Your favourite contemporary teachers

Pictures of revered teachers, places, rupas, temples, bhikkhus, shrine rooms etc. that bring inspiration to our members. Pilgrimage advice, devotion etc.
greggorious
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Re: Your favourite contemporary teachers

Post by greggorious »

Ajahn Chah
Ajahn Buddhadassa
Thich Nhaht Hanh
Suzuki Roshi
Jack Kornfield
"The original heart/mind shines like pure, clear water with the sweetest taste. But if the heart is pure, is our practice over? No, we must not cling even to this purity. We must go beyond all duality, all concepts, all bad, all good, all pure, all impure. We must go beyond self and nonself, beyond birth and death. When we see with the eye of wisdom, we know that the true Buddha is timeless, unborn, unrelated to any body, any history, any image. Buddha is the ground of all being, the realization of the truth of the unmoving mind.” Ajahn Chah
Buckwheat
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Re: Your favorite historical teachers

Post by Buckwheat »

yawares wrote:Image
There is something about this image.... very powerful. :bow:
Sotthī hontu nirantaraṃ - May you forever be well.
rohana
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Re: Your favourite contemporary teachers

Post by rohana »

Among many great teachers, I think the most I've been influenced by are:

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Rērukānē Chandavimala Mahānāyaka Thera - many excellent books, particularly on vipassanā.

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Ven. Bhikku Bōdhi - for this excellent Sutta translations and other works.

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Abhidhammika Yāgoda Dharmaprabha Thera - great books on meditation.

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Katukurundē Ñānānanda Thera - his writings have never failed to amaze me. An absolute delight to read.

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Ven. Mātara Ñānarāma MahaThera - his writings on progress of insight.

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Ven. Balangoda Ānanda Maitreya - not so much actual works on Dhamma, but reading about his adventures with Himalayan yogis was quite fun.

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Thanissaro Bikkhu - his has quite a knack for bringing out aspects of the teaching that tend to get ignored.

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Ven. Ñānapōnika Thera - for translations and his Satipatthana book.

:anjali:
"Delighting in existence, O monks, are gods and men; they are attached to existence, they revel in existence. When the Dhamma for the cessation of existence is being preached to them, their minds do not leap towards it, do not get pleased with it, do not get settled in it, do not find confidence in it. That is how, monks, some lag behind."
- It. p 43
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tiltbillings
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Re: Your favourite contemporary teachers

Post by tiltbillings »

Bump
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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Anagarika
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Re: Your favourite contemporary teachers

Post by Anagarika »

Who, and also some why.

Thanissaro Bhikkhu: I've spent time at Wat Metta, and feel fortunate that he exists in my time. I feel that for all of the "pharmacists" available in the marketplace, he understands the original prescription, and dispenses it with enormous skill and care. No sugar added, and the recipe is as exact as it may have been 2600 years ago at the 1st Council. I simply trust what he has investigated and teaches. I also have witnessed his good heart with his monastic Sangha and lay community, and regret that I can visit Wat Metta only sporadically.

Bhikkhu Bodhi: his books occupy my shelf, and his scholarship has made the Suttas and his commentaries on these texts easily accessible to me. Without his Pali Sutta compendiums I would be lost in a sea of miscellaneous texts. His Buddhist Global Relief is the gold standard for Buddhist engaged practice, and I am glad that a Theravada monk took the lead on creating a highly successful nonprofit that focuses on hunger eradication and food redistribution.

Ajahn Brahm: Not everyone's cup of tea, and some of his interpretations seem to me to be "Ajahn Brahmisms," which I feel he embellishes for the sake of keeping a high level of lay interest in what can be dry subjects (jhana for example). He's kind of the Carl Sagan of the monastic world... just as Sagan made astronomy/physics fun, Ven. Brahm has opened doors to the lay world that might have been difficult for many to open. He tackles subjects like depression, anxiety, loneliness, and other human suffering with a skillful touch, and when he claims that people in deep despair have told him his youtube talks saved their life, I do not doubt this.

Prof. Rita Gross: just as occurred at lunch today (Spring 2014 issue of Buddhadharma) , she publishes another article that lays out in black and white the origins and development of ancient Buddhism, and despite her affiliation with Tibetan practice, she is not afraid to tell her Mahayana students that what they think is true is not. She is not afraid to break the bad news to her students in her quest to be honest and a skilled anthropologist and historian of the Dhamma. She has an ecumenical approach, but not at the expense of historical fact, and I appreciate that. Her articles resonate with honesty and scholarship, and she seems keenly interested in opening the Dhamma in the west in as accurate a modality as possible to her university students.

Ajahn Brahmali: I initially thought the first minutes of his youtube talks would be dry, but once I stayed with him for 15 minutes, he grew on me, and he now occupies my early mornings when I have time for a good talk before starting my day. He's smart, scholarly, and deceptively humorous.

Bhikkhu Sujato: a young scholar with a very skillful delivery, who always seems to write or produce via video something compelling and interesting, that for me resonate with authenticity. I wish for him many, many years of life, as he is a rising influence on Buddhist Dhamma scholarship in the west. Willing to step out of the Wat and engage in open, friendly debates with the likes of Stephen Batchelor; these kinds of interactions bring vitality to Buddhism in the west.

