https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Bhante_SujatoBhante Sujato - Revision history2026-11-07T17:38:08ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bhante_Sujato&diff=739656&oldid=prevDokania: imported from Wikipedia2026-11-07T12:21:23Z<p>imported from Wikipedia</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{short description|Australian Theravada Buddhist monk}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}<br />
{{Infobox religious biography<br />
|image = Ajahn Sujato.png<br />
|caption = <br />
|birth_name = Anthony Best<br />
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1966|11|04}}<br />
|birth_place = [[Perth]], Western Australia<br />
|religion = [[Buddhism]]<br />
|school = [[Theravada]]<br />
|title = <br />
|dharma name = <br />
|location = Sydney<br />
|education = <br />
|occupation = [[Bhikkhu]] ([[contemplative]] [[monk]])<br />
|teacher = [[Ajahn Brahm]]<ref name="door"/><br />
|website = {{URL|https://lokanta.github.io}} [https://suttacentral.net/ suttacentral.net] [https://discourse.suttacentral.net/ discourse.suttacentral.net]<br />
}}<br />
{{Thai Forest Tradition}}<br />
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'''Sujato''', known as '''Ajahn Sujato''' or '''Bhikkhu Sujato''' (born '''Anthony Best'''<ref name="door">{{cite web|last=Lam|first=Raymond|title=An Afternoon with Ajahn Sujato: Personal Courage and Restoring the Sangha's Moral Purpose|url=https://www.buddhistdoor.net/features/an-afternoon-with-ajahn-sujato-personal-courage-and-restoring-the-sanghas-moral-purpose|publisher=Buddhistdoor Global|date=December 9, 2016|access-date=September 7, 2019}}</ref>), is an Australian [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] [[Bhikkhu|monk]] formerly ordained into the [[Thai Forest Tradition|Thai forest lineage]] of [[Ajahn Chah]] and presently identifying with the [[Pre-sectarian Buddhism|Early Buddhist movement]].<ref name="words">{{cite web|title='Buddha's words a gift to humanity'|url=http://www.dailynews.lk/2019/03/20/local/180746/%E2%80%98buddha%E2%80%99s-words-gift-humanity%E2%80%99|work=[[Daily News (Sri Lanka)|Daily News]]|date=March 20, 2019|access-date=September 7, 2019}}</ref><br />
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==Life==<br />
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He is a former musician<ref name="meeting">{{cite web|title=A Meeting with Ajahn Sujato from Australia|url=https://www.sjp.ac.lk/buddhism/meeting-bhante-ajahn-sujato-australia/|publisher=[[University of Sri Jayewardenepura]]|date=May 30, 2018|access-date=September 7, 2019}}</ref> with the [[post punk]] [[alternative rock]] Australian band [[Martha's Vineyard (band)|Martha's Vineyard]], who had toured with, amongst others, [[Mick Hucknall]]'s [[Simply Red]], [[INXS]], [[Annie Lennox]]' [[Eurythmics]], and early [[proto-punk]] [[garage band]] [[The Saints (Australian band)|The Saints]] before disbanding in 1990.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bhante Sujato|url=http://www.buddhachannel.tv/portail/spip.php?article9623|website=Buddhachannel|date=November 9, 2009|access-date=September 8, 2019}}</ref> He spent several years at [[Bodhinyana Monastery]] in Western Australia before going on to found Santi Forest Monastery in 2003 where he served as the abbot. Following Sujato's wishes, Santi became a ''[[bhikkhunī]]'' ([[Buddhist]] [[nun]]) [[vihara]] in 2012, and he returned to live in Bodhinyana Monastery.<ref name="bswa">{{cite web|title=Bhante Sujato|url=https://bswa.org/teachers/bhante-sujato/|website=Buddhist Society of Western Australia|access-date=September 7, 2019}}</ref><br />
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=== Monastic work ===<br />
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In 2005, Sujato co-founded the Buddhist website [[SuttaCentral]]<ref name="words"/> along with Rod Bucknell and John Kelly, to provide access to [[Early Buddhist texts]] in their original language and make translations available in modern languages.<ref>{{cite web|title=About SuttaCentral|url=https://suttacentral.net/about|website=SuttaCentral|access-date=September 7, 2019}}</ref> After being unable to secure copyright-free digital translations of the [[Pali Canon]] for SuttaCentral, Sujato moved to the island of Chimei, off the coast of Taiwan,<ref name="door"/><ref name="bswa"/> to undertake the task of creating English translations of the four [[Nikāya]]s, living there from 2015 to 2018. These translations have since been published on SuttaCentral, and as free edition books.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sujato: "Translating a 2500 year-old Sacred Text for a Modern Audience"|url=https://buddhiststudies.stanford.edu/events/bhante-sujato-translating-2500-year-old-sacred-text-modern-audience|publisher=[[Stanford University|Ho Center for Buddhist Studies]]|date=October 29, 2019 |access-date=September 7, 2019}}</ref><br />
