Luang Por Sumedho was born in Seattle, Washington in 1934. After serving four years in the US Navy as a medic, he completed a BA in Far Eastern Studies and a MA in South Asian Studies. In 1966, he went to Thailand to practice meditation at Wat Mahathat in Bangkok. Not long afterwards, he went forth as a novice monk in a remote part of the country, Nong Khai, before receiving full ordination in 1967.

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Venerable Vajiro (Phil Gunton) was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1953. Upon graduating in 1974, he began a study accountancy. During this period, a friend encouraged him to go on a ten-day meditation retreat with John Coleman at the Oakenholt Buddhist Centre near Oxford. He attended further retreats there in 1976 and 1977.

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Ajahn Sundara was born in France in 1946. She studied dance in England and in France. In her early thirties, after working for a few years as a dancer and teacher of contemporary dance, she had the opportunity whilst living and studying in England to attend a talk and later, a retreat led by Ajahn Sumedho.

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Ajahn Candasiri was born in Scotland in 1947 and was brought up as a Christian. After university, she trained and worked as an occupational therapist, mainly in the field of mental illness. In 1977, an interest in meditation led her to meet Ajahn Sumedho, shortly after his arrival from Thailand. Inspired by his teachings and example, she began her monastic training at Chithurst as one of the first four Anagārikā.

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Ajahn Nyanarato (Shigehito Nakao) was born in 1958, in Nara, Japan. His sincere interest in the meaning of the life began when he was being trained as a medical doctor in Kyoto University.

After graduation, he decided to go to India for spiritual pursuit, instead of becoming a doctor. He spent one year there, then moved on to Thailand, where he visited various monasteries, such as Wat Pak Nam, Wat Suan Mokkh, etc.

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Ajahn Panyasaro (Phramaha Parinya Baitrakul) was born March 1965 in the North of Thailand but grew up in Bangkok. After he finished his first degree in Law, he came to England for further education in 1987. However he seemed to be born to be a monk not a lawyer. You may find more about him in his article that was published in our Newsletter No.72 “No Regrets” taken from a talk that he gave during the Winter Retreat 2002. He is the secretary to the Abbot.

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Ajahn Sukhacitto

Bhikkhu Sukhacitto was born in Germany in 1963. He first came into contact with Buddhism in 1986 in Thailand by attending a meditation retreat, offered through Wat Suan Mokkh. He ordained there as a novice in 1989 and as a Bhikkhu in 1990. He moved to the West in 1993. Since then he has lived at various monasteries in the West, including Dhammapala Monastery in Switzerland for six years. He first visited Amaravati as a monk several times in the 1990s. He stayed at Amaravati for the 2007 and 2008 winter retreats and came to live at Amaravati in April 2009.

Born Paul Hendrick 1946 in Luton Bedfordshire. Left school at 15 and worked in a magazine company. Married at 21 he has two sons and a daughter.

In his mid 20’s became very keen on Hatha Yoga . Then at the beginning of the 1970’s he met Kapilavaddho, a Buddhist teacher who had formerly been a Bhikkhu. On hearing the teachings of the Buddha Paul started to meditate daily. In 1976 he met Ajahn Sumedho who was on a visit to England with his teacher Luang por Chah. Paul remained a supporter of the Bhikkhus until he was in a position to ordain himself.

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Ajahn Jayanto

Ajahn Jayanto (Chris Bowen) was born in 1967 in Boston,
Massachussetts, USA. In 1988 he left university in order to pursue
something more meaningful, and within a year had found his way to
Amaravati in order to join the monastic community. After eight years
training, mostly in the monasteries at Chithurst and Harnham, he spent
another eight years in Buddhist countries in Asia, mostly in Thailand.
He returned to Britain in order to live at Amaravati in March, 2006.

Ajahn Ratanavanno was born in Korat, N.E. Thailand on 10 February 1971.

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I was born in 1951 in London. I spent two years in my twenties as a volunteer in Thailand, my first conscious encounter with Buddhism. At that age I was not convinced about religion in any way but, undoubtedly, the experience sowed some seeds and a few years later, through a friendship with a Thai student, I came into contact with LP Sumedho and the western Sangha at a ceremonial garage opening in Hampstead.

