calm and clarity around him. Born in 1955 in Ayutthaya, Thailand, Ven. Ajahn Dtun was raised in Bangkok. After completing his Bachelor’s Degree in Economics, he decided to become a monk at Wat Nong Pah Pong with Ven. Ajahn Chah as his preceptor. Presently, Ven. Ajahn Dtun is the Abbot of Wat Boonyawad in Chonburi, Thailand. Wat Boonyawad has grown from being a hermitage of a few monks to a large monastery with close to fifty monks training under the guidance of Ven. Ajahn Dtun.

frankk, lucid24.org

frankk‍ is one of the editors and curators for content on lucid24.org. He can be contacted here: 🔗forum and contact info

Gunaratana, Bhante

🔗Bhante G. collection of books, audio, etc. From Wikipedia, Bhante Henepola Gunaratana is a Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhist monk. He is often affectionately known as Bhante G. Early life Henepola Gunaratana was born Ekanayaka Mudiyanselage Ukkubanda[1] December 7, 1927 in the small Sri Lankan village of Henepola.[2] He was ordained as a monk at the age of 12 in a temple in Malandeniya Village, Kurunegala District.[2] His preceptor was Venerable Kiribatkumbure Sonuttara Mahathera.[3] He received upasampada in 1947, aged 20, in Kandy.[4] He was first educated at Vidyasekhara Pirivena Junior College, a monks school in Gampaha. He received his higher education in Sri Lanka at Vidyalankara College in Kelaniya and the Buddhist Missionary College (an affiliate of the Maha Bodhi Society) in Colombo.[5][4] Missionary work After his education, he was sent to India for missionary work as a representative of the Maha Bodhi Society. He primarily served the Untouchables in Sanchi, Delhi, and Bombay.[5] He also served as a religious advisor to the Malaysian Sasana Abhivurdhiwardhana Society, Buddhist Missionary Society, and Buddhist Youth Federation. Following this he served as an educator for Kishon Dial School and Temple Road Girls' School. He was also the principal of the Buddhist Institute of Kuala Lumpur. Arrival in the United States Bhante Gunaratana went to the United States at the invitation of the Sasana Sevaka Society in 1968 in order to serve as the General Secretary of the Buddhist Vihara Society of Washington, D.C..[5] He was elected president of the society twelve years later. While serving in this office, he has conducted meditation retreats and taught courses in Buddhist Studies.[2] Gunaratana earned a bachelor's, master's, and doctorate in philosophy at American University.[5] He has also taught graduate level courses on Buddhism at American University, Georgetown University, Bucknell University, and the University of Maryland, College Park. He also lectures at universities throughout the United States, Europe, and Australia. He is the author of the book Mindfulness in Plain English. Bhante Gunaratana is currently the abbot of the Bhavana Society, a monastery and meditation retreat center that he founded in High View, West Virginia.[6][7]

Keng, Ajahn Keng Khemako

🔗Several short Ajahn Keng Q&A videos Ajahn Keng Khemako was ordained in 1987 under the recommendation of Ajahn Geoffrey (Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu‍). Ajahn is the first Singaporean monk ordained in Thai tradition to be conferred the high-ranking title of Chao Khun by the H.M. The King of Thailand. A true forest monk, Ajahn prefers to dwell in forest and caves deep within the jungles of Thailand and Malaysia to practice intensive meditation. Tan Ajarn (TA) Keng is the Abbot at 🔗Santi Forest Monastery in Malaysia   (🔗Temple's FB Link) (not to be confused with the Santi Forest Monastery in 🔗New South Wales, Australia), TA or 🔗Tan Chao Khun Keng is also the President of the 🔗Wat Palelai Buddhist Temple in Singapore (pronounce: Wat Pa Ley Lai)  (🔗Temple's Link). Some Histories of 🔗TA Keng and 🔗Palelai Temple.  Recent events: 🔗https://www.msbs.my/sutta/daily-chanting/ 🔗https://www.fireflymission.org/kantina-santi-forest-monastery-2019/ Old Pics of the Santi Forest Monastery:  🔗https://www.flickr.com/photos/seng548/collections/72157636782504863/ 

