Ajahn Lee

Phra Suddhidhammaransi Gambhiramedhacarya (1907–1961), commonly known as Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo, was a meditation teacher in the Thai Forest Tradition of the Dhammayuttika Nikaya order of Theravada Buddhism. He was born in the Ubon Ratchathani Province of Isan and was a student of Mun Bhuridatta.

Phra Suddhidhammaransi Gambhiramedhacarya
(Lee Dhammadharo)
Personal
Born1907
Ubon Ratchathani
Died1961
ReligionBuddhism
NationalityThai
SchoolDhammayuttika Nikaya order of Theravada Buddhism
LineageThai Forest Tradition
Dharma namesDhammadharo
Occupationbhikkhu
Senior posting
TeacherMun Bhuridatta
Thai Forest Tradition
Bhikkhus

Dhammayuttika Nikāya

Ajahn Sao Kantasīlo (1861–1941)
Ajahn Mun Bhūridatta (1870–1949)
Ajahn Waen Suciṇṇo (1887–1985)
Ajahn Thate Desaransi (1902–1994)
Ajahn Lee Dhammadaro (1907–1961)
Ajahn Maha Bua (1913–2011)
Ajahn Fuang Jotiko (1915–1986)
Ajahn Suwat Suvaco (1919–2002)
Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu (1949–)

Mahā Nikāya

Ajahn Buddhadasa (1906–1993)
Ajahn Chah (1918–1992)
Ajahn Sumedho (1934–)
Ajahn Khemadhammo (1944–)
Ajahn Viradhammo (1947–)
Ajahn Pasanno (1949–)
Ajahn Sucitto (1949–)
Ajahn Brahm (1951–)
Ajahn Amaro (1956–)
Ajahn Jayasāro (1958–)
Ajahn Sujato (1966–)
Sīladharās
Ajahn Sundara (1946–)
Ajahn Candasiri (1947–)
Complete List
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Ajahn Lee is regarded as one of the greatest teachers and meditation masters of the Thai Forest Tradition of the 20th century.[1][2] Among the forest monks, he devised the most comprehensive meditation instructions, and composed the most detailed map of the jhānas. He was one of the first teachers to bring the teachings of the Forest Tradition to the mainstream of Thai society.[3] He never spoke of his own meditative attainments, however it was widely discussed among his students that he may have been psychic.[4]

Biography

Ajahn Lee first attended school at age twelve, and left school at age seventeen. At this time, he was preoccupied with earning money, and had a plan for his early life where he would earn a life savings and marry at age 30.[4]

After ordaining he reported being unsatisfied with the behavior of the monks surrounding him. The monks "played chess, held cock fights, and even ate food in the evenings."[5]

Upon meeting Ajahn Mun, Ajahn Lee reordained in the Thammayut, where he wandered the forests as a thudong, a monk who observes the dhutanga. He travelled as far as Burma, Cambodia, and India.[5]

After the rains in 1927, Ajahn Lee went back to the village where he was born (in modern-day Amnat District). As he stayed at a spirit shrine in a nearby village, his father found of his whereabouts and came and escorted him the rest of the way. When he arrived, he stayed in the villages cemetery, where the villagers refused to dwell near for fear of ghosts.[6]

Ajahn Lee stayed here for several weeks, giving sermons to people who came from other villages. Ajahn Lee got the village people to take refuge in the Three Jewels. According to Ajahn Lee, he wanted to put an end to the villagers fear of the spirits. This made some of the villagers fearful and upset, and they became opposed to him being there. When the district officer stayed one day in the village, he sided with Ajahn Lee's agenda to rid the area of spirit worship and make Buddhist practice more orthodox.[7]

References
  1. Ajahn Jayasaro. "Ajahn Chah - Bio 1 - Childhood". YouTube. [...] the Forest Tradition 1) keeps strict Vinaya 2) meditate but that seems to be something that really came into being through Ajahn Mun and his disciples. So who are we talking about? Ajahn Mun, [...] Ajahn Sao and then this whole galaxy of big names: Luangpu Thet, Luang Pu Khao, Luang Pu Waen, all the Luang Pu, Luang Pu Lee...
  2. Ajahn Maha Bua (1971). Venerable Phra Acharn Mun Bhuridatta Thera A Spiritual Biography. p. 310. ISBN 974-92007-4-8.
  3. Strand, Clark (Spring 2011). Green Koans Case 38: Ajaan Lee Refuses to Bow. Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  4. Cai, p. 87.
  5. Cai, p. 88.
  6. Tiyavanich 1997, p. 205.
  7. Tiyavanich 1997, p. 206.

Sources
  • Cai, Zhi Yun (2014). Doctrinal Analysis of the Origin and Evolution of the Thai Kammatthana Tradition with a Special Reference to the Present Kammatthana Ajahns. University of the West.
  • Dhammadharo, Ajahn Lee. The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee (PDF). dhammatalks.org.
  • Tiyavanich, Kamala (1997). Forest Recollections: Wandering Monks in Twentieth-Century Thailand. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-1781-7.

Books and Collections of Writings

Food for Thought - Eighteen Talks on the Training of the Heart

Keeping the Breath in Mind and Lessons in Samadhi

Starting Out Small - A Collection of Talks for Beginning Meditators

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