Ajahn Brahm

Speaker

Venerable Ajahn Brahm was born in London in 1951. He regarded himself as a Buddhist at the age of 17 through his reading of Buddhist books while still at school. His interest in Buddhism and meditation flourished while studying Theoretical Physics at Cambridge University. After completing his degree and teaching for a year, he travelled to Thailand to become a monk. He was ordained in Bangkok at the age of 23 by the Abbot of Wat Saket. Subsequently, he spent 9 years studying and training in the forest meditation tradition of the revered Venerable Ajahn Chah. Ajahn Brahm was instrumental in the first ordination of women as fully-fledged Buddhist nuns, bhikkhunis, within the Theravada forest meditation tradition. The ordination was held at Bodhinyana Monastery (Perth), of which Ajahn Brahm is Abbot, on the 22nd of October 2009. A widely traveled speaker, Ajahn Brahm conducts meditation retreats frequently both in Australia and overseas. He is the author of ‘Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond’ and ‘Opening the Door of Your Heart’.