Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, also known as Ajaan Geoff (born 1949), is an American Theravada Buddhist monk of the Dhammayut Order (Dhammayutika Nikaya), Thai forest tradition kammatthana. He is currently the abbot of Metta Forest Monastery in San Diego County. Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu is a notably skilled and prolific translator of the Pāli Canon. He is also the author of many free Dhamma books.
Biography
Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu was born Geoffrey DeGraff in 1949 and was introduced to the Buddha's teaching on the Four Noble Truths as a high schooler, during a plane ride from the Philippines. After graduating in 1971 with a degree in European Intellectual History from Oberlin College, he travelled to Thailand, where he practiced meditation under Ajaan Fuang Jotiko, who'd studied under Ajaan Lee. He was ordained in 1976 at Ajaan Lee's Wat Asokaram, where Ajaan Lee's nephew, Phra Rajvarakhun (Samrong Gunavuddho), served as Preceptor for his ordination. Later, he took residence at Wat Dhammasathit in Thailand, where he continued studying under Ajaan Fuang.
Before Ajaan Fuang's death in 1986, he expressed his wish for Ajaan Geoff to become abbot of Wat Dhammasathit. Some time after his teacher's death, Ajaan Geoff was offered the position of abbot, but with "strings... attached" and no authority since he was a Westerner in a monastery founded by and for Thai monks. Instead of taking that position, he travelled to {{Wiki|San Diego County]] in 1991, upon request of Ajaan Suwat Suvaco, where he helped start Metta Forest Monastery. He became abbot of the monastery in 1993. In 1995, Ajaan Geoff became the first American born, non-Thai bhikkhu to be given the title, authority, and responsibility of Preceptor (Upajjhaya) in the Dhammayut Order. He also serves as Treasurer of that order in the United States.
Publications
His extensive list of publications includes:
- Translations of Ajaan Lee's meditation manuals from the Thai
- Handful of Leaves, a five-volume anthology of sutta translations
- The Buddhist Monastic Code, a two-volume reference handbook on the topic of monastic discipline
- Wings to Awakening, a study of the factors taught by Buddha as being essential for awakening
- The Mind Like Fire Unbound, an examination of Upadana (clinging) and Nibbana (Nirvana) in terms of contemporary philosophies of fire
- The Paradox of Becoming, an extensive analysis on the topic of becoming as a causal factor of stress and suffering
- The Shape of Suffering, a study of dependent co-arising and its relationship to the factors of the noble eightfold path
- Skill in Questions, a study of how the Buddha's fourfold strategy in answering questions provides a framework for understanding the strategic purpose of his teachings
- Noble Strategy, The Karma of Questions, Purity of Heart, and Head & Heart Together, collections of essays on Buddhist practice
- Meditations (1-5), collections of transcribed Dhamma talks
- Dhammapada: A Translation, a collection of verses by the Buddha
- And as co-author, a college-level textbook, Buddhist Religions: A Historical Introduction
Some Teaching Locations
Metta Forest Monastery, Portland Friends of Dhamma, Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, The Cambridge Insight Meditation Center