Lee, Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo

🔗books, audio, video collection. 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. Ajahn Lee is regarded as one of the greatest teachers and meditation masters of the Thai Forest Tradition of the 20th century.[1][2] Among the forest monks, he devised the most comprehensive meditation instructions, and composed the most detailed map of the jhānas.[citation needed] He was one of the first teachers to bring the teachings of the Forest Tradition to the mainstream of Thai society.[3]

Mun, Ajahn Mun

🔗explanation of Buddhas visiting Ajahn Mun Ajahn Mun Bhuridatta Thera (Thai: มั่น ภูริทตฺโต, RTGS: Man Phurithatto; Lao: ຫຼວງປູ່ມັ່ນ ພູຣິທັຕໂຕ; 1870–1949) was a Thai bhikkhu from Isan region who is credited, along with his mentor, Ajahn Sao Kantasīlo, with establishing the Thai Forest Tradition or "Kammaṭṭhāna tradition" that subsequently spread throughout Thailand and to several countries abroad. Ajaan Mun was born in Baan Kham Bong, a farming village in Ubon Ratchathani Province, Isan. Ordained as a monk in 1893, he spent the remainder of his life wandering through Thailand, Burma, and Laos, dwelling for the most part in the forest, engaged in the practice of meditation. He attracted an enormous following of students and, together with his teacher, Sao Kantasīlo (1861–1941) established the Thai Forest Tradition (the kammaṭṭhāna tradition) that subsequently spread throughout Thailand and to several countries abroad. He died at Wat Suddhavasa, Sakon Nakhon Province.

Piak, Luang Por Piak

🔗ajahn piak collection ajahn piak collection}} Luang Por (Venerable Father) Piak is one of Thailand’s most respected teachers of Dhamma and meditation. Born in 1948, Luang Por Piak’s given name was Prasobchai but he was nicknamed ‘Piak’. As a child and young man Luang Por Piak did not have much interest in religion or meditation. It was when he was studying for his Masters in New York that Luang Por Piak began to develop an interest in cultivation of the mind. On the subway, for example, while heading to work, he would find his mind naturally observing and converging on his breath. There he found both pleasure and peace. He also noticed that he was able to wake up in the morning at whatever time he wished simply by mentally determining the time the night before. Even if he’d spent most of the night at a party, he’d still wake up exactly at the predetermined time. These experiences made him curious about how the mind worked and led on to an interest in meditation. After returning to Thailand, Venerable Piak then received full bhikkhu ordination from Luang Por Chah of Wat Nong Pah Pong Monastery on July 3rd 1976. In 1981, when Venerable Piak had been ordained for five years, a piece of property was offered outside of Bangkok for the establishment of a branch monastery. Luang Por Chah asked Venerable Piak to live there as the abbot. It was unusual for a monk to be asked to take on so much responsibility at such a young age, but Venerable Piak had had quick progress in his Dhamma practice and was also native to that region. Initially surrounded by rice fields as far as one could see, within ten years his small monastery had been completely engulfed by Bangkok’s urban sprawl. Noise, heat and pollution notwithstanding, Luang Por Piak has remained a refuge of peace and soothing coolness within the heart of Thailand’s largest city. Ajahn Issara Uttamacitto is a long-time student of Luang Por Piak and monk of 35 years standing. He is the abbot of a forest monastery outside of Bangkok and has traveled internationally as assistant teacher with Lunag Por Piak on many occasions.

Shatz, Geoff Shatz, measureless mind

🔗PDF scrape of his old website 'measureless mind' 🔗excerpt from his book Geoff used to have a website, 'measureless mind', based on his detailed study of EBT core principles and practices from his own translations of Pali suttas and early commentaries. The archive.org link above contains a PDF file that someone scraped from his now defunct website, and another article on jhana. This is really priceless and excellent work well worth your time to study carefully. It will help disabuse you of many fanciful and wrong ideas promulgated by late Theravada, especially on the topics of jhana, samatha, vipassana.

