Ajahn Amaro

Ajahn Amaro, born J. C. J. Horner on September 2, 1956, is a British-American Theravāda Buddhist monk and teacher. He holds the significant position of abbot at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, located in the eastern Chiltern Hills of South East England. This monastery serves as a center for both monastics and lay practitioners, drawing inspiration from the Thai Forest Tradition and the teachings of the revered Ajahn Chah.

Life and Spiritual Journey

Educated at Sutton Valence School and Bedford College, University of London, Ajahn Amaro's early interests, after a brief dalliance with Rudolf Steiner's theories, were typical of skeptical students of his time. Following his graduation with an honors degree in psychology and physiology, he embarked on an open-ended spiritual search in 1977, traveling through Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. It was in northeast Thailand, at the forest monastery of Wat Pah Nanachat, that a pivotal encounter occurred. The charisma of Ajahn Chah and the encouragement from senior American monk Ajahn Pabhakaro profoundly influenced him, leading to a life-altering decision.

He became a lay renunciate, then a novice, and in 1979 received full ordination as a Theravādin bhikkhu from Ajahn Chah himself. After two years in Thailand, Ajahn Amaro returned to England to assist Ajahn Sumedho in establishing Chithurst Monastery in West Sussex. In 1983, with his abbot's blessing, he moved to Harnham Vihara in Northumberland, undertaking the journey entirely on foot, a journey later chronicled in his 1984 book, 'Tudong: The Long Road North'.

Establishment of Abhayagiri Monastery

In the early 1990s, Ajahn Amaro made several teaching trips to northern California, where his retreats fostered enthusiasm for establishing a permanent monastic community. Concurrently, his mother monastery, Amaravati, received a substantial land donation in Mendocino County. This land was designated for a forest retreat, with the hope that the new center, Abhayagiri Monastery, would foster a symbolic connection between the Theravāda and Mahāyāna lineages, given Ajahn Sumedho's veneration of Chinese Master Chan Master Hsuan Hua. Ajahn Amaro was appointed as a founding co-abbot of Abhayagiri alongside Ajahn Pasanno. In 2010, he returned to England to succeed Ajahn Sumedho as abbot of Amaravati.

Notable Works and Teachings

Ajahn Amaro has authored and co-authored numerous books, reflecting his deep engagement with Buddhist philosophy and practice. His writings often focus on the core tenets of Buddhist ethics, concentration, and insight meditation as pathways to dissolving suffering. His bibliography includes titles such as 'Tudong: The Long Road North', 'Silent Rain', 'Small Boat, Great Mountain: Theravadin Reflections on the Natural Great Perfection', and 'Who Will Feed the Mice?'. He has also contributed introductions to works by his teachers, Ajahn Chah and Ajahn Sumedho.