Bhikkhu Bodhi


Jeffrey Block, better known as Bhikkhu Bodhi, is an American Theravada monk ordained in Sri Lanka who teaches in the area of New York and New Jersey. He is an author and Buddhist commentator and was appointed the second president of the Buddhist Publication Society. He is also the president of the Buddhist Association of America and the founder of Buddhist Global Relief.

Early life

Jeffrey Block was born in 1944 in Brooklyn, New York, to Jewish parents. He grew up in Borough Park, where he attended elementary school P.S. 160 and graduated from New Utrecht High School. He then worked as a door-to-door salesman selling paintbrushes. In 1966, he obtained a B.A. in philosophy from Brooklyn College, where he first encountered Buddhism in books at the bookstore. In 1972, he obtained a PhD in philosophy from Claremont Graduate University.

Career

In early 1967, while still a graduate student, Block met and moved in with a monk named Thich Gic Duc. In May 1967, he was ordained as a sāmaṇera in the Vietnamese Mahayana order. In 1971 and 1972, after graduating, he lived at a meditation center in Los Angeles, where he was introduced to a group of Theravada monks from Sri Lanka. This inspired him to travel to Sri Lanka, where, under Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero, he received sāmaṇera ordination in the Theravada Order and in 1973 received full ordination as a Theravāda bhikkhu or monk. After that, Bodhi became particularly interested in the scholarly, textual side of monastic life, and studied many Pali texts under Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero.
In 1984, succeeding co-founder Nyanaponika Thera, Bodhi was appointed English-language editor of the Buddhist Publication Society. He became its president in 1988. In 2002, he retired from the society's editorship while still remaining president.
In 2000, at the United Nations' first official Vesak celebration, Bodhi gave the keynote address. In 2002, after retiring as editor of BPS, he returned to the U.S. He lived at Bodhi Monastery in Lafayette Township, New Jersey, and now lives and teaches at Chuang Yen Monastery in Carmel, New York. Since 2013 he has been the president of the Buddhist Association of the United States. In 2019 he again took part in the UN Vesak celebration, giving a speech that included a call to action on climate change.
In 2007, Bodhi founded the organization Buddhist Global Relief. This was inspired by an essay he had written, "A Challenge to Buddhists", published in the Buddhist magazine Buddhadharma. Buddhist Global Relief funds projects to fight hunger and empower women across the world.

Personal life

After returning to the United States, Bodhi became a vegetarian.

Selected publications

  • Bodhi, Bhikkhu. "A Challenge to Buddhists". Lion’s Roar. https://www.lionsroar.com/a-challenge-to-buddhists/
  • Bodhi, Bhikkhu. The Revival of Bhikkhuni Ordination in the Theravada Tradition. Inward Path.
  • Bodhi, Bhikkhu, Noble Truths, Noble Path: The Heart Essence of the Buddha's Original Teachings. Wisdom Publications.

Wheel Publications (BPS)

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Bodhi Leaf Publications (BPS)

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