Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Thanissaro Bhikkhu (Geoffrey DeGraff) was born on December 28th, 1949 and is currently 75 years old. Thanissaro Bhikkhu was born in Long Island, New York, USA. Bhikkhu attended Oberlin College where he received a degree in European Intellectual History.
Thanissaro Bhikkhu is best known as an American author and Buddhist monk who has interpreted and translated a bunch of Buddhist scriptures. A monk of
Thai Forest Tradition, he interned for a decade under Ajahn Fuang Jotiko before he became the abbot of a San Diego-based monastery.
He began studying Buddhist teachings particularly the
Four Noble Truths while he was traveling back home from an exchange program in the Philippines. Right from his childhood, he was a very independent and serious child who lived on a Long Island, New York potato farm before his family moved to Washington D.C.
Thanissaro Bhikkhu was a political activist in college as he never loved following crowds. He also got into meditation since he believed it was superior to the prayers of Christianity. Bhikkhu would then move to Thailand, which is where he met forrest teacher Ajahn Funag Jotiko.
He moved back to the US where he started to weigh the merits of monasticism and academia. After a few years in the US, he initially intended to go back to Thailand to become a monk on a trial basis for about five years. But in Thailand, his mentor extracted from him a promise to either die in Thailand or to make a success of his meditations.
By his third year in Thailand, Thanissaro who was working as an attendant to Fuang was ordained as a monk. He would then move back to the United States to become a founder and abbot of the San Diego County-based
Metta Forest Monastery.
Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s
A Burden Off the Mind is a work that she published in 2000. It is a study guide that brings together the five aggregates of Buddhism and encourages readers to ask the right questions. According to the author, people should not define who they are by the aggregates, as this would result in a life with no purpose.
In 2013, Thanissaro published
With Each and Every Breath, a meditation manual. The manual draws on the instructions of the Buddha on how to use breath in mind training, in combination with the breath meditation methods employed by Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo. The latter built on the instructions of the Buddha as he explained the Buddha's teaching in condensed form.
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Thanissaro Bhikkhu: F.A.Q
When was Thanissaro Bhikkhu Born? How old is Thanissaro Bhikkhu?
Thanissaro Bhikkhu was born on December 28th, 1949. Thanissaro Bhikkhu is currently 75 years old.
Where was Thanissaro Bhikkhu Born?
Thanissaro Bhikkhu was born in Long Island, New York, USA and is American.
What was the first book Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote?
The first book written by Thanissaro Bhikkhu was Selves & Not-Self, The Buddhist Teaching on Anatta, published in 1969.
What was the most recent book Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote?
His most recently released work was Meditations 9 on February 13th, 2019.
Will there be any more books by Thanissaro Bhikkhu?
Thanissaro Bhikkhu does not have any upcoming books with a set publication date within the next few months at this time.
How many books has Thanissaro Bhikkhu written?
Thanissaro Bhikkhu has written 29 books excluding contributions to anthologies. 16 books in the Non-Fiction Books, 4 books in the Handful of Leaves Anthology Series, 9 books in the Meditations Series.