Bhikkhu Bodhi is a Buddhist monk of American nationality, born in New York City in 1944. After obtaining a PhD in philosophy from the Claremont Graduate School, he came to Sri Lanka to enter the Sangha. He received the novice ordination in 1972 and the higher ordination in 1973, both under the eminent scholar monk, Ven. Balangoda Ananda Maitreya, with whom he studied Pali and Dhamma.
He is the author of several works on Theravāda Buddhism, including four translations of great Pali-suttas, together with their comments. He was editor and president of the Buddhist Publication Society for many years.
He has been living at Chuang Yen Monastery since 2006 and in 2008, together with several of his students, Bhikkhu Bodhi founded Buddhist Global Relief, a non profit supporting hunger relief, sustainable agriculture, and education in countries suffering from chronic poverty and malnutrition. In May 2013 was elected president of BAUS.
A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma
Bhikkhu BodhiThis modern translation of the Abhidhammattha Sangaha (Manual of Abhidhamma) offers an introduction to Buddhism’s fundamental philosophical psychology.
A Look at the Kalama Sutta
Bhikkhu BodhiHere I will take a fresh look at an often quoted discourse of the Buddha, the Kalama Sutta. The discourse has been described as “the Buddha’s Charter of Free…
A Short Introduction to Buddhism by Bhikkhu Bodhi
Bhikkhu BodhiThese videos by Bhikkhu Bodhi include a short introductory course to Buddhism. The course took place in the summer of 2018 at Woo Ju Memorial Library…
Adittapariyaya Sutta: The Fire Sermon
Bhikkhu BodhiOn one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Gaya, at Gaya’s Head, together with a thousand bhikkhus. There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus thus…
Anapanasati Sutta: Mindfulness of Breathing
Bhikkhu BodhiThus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Sāvatthī in the Eastern Park, in the Palace of Migāra’s Mother, together with many very well…
Anattalakkhana Sutta: The Characteristic of Nonself
Bhikkhu BodhiThus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Baraṇasi in the Deer Park at Isipatana. There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus of the…
Anicca Vata Sankhāra
Bhikkhu BodhiAnicca vata sankhara — “Impermanent, alas, are all formations!” — is the phrase used in Theravada Buddhist lands to announce the death of a loved one…
Arahants, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas
Bhikkhu BodhiThe arahant ideal and the bodhisattva ideal are often considered the respective guiding ideals of Theravāda Buddhism and Mahāyāna Buddhism.
Association with the Wise
Bhikkhu BodhiThe Maha-mangala Sutta, the Great Discourse on Blessings, is one of the most popular Buddhist suttas, included in all the standard repertories of Pali…
Bhikkhu Bodhi Speaks about the Abhidhamma
Bhikkhu BodhiIn 2012 Bhikkhu Bodhi taught the Abhidhamma at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center for the Dedicated Practitioners Program. Listen here to these valuable lessons…
Chiggala Sutta’s: Yoke with a Hole
Bhikkhu Bodhi“Bhikkhus, suppose a man would throw a yoke with a single hole into the great ocean, and there was a blind turtle which would come to the surface once every…
Dhamma and Non-duality
Bhikkhu BodhiOne of the most challenging issues facing Theravada Buddhism in recent years has been the encounter between classical Theravada vipassana meditation and the…
Dhamma Reflections
Bhikkhu BodhiThis volume brings together fifty-three essays of Bhikkhu Bodhi that were earlier published by the BPS in newsletters and other publications.
Dhamma Without Rebirth?
Bhikkhu BodhiIn line with the present-day stress on the need for religious teachings to be personally relevant and directly verifiable, in certain Dhamma circles the time…
Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta: Setting in Motion the Wheel of Dhamma
Bhikkhu BodhiThus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Baraṇasi in the Deer Park at Isipatana. There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus of the…
Introduction to Dāna (Giving)
Bhikkhu BodhiThe practice of giving is universally recognized as one of the most basic human virtues, a quality that testifies to the depth of one’s humanity and one’s…
Introduction to the Abhidhammattha Sangaha
Bhikkhu BodhiThe nucleus of the present book (A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma: The Abhidhammattha Sangaha of Acariya Anuruddha) is a medieval compendium of Buddhist…
Investigating the Dhamma
Bhikkhu BodhiThis book brings together eight essays of Bhikkhu Bodhi, five of which were earlier published in academic journals and volumes, and three not published before.