Hearing Dhamma in my own language, from westerners, made all the difference, as did the experience of meditation. In ensuing years I helped to set up a lay practice group in Northampton before committing to a monastery and taking anagarika precepts for 20 months, a period which was to prove seminal.

Not yet prepared for full ordination, I went back to the lay life for a four year period but returned as anagarika again 1991, going on to take full Bhikkhu ordination in 1993.

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Ajahn Anandabodhi was born in Pembrokeshire, Wales in 1968. Coming across the Four Noble Truths while still at school a confidence in the Buddha’s teaching was sparked in her heart. She trained in catering and also worked in environmental conservation, all the while looking for spiritual direction.

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Ajahn Metta was born 1953 in Germany. She became an Anagārikā in ‘93 at Amaravati and took higher ordination as a Sīladhāra in ‘96. During her monastic life she has been involved in many areas of the community. Currently she is helping with the organisation of the kitchen and taking care of visiting nuns. She is one of the group of senior nuns leading the Sīladhārā community. For the past few years she has been teaching meditation workshops and retreats.
Prior to monastic life she worked as a secretary and office assistant. She is a mother of a grown-up son and was living a family life before entering the monastic path. She has been practising meditation since ‘84 and has experience of living in other spiritual communities in Europe and Thailand ( Wat Suan Mokkh).

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Ajahn Anando

Ajahn Anando was born in Blackheath, south east London on the 6th March 1966. He served as a soldier in the British army for 3 years mostly living in West Germany. After leaving the military he spent time studying health and fitness at East London University, then established a small fitness company which he ran successfully for several years.

His interest in meditation began in 1992 and increased to the stage where ordination as an anagārika became an obvious step. After several years in training he took higher ordination as a Bhikkhu, with LP Sumedho as preceptor, before the Vassa retreat of 1997. Spending his first 2 years as a Bhikkhu at Amaravati he then moved on to Thailand living for a year at Wat Pah Nanachat, then a year at Tan Ajahn Anan’s Monastery near Rayong. This was followed by 4 years in Australia helping to establish a new forest monastery near Melbourne. Presently he is residing at Amaravati.

Ajahn Achalo

Ajahn Achalo was born in Brisbane Australia in 1972.  After developing a deep interest in meditation he traveled to Thailand in 1993, spending time studying, working and practicing in meditation centres and monasteries.  He went forth as a novice at Wat Pah Nanachat in 1995, and continued to train mostly in monasteries in Thailand for the following 12 years, enjoying the opportunity to study with experienced teachers, and also to practice for periods of time in remote forest regions.  In recent years Ajahn Achalo has spent periods of time practicing at Buddhist holy sites in India.  Having always appreciated Luang Por Sumedho’s teachings and his yearly visits to Thailand.  He moved to Amaravati in April 2009.

Sister Bodhipala was born in South-East Asia in 1940, married, has three children and five grandchildren.  She was ordained as Anagārikā in 1998 and as Sīladhārā  in 1999.  Venerable Ajahn Sumedho was her Preceptor.

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Sister Cittapala

Born in Germany in 1949, she worked for nearly 20 years as a teacher and artist in Hamburg. In 1990/91 she went to Indonesia to study awareness movement (Amerta Movement - The River of Life) with Suprapto Suryodharmo - a practice which connected her more and more with Buddhism. After meeting Luang Por Sumedho in 1994, she felt so supported by his teachings that she came to Amaravati, where she has been living since 1996. In 1999, she asked for Sīladhāra ordination.

Here she is supporting the community and is involved in family activties, especially exploring ways of practice and teaching which use formal meditation as well as painting and movement - for liberation.

Joanna Swiecka

Joanna was born in 1973 and brought up in the North East of Poland. She came to England at 19 propelled by a strong desire to leave Poland, travel and study English. In her early twenties, she married (and divorced!) studied law, was called to the Bar of England and Wales, worked with refugees in a legal setting and explored other human rights issues. The death of a loved one put her on a path of enquiry which lead her to a meditation class with the FWBO in London in 2002 and to a retreat at Amaravati a year later.
She felt an immediate heart connection to the teaching. She joined the Retreat Centre as office manager in May 2009.