Sujato, Bhikkhu Sujato (born Anthony Best)

🔗sutta central.net 🔗wiki 🔗SC forum for error reporting 🔗SC 2021/3 edition details B. Sujato‍: Bhante Sujato, known as Ajahn Sujato or Bhikkhu Sujato, is an Australian Theravada Buddhist monk who was ordained into in the Thai forest lineage of Ajahn Chah.[2] A former musician[3] with the Australian band Martha's Vineyard,[4] Sujato became a monk in 1994.[3] He took higher ordination in Thailand and lived there for years before returning to Australia.[3] He spent several years at Bodhinyana Monastery in Western Australia before going on to found Santi Forest Monastery in 2003 where he served as the abbot. Following Bhante Sujato's wishes, Santi became a nun's monastery in 2012, and he returned to live in Bodhinyana.[5] In 2005, Bhante Sujato co-founded the Buddhist website SuttaCentral[2] along with Rod Bucknell and John Kelly, to provide access to early Buddhist texts in their original language and make translations available in modern languages.[6] After being unable to secure copyright-free digital translations of the Pali Canon for SuttaCentral, Bhante Sujato moved to the island of Chimei, off the coast of Taiwan,[1][5] to undertake the task of creating English translations of the four Nikāyas, living there from 2015 to 2018. These translations have since been published on SuttaCentral, and as free edition books.[7]

co-author of excellent book, The Authenticity of the Early Buddhist Texts

While his work promoting EBT is noteworthy and the translation of a complete set of 4 nikayas released into the public domain is profoundly meritorious, it is important to note that his views on Jhāna do not accord with the EBT, detailed in this section: V&V💭. His views on Jhāna are much closer to (VRJ🐍) (V)isuddhi-magga (Re)-definition of (J)hana.

Tan, Piya Tan

🔗Piya's sutta translations Piya Tan Beng Sin (Chinese: 陈明信; born 20 August 1949 in Malacca, Malaysia), also known as Piya Tan or Piyasilo (monastic name), is a Peranakan full-time lay Buddhist writer-cum-teacher in Singapore. He actively teaches the Buddha's Dharma, meditation and Pali to various Buddhist groups and organisations, and also works as a meditation therapist and counsellor at The Minding Centre (TMC).[1] He is the first full-time lay Dharma worker ("Dharmacari") in Singapore to be supported by donations from the Buddhist community.[2] In 2006, he started The Minding Centre, a Dharma and right livelihood activity centre, where he teaches the Suttas he has translated and runs the Piya's Meditation Courses, a blend of the Forest & Insight methods for the public. Piya is a regular teacher at the Brahm Education Centre (BEC) where he has been running the popular Meditation for Beginners classes since Jan 2004,[6] and other courses. He lives with his family at Pali House, where he works full-time on the Sutta translation project. Sutta translation work The Sutta Discovery Series, an annotated translation of the early Pali Suttas (the 4 Nikayas), incorporates some of the best elements of Western academic standards with the excellence of the Buddhist spiritual traditions. The approach blends both scriptural understanding and meditation practice. The Sutta Discovery translations have been endorsed and used by various monks, such as Ajahn Sujato of Australia, Bhante Aggacitta of Malaysia and Ven S Pemaratana of Sri Lanka.

important note:

While his translations and written works are mostly based on Early Buddhism and sutta based, he learned meditation from Ajahn Brahm which is emphatically not EBT, but much closer to late Theravada (VRJ🐍) (V)isuddhi-magga (Re)-definition of (J)hana.

Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu (Geoffrey DeGraff)

🔗dhammatalks.org: all his writings and sutta translations. 🔗watmetta.org: his monastery in southern california. 🔗audio dhamma talks Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu‍ (also known as Ajahn Geoff; born Geoffrey DeGraff 28 December 1949) is an American Buddhist monk. Belonging to the Thai Forest Tradition, for 10 years he studied under the forest master Ajahn Fuang Jotiko (himself a student of Ajahn Lee). 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.[2] Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu is perhaps best known for his translations of the Dhammapada and the Sutta Pitaka - almost 1000 suttas in all - providing free of charge the majority of the sutta translations for the reference website Access to Insight,[3] as well as for his translations from the dhamma talks of the Thai forest ajahns. He has also authored several dhamma-related works of his own, and has compiled study-guides of his Pali translations.[4]

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