Lifestyles and Spiritual Progress
Bhikkhu BodhiNewcomers to Buddhism often ask whether a person’s lifestyle has any special bearing on their ability to progress along the Buddha’s path…
Purification of Mind
Bhikkhu BodhiAn ancient maxim found in the Dhammapada sums up the practice of the Buddha’s teaching in three simple guidelines to training: to abstain from all evil…
Serenity and Insight in the Nikāyas
Bhikkhu BodhiBelow is a selection of texts from the Nikāyas (ancient Buddhist scriptures) on samatha (calmness) and vipassanā (insight) chosen by Bhikkhu Bodhi as an…
Sīha Sutta: The Fruits of Giving
Bhikkhu BodhiOn one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Vesālī in the hall with the peaked roof in the Great Wood. Then Sīha the general approached the Blessed One…
Sīsapāvana Sutta: The Simsapa Grove
Bhikkhu BodhiOn one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Kosambi in a siṁsapa grove. Then the Blessed One took up a few siṁsapa leaves in his hand and addressed the…
Subrahma’s Problem
Bhikkhu BodhiToday, in both East and West, a general breakdown of law and order has planted in us an implacable sense of uneasiness that creeps up on us on the streets…
The All-Embracing Net of Views
Bhikkhu BodhiThe Brahmajala, one of the Buddha’s most important discourses, weaves a net of sixty-two cases capturing all the speculative views on the self and the world.
The Bodhisattva idea: Essays on the Emergence of Mahayana
Bhikkhu BodhiThis book brings together six essays on the origin and history of the bodhisattva ideal and the emergence of the Mahāyana. The essays approach the subject from…
The Discourse on the Root of Existence
Bhikkhu BodhiThis profound and difficult discourse of the Buddha aims at exposing and eliminating the concept of the ego at its most fundamental level.
The Five Spiritual Faculties
Bhikkhu BodhiThe practice of the Buddha’s teaching is most commonly depicted by the image of a journey, the eight factors of the Noble Eightfold Path constituting the royal…
The Fruits of Recluseship: The Sammannaphala Sutta and its Commentaries
Bhikkhu BodhiIn reply to a question on the fruits of the monk’s life, the Buddha traces the entire progress of the disciple from the first step of the path to its…
The Great Discourse on Causation
Bhikkhu BodhiThe Mahanidana Sutta, “The Great Discourse on Causation,” is the longest and most detailed of the Buddha’s discourses dealing with dependent arising (paticca…
The Guardians of the World
Bhikkhu BodhiLike the Roman god Janus, every person faces simultaneously in two opposite directions. With one face of our consciousness we gaze in upon ourselves and become…
The Noble Eightfold Path
Bhikkhu BodhiThis book offers a clear, concise account of the Eightfold Path prescribed to uproot and eliminate the deep underlying cause of suffering — ignorance.
The Perfection of Giving
Bhikkhu BodhiThe perfection of giving is to be practiced by benefiting beings in many ways — by relinquishing one’s happiness, belongings, body and life to others…
Two Faces of the Dhamma
Bhikkhu BodhiOn first encounter Buddhism confronts us as a paradox. Intellectually, it appears a freethinker’s delight: sober, realistic, undogmatic…
Two Paths to Knowledge
Bhikkhu BodhiMany of the formidable social and cultural problems we face today are rooted in the sharp schism that has divided Western civilization between science and…
Two Styles of Insight Meditation
Bhikkhu BodhiToday the practice of insight meditation has gained global popularity, yet in achieving this success it has undergone a subtle metamorphosis.
Vibhanga-Sutta: Analysis
Bhikkhu BodhiAt Savatthī. “Bhikkhus, I will teach you the Noble Eightfold Path and I will analyse it for you. Listen to that and attend closely, I will speak.” “Yes…