4th wheel, 4th wheel buddhism, absorption, articles on ecstatic meditation, bliss, catutthayana, di.t.thadhammasukhavihaaraa, ecstatic buddhism, ecstasy, ecstatic, ecstatic case histories, ecstatic contemplative, ecstatic meditation, ecstatic poetry, field meditation, fragrance of enlightenment, fruits of the contemplative life, fourth wheel, great western vehicle, gwv, gwv pali dictionary project, jeff brooks, jeffrey s. brooks, jhana, jhana archive, jhana resource guide, jhana support group, jhanananda, jhanananda's journal, jhananda, jhana-nimitta, joy, joy of meditation, joyful home of the way, jsg, kriya, kriyas, kundalini, kundaliniheat, language of ecstasy, language of gnosis, mahaparacakkayana, mahasatipatthana, maha-satipatthana, manomaya, meet the needs of the people, meditation, meditation case histories, meditation induced neurosis, meditation induced physical ailment, meditation induced psychosis, meditation induced tinnitus, meditative absorption, meditation teacher, mind-made body, mystic, mysticism, nikayan buddhism, nimitta, oob, oobe, ordination program, out-of-body experience, pali, pali & buddhist studies, pali canon, pali dictionary project, pali language resource guide, past life, past lifetimes, patanjali, peer-level support, personal case histories, personal case histories with meditative absorption, phala, phala nikaya, phenomena of absorption, piiti, pleasure not of the senses, psychology of buddhism, psychology of ecstasy, psychology of kundalini, psychology of yoga, recognizing the absorption states, e'letter, remaining conscious during sleep, retreat, retreats, right livelihood, right meditation, saint vitus' dance, samadhi, sama-samadhi, satipatthana, shaman, shamanic, shamanism, solo wilderness retreat, sotapanna, southwest insight e'letter, spiritual awakening, spontaneous movement, stone worn to sand, stream winner, succor, sukha, three year retreat, tinnitus, tipitaka, translator bias, understanding meditation states, understanding meditative absorption, unifying theory of gnosis, western buddhism, western buddhist teachers, western vehicle, wholesome states, wilderness, wilderness retreat, yoga psychology, yoga sutras of patanjali, advaita, advaita vedanta, anagami, anapanasati, arahant, arahanta, arahat, astral projection, aura, bodhichitta, boundless states, brahma viharas, buddha, buddhism, buddhism as a religion, buddhist, buddhist criticism, buddhist philosophy, buddhist psychology, buddhist tradition, burying the shaman, chakra, characteristic manifestations of absorption, characteristics of absorption, charism, charisma, charismatic, charismatic movement, charismatic buddhism, christian contemplative, christian meditation, christian mystic, christian mysticism, clairaudience, clairvoyance, compassion, concentration, contemplation, contemplative, contemplative arts, contemplative poetry, cultivating wholesome states, dark night of the soul, dependent origination, descent into hell, dhamma, dhamma teacher, dharma, dhyana, discourses of the buddha, divine abodes, divine ear, dzikr, dzogchen, ecumenical, ecumenical buddhism, eighth fold path, engaged, enlightened, enlightenment, enlightenment in this lifetime, equanimity, ethics, ethics in buddhism, fana, former lives, forms of buddhism, four noble truths, gnosis, gnostic, hollow reed, houses of god, insight, kabbalah, karuna, kasina, kayagata-sati, loving kindness, lucid, lucid dreaming, mahamudra, meditation object, meditative, metta, mind of buddha, monastic, mudita, nama-rupa, nibbana, nirvana, non-returner, once returner, psycho-soma, rapture, reincarnation, revelation, rigpa, sakadagami, salmon-boy, sanskrit, sanskrit & vedic studies, seven factors of enlightenment, shunyata, siddhartha gotama, siddhi, signless, signlessness, sufi, sufism, supernatural powers, supranormal powers, sutra, sutra pitaka, sutta, sutta pitaka, sympathetic joy, trance, tranquility, tripitaka, tucson dharma news, two-worlds, upekkha, vedanta, vertigo, vipassana, yoga, yoga sutras,

[Great Western Vehicle] [Events] [Supporting the GWV]

[Pali & Buddhist Studies] [Tipitaka Index]  [Buddhist Timeline] [Pali-English Dictionary] [Sanskrit & Vedic Studies] [Ecstatic Meditation Archive]


Bodhi, Bhikkhu (1944-   )

Bhikkhu Bodhi (Jeffrey Block), Ph.D., is an American Buddhist monk and Pali scholar. After completing his university studies in philosophy at the Claremont Graduate School, he traveled to Sri Lanka, where he received full ordination in 1973 under the late Ven. Ananda Maitreya. He served as editor of the Buddhist Publication Society (Sri Lanka) from 1984-1988 and as its president from 1988-2000. His translations "The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha" (Somerville: Wisdom Publications, 1995) and "The Connected Discourses of the Buddha" (Somerville: Wisdom Publications, 2000) are highly regarded by Buddhist scholars and practitioners around the world. He is currently the president of the Sangha Council of Bodhi Monastery (USA) and the chairman of the Yin Shun Foundation. [Source: Bodhi Monastery website and other sources.]

Jhanananda's Critique-

Bhikkhu Bodhi, the current translator of the largest portion of the Discourses of the Buddha in print, is thus responsible for how jhana is portrayed in translation. The community that is jhana sensitive is dependent upon skillful translations of the Discourse of the Buddha in support of their venture.  By reading his translations and his copious commentary one clearly understands this monk has the dry insight bias.  The irony is he was quoted in "Climbing to the Top of the Mountain, An interview with Bhikkhu Bodhi" in which he admitted to not engaging in the practice of meditation, because, as he said, meditation gave him a headache.

Well, if he has been studying Buddhism for 32 years and he still has not figured out enough about meditation to engage in the practice so that he does not get a headache, then what does he, a scholar who does not meditate, know about the Noble Eightfold Path, the practice of meditation and the attainments of the Buddha? While it is very nice to have scholars take an interest in translating the Buddha's Discourses, why should we contemplatives, who do meditate, look to one who does not meditate for our translations and commentaries?  One who does not meditate does not follow the Noble Eightfold Path.  One who does not follow the Noble Eightfold Path can never understand the way to enlightenment (dhamma).

Updated 09-06-05

Sources:

Bodhi Monastery website

"Climbing to the Top of the Mountain: An interview with Bhikkhu Bodhi" http://www.dharma.org/ij/archives/2002b/bhikkhu_bodhi.htm


[Great Western Vehicle] [Events] [Supporting the GWV]

[Pali & Buddhist Studies] [Tipitaka Index]  [Buddhist Timeline] [Pali-English Dictionary] [Sanskrit & Vedic Studies] [Ecstatic Meditation Archive]