Aloka Bhikkhu (Petrus Willemse) was born in Masvingo, Zimbabwe on Sunday 9th December 1956. He went to primary school in Gadoma and secondary school in Harare. In 1977 he completed the Licentiate Diplomas of the Royal Schools of Music in piano teaching and performing at the Zimbabwe College of Music. He furthered his music studies at the University of Cape Town, graduating in 1985 after which he taught at the Zimbabwe College of Music.

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I was born in 1973 in Leicester, England but spent most of my childhood either in the north of England or in the Western Isles off the north west coast of Scotland.

From quite early I was interested in spiritual life and first visited Amaravati when I was 15.  During that visit I read some of the teachings of Ajahn Chah. 

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Sister Brahmavara

Sister Brahmavara (Susan Pritchard) was born 6 August 1964 in Reading, England. She studied medicine at Sheffield University, trained as a doctor in Auckland, New Zealand and worked as a GP in Shropshire. She started meditating while she was a medical student under the guidance of SN Goenka and spent a few years in India at Goenka centres, studying Pali, sitting and serving on retreats. She came to live at Amaravati in October 2000 as a retreat centre manager but soon after arriving requested anagārika ordination. She ordained as a sīladhāra in October 2004.

Bhikkhu Ahimsako

Born near San Francisco, California in 1959, Ven. Ahimsako spent twenty-eight years living abroad and pursuing a career in classical ballet as a dancer, teacher, and educator. In 1991, while living in England, he traveled to Sri Lanka where his interest in Buddhism prompted him to begin visiting the London Buddhist Vihara and Amaravati Buddhist Monastery. He began his monastic life in 2002 at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery (in northern California) with co-abbots Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. Ven. Ahimsako received the Upasampada (Bhikkhu ordination) on September 26, 2004 with Ajahn Pasanno as preceptor.

Bhikkhu Kancano was born on the 22nd of July, 1968 in Montijo, Portugal. He spent his early childhood in Germany, returning to his native country at age five to begin his education there. He served one year of compulsory military service in the Portuguese army and after completing his ‘A’ levels in 1987 he enrolled on a five year professional diploma, qualifying as a technician for the fashion industries. Shortly thereafter, he accepted an offer from a renowned multinational fashion company and worked with them for the next two years.

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Keith is a qualified Chartered Accountant.  Since April 2005 he has been the Trust Secretary of the EST. His duties include working on the financial aspects of the EST, as well as organising Trust meetings and dealing with various compliance matters.

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Sister Chandasara

Sister Chandasara (Louise Stack) was born in 1954 in Johannesburg, South Africa, and grew up in a Christian family. She was involved in revolutionary politics in exile in her twenties and later worked as a political researcher and analyst at the Centre for Policy Studies in Johannesburg for 14 years before coming to Amaravati in 2002, and ordaining as a siladhara in 2006. She has a BA (Hons) in African Politics and an MA in Linguistics (Semantics). Her lifelong quest has been, and continues to be, liberation and learning how to love unconditionally.

Suvira (Nisakorn Wanaphong) was born in Nakhon Sawan, north of Bangkok in Thailand. After graduating from Sri Nakharinwirot University, Phitsanuloke Campus, she moved to Phuket and worked there for 5 years in her family business resort and in a bank.  Then she moved to Bangkok and worked in a computer company.

After she attended a 10 day meditation retreat course lead by Upasika Khun Runjuan Indrakamhaeng and others in 1992, her perception of life had totally changed and deep interest in Dhamma practice became established in her.

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Caroline Leinster

Caroline Leinster has lived at Amaravati since 2005 and is now the librarian. 
Born in London in 1954, she moved to Newcastle upon Tyne in 1977 to study sociology and social policy.  After a career with urban voluntary organisations and training in psychosynthesis psychotherapy she decided she needed the support and challenges of living as part of a spiritual community 24 hours a day.  She is finding Amaravati provides her with what she was looking for.
Caroline discovered vipassana at Harnham Monastery near Newcastle in 1987;  she is a Trustee of the Magga Bhavaka Trust, who are the lay stewards for Harnham. 

I was born in Embilipitiya, Sri Lanka in January of 1977 and received Samanera (novice) ordination in 1994 under the guidance of Venerable Piyananda Mahanayaka Thera, the abbot of the meditation Centre at Lellopitiya, Ratnapura, Sri Lanka.

