Latest announcement from Amaravati monastery. (Good dhamma inc)

[Buddho93]

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Beautiful inspiring photographs. Thank you for posting this. Nice looking robes.
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[SarathW]

Is this in accordance with the Buddha's teaching?
Next thing is they want to be knighted by the queen.

[Sam Vara]

Is this in accordance with the Buddha's teaching?
Next thing is they want to be knighted by the queen.

I doubt if they actually wanted these honours, even if they are grateful.

[Bhikkhu_Jayasara]

In any case the practice in Thailand is that the name a monk is given at his ordination is always in the nominative case. This is true of all monks and doesn't indicate anything at all about a monk's status. The only thing different about Ven. Jayasāro, Amaro, etc. is that they use their Pali names all the time, which is a peculiarity of the Ajahn Chah tradition. The general practice in Thailand is that monks use their lay name prefixed by Phra or Tan.

If this is actually the case then I stand corrected, especially since I believe you are a senior Thai monastic if I remember correctly and would know this first hand. Thank you Venerable for taking the time to post. /\

Please explain more. What exactly were/are the "restrictions"? Thank you.

I am responding to Ven Gavesako's post here - "Having these titles gives the Western Ajahn Chah community a certain autonomy within the Thai Sangha and the freedom to do things in the West without being too restricted by bureaucracy. For example, getting permission for Thai monks to travel abroad and live in Western monasteries (which is not so easy). Three of the senior monks, except for Ajahn Jayasaro, were already preceptors before, so monks ordained by them would be recognized as such by the Thai Sangha and given official ID documents."

My impression is the bulk of the donations required to build & operate the Ajahn Chah Western monasteries came/comes from the culture of the "home countries".

hence why I say there is no true western sangha yet. I forgot where I had heard it from but I believe a senior monastic once said " Buddhism will not fully take root in a country until it has local(of that country) monastics supported by local people. This is the case in some small pockets here and there, but as I said its still quite early.

I would just like to say, it is great to hear from you Bikkhu Jayasara, I am new to dhamma wheel but have been following you on YouTube and Facebook and always enjoy your posts.

I’m sure the monasteries have to pay a certain lip service to the ‘home country’ but there must be some autonomy there(?)

What you were saying reminded me of Ajahn Brahm in Perth and his monastery which got ‘ex communicated’ from the Ajahn Chah tradition.
Could this, with the re establishment of the Bikkhuni order, be the start of a truly autonomous western sangha?

Please forgive me for anything I have misunderstood, I do realise my insight into these matters is very limited. Hope you are well bhante

Thank you for the kind words friend, I'm glad what I've done has been of some benefit.

First let me be clear, what I say about being separate from the Buddhist countries is not meant as a form of insult or disrespect towards them. As I said there are many things that are good and should carry over from the various countries, (the scholarship of the Sri Lankans, the discipline of the Thai forest, etc) and are of benefit to living the holy life as intended in the vinaya and EBTs.

So there should be a respect for the traditions, while at the same time not being tied down by them. You wont have to pay "lip service" if the traditions are not trying to control.

Ajahn Brahm I think is a good example of a more "western sangha", which has become it's own thing, but also has roots in the ancient traditions and is supported but not just Thai people but Sri lankans and westerners and others. Where I live, Bhavana Society, is as well. My preceptor, Bhante G, has always said that Bhavana is not connected to any one country, it is simply a place for all to come to learn and practice dhamma. The thai people were instrumental in the construction of our meditation hall 20+ years ago, the Sri Lankan people have also helped in the growth of Bhavana in many ways. In the Meditation hall you see a Thai Buddha, in the Dining hall a Sri Lankan one. The retreats are the main thing that keep Bhavana going , and those are attended by a diverse group of people(westerners, people from buddhist countries, etc). I am also not a Sri Lankan Monk, or a Thai monk, I am just a Bhikkhu, and if I have to be associated with a country then it is America, because that is where i'm from and I'd like to play my part in growing the Dhamma here in the way of the quote I said above.

In our first ordination ceremony in 1989, Bhante G ordained three men to Bhikkhu, and one woman to Samaneri. Bhavana also had both Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis for close to 20 years, although that is the case no longer. You are right to state that the return of the Bhikkhuni order to its place in the fourfold assembly should be a large aspect of a western sangha, but we must give credit to the many Sri Lankan monastics and laity who started that push to bring it back. The return of the Bhikkhuni order was not solely a western idea.

anyways I fear I've begun the derailment of this thread from the acknowledgement of the years of dhamma work done by these wonderful Maha Theras. THis is the last I will speak of this topic on this thread, if anyone wants to respond further then can PM me, or perhaps the mods may feel the idea of a "western sangha" should be it's own thread?

[Mr Man]

Is this in accordance with the Buddha's teaching?
Next thing is they want to be knighted by the queen.

Ajahn Khemadhammo has been awarded an OBE

Venerable Ajahn Khemadhammo (Chao Khun Bhavanaviteht) OBE was born in England in 1944. After training and practising as a professional actor for some years, in 1971 he travelled to Thailand via the Buddhist holy places in India. In December 1971 in Bangkok he became a novice and about a month later moved to Ubon to stay with Ajahn Chah at Wat Nong Pah Pong. On the day before Vesakha Puja of that year, 1972, he received upasampada as a bhikkhu. In HM the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2003 he was appointed an OBE for services to prisoners and the following year at HM the King of Thailand’s birthday in December he was made a Chao Khun with the title, Phra Bhavanaviteht.

https://foresthermitage.org.uk/about/th ... hermitage/

[Buddho93]

I never anticipated that this thread would be so interesting ...

I think the Buddhist chaplaincy is very good in this country.

Again, it’s good that people are recognised for their efforts and I doubt Luang Por wears his OBE medal on his robes

I think they do a lot of work with local schools as well up there too.

[SarathW]

I never anticipated that this thread would be so interesting ...

What I like to know is whether this practice is in accordance with the Buddha's teaching.
I have never come across a layperson was giving titles to a monastic in Sutta.
Is this consider dana?