Amaravati Origins

"You are your own teacher. Looking for teachers can't solve your own doubts. Investigate yourself to find the truth - inside, not outside. Knowing yourself is most important."

Ajahn Chah

Wat Pah Pong - 1973. Ajahn Chah seated
in front of Sumedho Bhikkhu with Dr. Burns (Suvicanno Bhikkhu) on the left and
Jack Kornfield (Sunyo Bhikkhu) to the right.

The origins of Amaravati can be traced back to the forests of North East Thailand. It was there that a few aspiring Westerners, including the newly ordained Sumedho Bhikkhu, came across the meditation master Venerable Ajahn Chah. His presentation was a blend of solitary and group meditation practice with a strong emphasis on personal initiative and inquiry, but also with a very compassionate wish to include all who were sincerely interested in following the Buddha's Path. A big part of Ajahn ChahÕs teaching was offered by the disciplined situation in which he trained people, and Amaravati is one attempt to create an equivalent situation in a Western context.

There are many challenges involved in transferring a spiritual practice from an Asian context to a European one. Thai forest monasticism is attractive because it highlights Buddhism's core aim: the release of the mind from every kind of stress and discontent. Its fundamental practice is to 'refrain from doing any kind of evil, to support whatever is good and to purify the mind.'

As a way of life, it emphasises solitude, renunciation and long hours of meditation, not always practical in the West. Although it fits well in a tropical agrarian country where the monastics wear light robes, live in flimsy huts and live on the alms-food provided by local villagers, that environment is not available in North West Europe.

It is mostly the practicality and relevance of its meditation teachings, arousing interest and gratitude from contemporary Westerners, that has encouraged the essential support of the laity that the monastics need for their survival. Because the monastic Rule that forest monks are dedicated to prevents them from growing, purchasing, soliciting or storing food, monastics can exist only where lay people are happy to provide a daily meal of their own free will.