In 1996, I had the opportunity to read the   teachings of Venerable Ajahn Chah and Ajahn Sumedho which inspired me about the Forest Sangha Tradition. I started to look for a community that followed the Forest Sangha Tradition.

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Bhikkhu Dhammiko, was born ‘Eduardo Novo’ in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1969. Since he was young, he never received any particular influence from any religion during his education. While taking a BA in agronomy, in 1994/95, a latent interest in spiritual matters started to arise, in part as a need to understand and overcome his suffering and move towards liberation. A search started then in all religions, philosophy, esoteric traditions and the new age imbroglio of spiritual interpretations and misconceptions. Orientation was required to better understand the practical meaning beyond terms and conventions, blind assumptions or belief, in need of realising the innermost compassion and understanding towards the spiritual freedom in quest.

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John spent 19 years as a Buddhist monk, 14 of which at Amaravati and Chithurst. For 7 years he was Secretary of the English Sangha Trust, and during that time, with Ajahn Jutindharo, coordinated the design, planning and construction of the Temple. 

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Colin Ash

Colin is chair of the Board of Trustees of the English Sangha Trust. He has served as a Trustee of the EST since March 1992. He is an Angulimala Buddhist Prison Chaplain and is a member of the recently formed Endorsing Authority for Buddhist Chaplaincy to the UK Armed Forces. Some years ago he served on the Council of the Buddhist Society, London, where he now leads a meditation class. He teaches economics at the University of Reading.

Nancy Wright

Nancy has been a supporter of the English Sangha Trust since 1992 and a Trustee since 1999.  She lived at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery as a lay manager from 1996 to 1998.  During that time, she worked in the office and was responsible for taking the minutes for the EST meetings.  A trained accountant, she is currently working as the Finance Manager for Prisoners Abroad in London.

Bhikkhu Adicco became interested in meditation as a layman, after attending a meditation day at Gaia House. He realized that an introspective approach to life would be of benefit, and that the meditative approach laid down in Buddhism provided an ideal vehicle for this.

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Steve Carbert

Steve Carbert was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire in 1951. After studying mathematics he had a varied career which included architectural draughtsman, industrial engineering, computer programming and software development working around many parts of the UK.

His first contact with Buddhism was on a FWBO retreat in Brighton in 1979. He first made contact with Amaravati in 1985 whilst working as an Industrial Engineer in Aylesbury, a few miles away. After attending a few work weekends at Amaravati he realised that he had found a form of Buddhism which chimed with his natural inquisitiveness about the way things are.

When the opportunity arose to make a practical contribution to the running of Amaravati as the maintenance person, he decided that it would be the ideal opportunity to indulge his handyman skills and deepen his meditation practice. He joined Amaravati in May 2008.

Gatis Ozolins

Born in Latvia in 1979, Gatis graduated from university with a Master’s degree in Political Science in 2004, and worked four years in the Latvian civil service. Prior to coming to Amaravati, Gatis worked in retail for two years in England and Ireland.

While at university, Gatis became interested in Eastern philosophy and religions (Advaita Vedanta and Tibetan Buddhism, in particular). While still in Latvia, he was given a book authored by Luang Por Sumedho and found out about the Thai Forest Tradition and monasteries in England. 

When the opportunity turned up, having taken into account advantages of a more quiet and introspective way of life, Gatis became a long-term lay resident at Amaravati in September 2008, working as one of the monastery’s groundsmen.

Dan Sinnott

Groundsman Dan Sinnott was born in 1952 and grew up in a large family in suburban Chicago.  After graduating from the University of Chicago, he studied existential psychology at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.  As a graduate student, he attended a vipassana retreat with Jack Kornfield at the Insight Meditation Society.  During this retreat, he met Luang Por Sumedho who was visiting the U.S. with a group of Thai monks. In 1982, Dan became a student of Korean Zen Master Seung Sahn, ordaining as a monk from 1993 to 2002. Prior to his ordination, Dan worked for 15 years in community mental health as a psychiatric social worker and teacher.  He took his encounter with Buddhist meditation as an invitation to find an authentic base for his Christian heritage, leading him to explore its contemplative traditions.

Dan came to Amaravati in November 2008 on a religious purposes visa which he hopes to extend beyond its two years.

