BHIKKU BODHI

Born Jeffrey Block in Brooklyn, New York in 1944, Bhikkhu Bodhi is an American Theravada Buddhist monk.  In 1966, while still Jeffrey Block, he obtained a B.A. degree in philosophy from Brooklyn College, and then, in 1972, a Ph.D. degree in philosophy from Claremont Graduate School.

In 1967, while in graduate school, he was ordained as a novice monk in the Vietnamese Mahayana order. In 1972, after graduation, he traveled to Sri Lanka where, under Ven. Ananda Maitreya, he received novice ordination, and, in 1973, he received full ordination in a Theravada order.  He was now Bhikku Bodhi.

In 1984, succeeding co-founder Ven. Nyanaponika Thera, he was appointed English-language editor of the Buddhist Publication Society (BPS, Sri Lanka) and, in 1988, became its president.  In 2002, he retired from the society's editorship while still remaining its president.

In 2000, at the United Nations' first official Vesak celebration, he gave the keynote address.  He currently teaches at Bodhi Monastery in Lafayette, New Jersey, and at Chuang Yen Monastery in Carmel, New York, and is the chairman of the Yin Shun Foundation.

Bhikkhu Bodhi is founder of the organization "Buddhist Global Relief," which is fighting hunger across the world.

Bhikku Bodhi has authored many publications and teaches several online courses.  He recorded a well-regarded ten-part lecture series entitled Introduction to Buddhism that has become public domain and can be downloaded for free on the Internet.