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In 2019, Sujato moved to Sydney to establish [[Loka]]nta [[Vihara]] (the [[Monastery]] at the End of the World) with his long term student, [[Bhante]] Akaliko, to explore what it means to follow the Buddha's teachings in an era of climate change, [[globalised]] [[consumerism]], and political turmoil.<ref name="lokanta">{{cite web|title='About Us'|url=https://lokanta.github.io/|website=Lokanta Vihara|access-date=April 20, 2020}}</ref> He is also involved with [[Engaged Buddhism]].<ref name="ReferenceA3">{{cite book|author-link= Peter Stearns|author=Stearns, Peter|date=2006|title=Consumerism in World History: The Global Transformation of Desire|edition=2nd|publisher=[[Routledge]]|page=vii–viii|doi=10.4324/9780203969885|ISBN=9780203969885}}</ref><ref name="Gleig 2021">{{cite encyclopedia |author-last=Gleig |author-first=Ann |date=28 June 2021 |title=Engaged Buddhism |url=https://oxfordre.com/religion/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-755 |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion |location=[[Oxford]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.755 |isbn=9780199340378 |doi-access= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210707132646/https://oxfordre.com/religion/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-755 |archive-date=7 July 2021 |url-status=live |access-date=8 August 2021|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="door"/>In a Buddhist [[Dharma talk]] entitled ''I am an [[anarchist]]'' for Dhammanet, Sujato states his anarchist [[ideology]], specifically aligning himself with [[anarcho-pacifism]],<ref name="Ostergaard 1982">{{cite book |last1=Ostergaard |first1=Geoffrey |title=Resisting the Nation State: The Pacifist and Anarchist Traditions |date=1982 |publisher=Peace Pledge Union |location=London |isbn=978-0-902680-35-7}}</ref><ref name="Woodcock">{{cite book |last1=Woodcock |first1=George |title=Anarchism: A History of Libertarian Ideas and Movements |year=1986 |orig-date=1962 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-016821-1 }}</ref> which he explains as being compatible with the Buddha, Buddhism, [[lay man]] and lay women's practice and the [[renunciant]] life, as well as being in accord with the [[monastic]] ''[[vinaya]]''. In the speech, Sujato explains his belief that the Buddha himself was also an [[anarchist]].<ref name=anarchism&pacifism>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwFOZX813iw|title=I Am an Anarchist|date=2020-12-04|first=Anthony|last=Best}}</ref><br />
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=== Bhikkhuni ===<br />
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Sujato along with his teacher [[Ajahn Brahm]] were involved with [[Bhikkhuni#Re-establishing bhikkhuni ordination|Re-establishing Bhikkhuni Ordination]] in the Forest sangha of Ajahn Chah.<ref name="time">{{cite web|author1= Thanissara|author2=Cintamani|author3=Jitindriya|title=The Time Has Come|url=https://www.lionsroar.com/the-time-has-come/|work=[[Lion's Roar (magazine)|Lion's Roar]]|date=August 25, 2010|access-date=September 8, 2019}}</ref> Sujato along with other scholars such as Brahm and [[Analayo]]<ref>{{cite journal|last=Analayo|author-link=Bhikkhu Analayo|title=The Revival of the Bhikkhunī Order and the Decline of the Sāsana|url=https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/pdf/5-personen/analayo/revival-bhikkhuni.pdf|journal=The Journal of Buddhist Ethics|volume=20|year=2013|issn=1076-9005}}</ref> had come to the conclusion that there was no valid reason the extinct bhikkhuni order couldn't be re-established.<ref name="door"/><ref>{{cite web|last=Sujato|title=Bhikkhuni Ordination|url=https://bswa.org/teaching/bhukkhuni-ordination-ajahn-sujato/|website=Buddhist Society of Western Australia|access-date=September 8, 2019}}</ref> The ordination ceremony led to [[Ajahn Brahm#Bhikkhuni ordination|Brahm's expulsion]] from the Thai Forest Lineage of Ajahn Chah. Sujato however, was not deterred or intimidated by such a response, and, remaining faithful to his convictions that there was no reason the [[Bhikkhunī]] order should not be revived, went on to successfully found Santi Forest Monastery, and following Sujato's wishes, Santi has since flourished as a [[Bhikkhunī]] ([[Buddhist]] [[nun]]) [[monastery]] [[Vihara]] since 2012.<ref name="time"/><br />
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== See also ==<br />
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* [[Anarchism in Australia]]<br />
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==Bibliography==<br />
*{{citation|last=Sujato|title=A History of Mindfulness|publisher=Santipada|year=2012|url=http://santifm.org/santipada/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/A_History_of_Mindfulness_Bhikkhu_Sujato.pdf|isbn=9781921842108}}<br />
*{{citation|last=Sujato|title=A Swift Pair of Messengers: Calm with Insight in the Buddha's Words |publisher=Santipada|year=2012|isbn=9781921842023}}<br />
*{{citation|last=Sujato|title=Sects & Sectarianism: The Origins of Buddhist Schools |publisher=Santipada|year=2012|isbn=9781921842085}}<br />
*{{citation|last=Sujato|title=Bhikkhuni Vinaya Studies: Research and Reflections on Monastic Discipline for Buddhist Nuns |publisher=Santipada|year=2012|isbn=9781921842146}}<br />
*{{citation|last=Sujato|title=White Bones Red Rot Black Snakes|url=http://santifm.org/santipada/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/wbrrbsSCREENopt.pdf|publisher=Santipada|year=2012|isbn=9781921842030}}<br />
*{{citation|last1=Sujato|last2=Brahmali|first2=Bhikkhu|title=The Authenticity of the Early Buddhist Texts|url=https://ocbs.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/authenticity.pdf|year=2015|publisher=Chroniker Press|isbn=9781312911505}}<br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
*{{wikisource author-inline}}<br />
*[http://podcast.bswa.org/category/bhante-sujato/ Dhamma talks by Sujato]<br />
*[https://lokanta.github.io/ Lokanta Vihara website]<br />
{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{Buddhism topics}}<br />
{{Modern Buddhist writers}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sujato}}<br />
[[Category:1966 births]]<br />
[[Category:Australian alternative rock musicians]]<br />
[[Category:Australian rock singers]]<br />
[[Category:Australian rock guitarists]]<br />
[[Category:Converts to Buddhism]]<br />
[[Category:Engaged Buddhists]]<br />
[[Category:Living people]]<br />
[[Category:Australian anarchists]]<br />
[[Category:Male rock singers]]</div>Dokania