Noon

Noon was born in Lusaka, Zambia in 1968 and grew up in Zambia, London and the south of France. In the mid 1990’s, a book by Luang Por Sumedho came into her hands and she read it repeatedly, especially whenever things got a bit rocky. She has been a street performer and circus artist since 1987, and trained in Paris and Barcelona as a juggler and acrobat. She has also studied photography. She got involved in running a Tibetan Buddhist Centre in 2005 and began learning to meditate. She first came to Amaravati in 2007 for a retreat and stayed as a guest for a few days. She returned in the spring of 2009 and became the monastery gardener in May 2009.

My name is Apamado (Vasco) . I was born in Portugal in 1976. I studied both Marine Biology and Environmental Engineering at the University of Faro. Sometime later I became interested in meditation and as a consequence Buddhism. I came across Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in a book written by a friend, Maria, where she describes her journeys and her time in the monastery.

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Jande Anderson

Nyanadassi (Jande) has been at the Retreat Centre since March 2004 as helper, Office manager and now currently Kitchen Manager. She inputs along with the rest of the retreat managers the overall planning and development of the Retreat Centre.

Joshua Pogge

Joshua was born in Northallerton, Yorkshire, and moved to Ireland in the early seventies. He worked in retail for 20 years. During this time Joshua explored different spiritual paths and became interested in Buddhism in 1999. He attended a 10 day workshop at Kagyu Samye Ling, then visited Amaravati for one week, then ten days, then a month. Eventually Joshua moved to Amaravati as a long term lay resident in 2003 and worked as a groundsman. He became part of the Retreat Centre staff in the winter of 2008.

Samanera Amaranatho

Samanera Amaranatho was born in 1968. He ordained as a Samanera in July 2000. He has been running the family events at Amaravati for five years, which include the Family Camp each summer, Rainbows weekend and young peoples’ retreats.

For further information please see:
Family Events and Young person retreats

Samanera Akaliko (Antonin Krizek) was born in the Czech Republic in 1977. He came to Amaravati Buddhist Monastery 2007, became an anagarika and later on ordained as a novice.

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Born in 1967 in England, I moved to Belgium with my family in 1971. I grew up in an agnostic, international environment.  I returned to the UK to study biological science at university, then worked for many years in the scientific publishing industry, also partying hard, independent, loving music, interested in many things.

I can always remember having an aspiration to religious life and to real freedom. Yet I never understood how to give that aspiration proper attention, nor did I find a form to express it in. After a period of religious enthusiasm in my teens faded, I rejected those things for a long time.

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Anagarika Soledad

Anagarika Soledad is from Spain.

Anagarika Tejas

I was born in Wallasey in 1980. My parents moved to India for a few years before we came back to England in 1993. My initial interest in Buddhism came through reading the works of D T Suzuki and I started going to meditation classes at the Buddhist Society in London. There I learned of Amaravati and started listening to Dhamma Talks on the Internet. I began visiting Amaravati as a guest and coming to retreats. I took the Anagarika Precepts in December 2008.

Anagarika Shirley

Shirley’s interest in meditation began in 1997. She set off traveling overseas in 1998 and did her first ten-day meditation retreat in Thailand during that time. On returning, she made contact with Amaravati. She felt attracted to monasticism with a focus on supporting her meditation practice. As a frequent visitor of the monastery, Shirley often attended the Saturday afternoon meditation workshops and offered regular help in the Amaravati library. She came to stay for ten weeks during 2003 in order to explore her interest in ordination. From that time onwards, she attended a number of retreats and also offered support for retreats working in the Retreat Centre kitchen. She took a resident position as office manager at the Amaravati Retreat Centre in 2007, where she continued to work until preparing for anagarika ordination in August of 2009.

Retreat Centre Staff

Click here to read about our Retreat Centre Staff.

Anagarika Chiara

Chiara Bertotti: Born in Ireland, from italian blood.
Always in search of Freedom. Starting with Freedom from injustice on the earth, trough political
theater. Then giving Freedom to childrens creativity, trough primary school education.

In 1998 i met Aj Thanavaro in Santacittarama and, realising that everything is anicca and that death can be here any moment.
Freedom of the Heart.
That’s why i am here.