Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu was born on 28 December 1949 on Long Island, a United States citizen from the outset of his life. His early formation took place within an American cultural context, one that he would eventually move beyond as he pursued a monastic vocation.
He received his education at Oberlin College, where his academic formation took shape. Following that period of study, he took up the occupation of Buddhist monk, a path he has maintained as his primary vocation. He works in the English language, which has shaped the character of his practice and output across his career.
The Library of Congress Name Authority File records his authorized bibliographic form as "Ṭhānissaro, Bhikkhu," a designation that reflects how thoroughly his monastic name has become his established identity in scholarly and reference contexts. That formal recognition points to the extent of his engagement with written and documented work conducted under that name. His identity as both a United States citizen and a Buddhist monk marks the particular combination of national origin and religious vocation that defines his public profile.
The FACTS available for Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu do not include a recorded date or place of death, and no current institutional location is specified beyond his occupation as a Buddhist monk and his use of the English language. Born on Long Island and educated at Oberlin College, he has carried forward a monastic occupation that stands as the central fact of his adult life, documented under the authorized name "Ṭhānissaro, Bhikkhu" in the Library of Congress Name Authority File.
Quotes by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
We don’t wish for suffering, but once we understand how to be in relationship with it, it becomes the means through which we mature as loving and wise people.
Don’t be a slave to style. Don’t take more from the world than you’re willing to give back. And learn to undo the perceptions-so heavily promoted by the media-that shopping is a form of therapy and that a purchase is nothing but a victory or a gain.
The Buddha’s last words instructed us to be heedful – to see our actions as important and to keep that importance in mind at all times.
Remember that you don’t have to like or admire someone to feel compassion for that person. All you have to do is wish for that person to be happy.
The key to maintaining your inspiration in the day-to-day work of meditation practice is to approach it as play – a happy opportunity to master practical skills, to raise questions, experiment, and explore.
Searching all directions with one’s awareness, one finds no one dearer than oneself. In the same way, others are fiercely dear to themselves. So one should not hurt others if one loves oneself.
The non-doing of any evil,the performance of what’s skillful,the cleansing of one’s own mind:This is the Buddhas’ teaching.Not disparaging, not injuring,restraint in line with the Patimokkha,moderation in food,dwelling in seclusion,commitment to the heightened mind:This is the Buddhas’ teaching.Dhp 183, 185
Heedfulness: the path to the Deathless;Heedlessness: the path to death.The heedful do not die;The heedless are as ifalready dead.Knowing this as a true distinction,those wise in heedfulnessrejoice in heedfulness,enjoying the range of the noble ones.Dhp 21-22
Phenomena are preceded by the heart, ruled by the heart, made of the heart.If you speak or actwith a corrupted heart,then suffering follows you —as the wheel of the cart, the track of the ox that pulls it.Phenomena are preceded by the heart, ruled by the heart, made of the heart.If you speak or actwith a calm, bright heart,then happiness follows you,like a shadow that never leaves.