Finally, Phra Dr. Apisit of Fang, Chiang Mai, Thailand, who is my abbot and teacher when I was a samanera in Thailand. Young, dynamic, Pali scholar, Ph.D. from India, enormously kind, with a huge intellect and even bigger heart. He was very good to me, a naive farang who came to his Wat in search of many things, and who left after disrobing a far better man.
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Weakfocus
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Two men stand out for me

Post by Weakfocus »

There are two teachers to whom I feel greatly indebted:
  • Goenkaji.
  • My grandfather. This requires some explanation: he was a Vipassana meditator, and introduced me to Dhamma. It is my own ignorance/stupidity that kept me from walking the path until recently. My grandfather set a very high standard of morality and Dhammic living, and the way he lived his life was a teaching in itself.
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mario92
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Re: Your favourite contemporary teachers

Post by mario92 »

yongey mingyur rimpoche introduces me to the bliss of meditation, the venerable bhikkhu nandisena introduces me to the original teachings of the buddha, ajahn chah and the suttas makes me attain jhana in the past, good memories, and also now i have faith in the venerable ajahn jayasaro for his good and bright presence in the videos. I hope with this dhamma one day i return to when i practised meditation daily. and also i wish the great virtues of the paramitas (generosity, virtue, equanimity, wisdom, patience, metta, etc. Also i have to say that many here have been my masters and have been helping me from undoing evil, and practising towards nibbana. Ayya Thataaloka were very kind to me via email in many matters of the dhamma, and In Wat metta also there is a monk named Saint Peter who exhort myself from doing good and not doing evil (living home, etc. and other matters) I hope i can grow in generosity, virtue, wisdom, the paramitas, and money to go to Wat Metta.
Metta for all of you may you attain your objectives and aspirations. :thanks: :namaste: may you be very happy and very well all day
david.sojourn
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Re: Your favourite contemporary teachers

Post by david.sojourn »

Stephen K wrote:In this thread please list your most favourite contemporary teachers/monks.



Mine are:

Ajahn Brahm
Ajahn Chah
Bhikkhu Bodhi
Mahasi Sayadaw
This is a good list.

I would add Ajahn Sumhedo, as well.

And Jack Kornfield.

Any of the students of Ajahn Chah, are of value to the modern seeker.
Kwaingo
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Re: Your favourite contemporary teachers

Post by Kwaingo »

Who can add to these great teachers? They really are the best teachers of our time.
mahaupasaka
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Re: Your favourite contemporary teachers

Post by mahaupasaka »

Buddhadasa bhikkhu
Ajahn Chah
Bhikkhu Bodhi
Bhikkhu Analayo
Richard Gombrich
Ajahn Sumedho
Phra Payutto
Ajahn Sucitto
Rupert Gethin
Ajahn Amaro
Ajahn Pasano
Sue Hamilton
Peter Harvey
Rewata Dhamma
Piyadassi Thera
Walpola Rahula
Bhante Sujato
Avoid evil, do good, purify the mind.
nmz
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Re: Your favourite contemporary teachers

Post by nmz »

Dr. Nandamālābhivaṃsa: most of my dhamma knowledge come from his dhamma talk (in myanmar). :)
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dhammacoustic
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Re: Your favourite contemporary teachers

Post by dhammacoustic »

Mahasi Sayadaw
Ṭhānissaro
Ñāṇananda
Ñāṇamoli
Pa-Auk Sayadaw
Brahmavamso
Walpola Rahula
U Dhammaloka
Venerables Dhammanando & Pesala

***
Alan Watts
CAF Rhys Davids
George Grimm
Noa Ronkin
Donald K. Swearer
Last edited by dhammacoustic on Thu Dec 03, 2015 4:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
kammatthana
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Re: Your favourite contemporary teachers

Post by kammatthana »

My favorite teachers (and very fortunate to have met many in person):

Ajahn Anan
Ajahn Jayasaro
Ajahn Kalyano
Ajahn Khemanando
Ajahn Liem
Ajahn Nyanadhammo
Ajaan Pannavaddho
Luang Pu Mun
Luang Pu Opart
Luangta Maha Boowa
Luang Pu Toon
Thanissaro Bhikkhu

:anjali:
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Dan74
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Location: Switzerland

Re: Your favourite contemporary teachers

Post by Dan74 »

mahaupasaka wrote:Buddhadasa bhikkhu
Ajahn Chah
Bhikkhu Bodhi
Bhikkhu Analayo
Richard Gombrich
Ajahn Sumedho
Phra Payutto
Ajahn Sucitto
Rupert Gethin
Ajahn Amaro
Ajahn Pasano
Sue Hamilton
Peter Harvey
Rewata Dhamma
Piyadassi Thera
Walpola Rahula
Bhante Sujato
The last 100 years or so have certainly seen a wonderful revival of Theravada and many truly inspirational teachers. Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!
_/|\_
rohatsu
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Re: Your favourite contemporary teachers

Post by rohatsu »

-Bhante Punnaji
-Ajahn Pannavaddho :candle:
-Bhante Vimalaramsi
-Bhante Lokuhandruvo Pemasiri
-Bhante Dhammavuddho
-Bhante Ottama
-Bhante Nanananda

:buddha1:
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