About Bodhisaddha

Faith in Awakening

Bodhisaddha means Faith in Awakening. First we develop faith in the Buddha's Awakening — we believe it to be possible, and take his teachings to heart and practise them. When we do, we can see peace and wisdom develop in our hearts, and start to believe that our own Awakening is possible. The monastery is a place for monks and laypeople to develop this Awakening together.

The Thai Forest Tradition

The Thai Forest Tradition is a branch of Theravāda Buddhism — the Southern school grounded in the Pāli Canon, the oldest Buddhist scriptures. Of the many kinds of monastery within Thai Theravāda, the Forest tradition most strictly upholds the original monastic discipline (Vinaya) and most strongly emphasises meditation and the direct realisation of the Buddha's teaching, over study or ceremony.

The contemporary Forest tradition emerged in north-east Thailand through Venerable Ajahn Mun and his teacher Ajahn Sao, sons of peasant farmers who returned to the basics of forest living, moral discipline and meditation at a time when monastic practice had grown lax. Nearly all of the revered meditation masters of twentieth-century Thailand trace back to Ajahn Mun's example — among them, Venerable Ajahn Chah.

Our Lineage Teachers

Building a Sanctuary

• April 2012 — Bodhisaddha Forest Monastery opens on 70 acres in Wilton, officiated by Ajahn Anan, who led the ordination of 9 novice monks and 25 lay women over 7 days — coinciding with Bodhikusuma Centre's 10th anniversary in the city.
• October 2013 — A sacred Buddha statue is enshrined, a gift from His Holiness Somdet Sangharaja Phra Nyanasamvara for his 100th birthday, received just weeks before his passing.
• September 2015 — The Muchalinda Dam is completed after 18 months of construction: a 220m octagonal dam with 8 circles symbolising the Noble Eightfold Path, built to house the Buddha statue and now used for walking meditation.
• February & April 2016 — Luang Por Liem Thithadhammo, head of the Ajahn Chah lineage, and Luang Por Sumedho, the tradition's most senior Western disciple, each visit the monastery for the first time.
• November 2016 — Bodhisaddha holds its first Kathina ceremony, with 5 monks completing the rains retreat and 10 monks in attendance.

A Forest Sanctuary

Set on 70 acres an hour southwest of Sydney (20 minutes from Wollongong), the monastery backs onto the Cataract River, with caves and overhanging cliffs suited to seclusion and meditation retreat. Dwellings are simple and austere, without electricity or plumbing. Monks continue the ancient practice of alms round most mornings around Wilton — an interdependent tradition where the laity's offerings of food sustain the monks, and the monks offer teachings and inspiration in return.