In 1998, Venerable Ajahn Anan and Venerable Ajahn Kalyano were invited to teach meditation in a number of different venues in Australia. During the visit to Melbourne they met Bee Lian Soo who, out of faith in the Triple Gem and a wish to have a forest monastery in Victoria, initiated the search to purchase a forested property suitable for a monastery.

In September 2000, Bee Lian Soo, Jeffrey Tan and members of the Soo family set up the Victoria Sangha Association with the aim to purchase and manage the land for the forest monastery. After several months, the committee members found a suitable forested property of 75 acres situated on the edge of the Yarra Ranges National Park in East Warburton, 80km east of central Melbourne. Together, the founding members of the Victoria Sangha Association purchased the property which subsequently became the site for Buddha Bodhivana Monastery.

Jeffrey Tan, the President of the Victoria Sangha Association and Bee Lian Soo travelled to Thailand and offered the Certificate of Title documents for the land to Venerable Ajahn Anan at Wat Marp Chan on 5 December 2000, the occasion of the late Thai King Bhumiphol Adulyadej’s birthday. The land was donated for a forest monastery in the tradition of Ajahn Chah where monks could live and train, and Venerable Ajahn Anan gave the new monastery the name Buddha Bodhivana Monastery. The name means the Forest of the Buddha’s Enlightened Knowledge.

Subsequently, Venerable Ajahn Anan, Venerable Ajahn Kalyano and Jeffrey Tan travelled to Ubon and formally offered the title deed of the new land to Venerable Luang Por Liem, the Spiritual Head of Venerable Ajahn Chah’s community of monks on 16 January 2001, the anniversary of Luang Por Chah’s passing away. In April 2001, Venerable Ajahn Kalyano was invited to travel to Melboune to take up residence in Buddha Bodhivana Monastery.

Purpose

Buddha Bodhivana Monastery is primarily a training monastery for Buddhist monks (bhikkhus), novices (samaneras) and postulants (anagarikas), but it also provides a supportive environment in which individuals, families, visitors and residents are given the opportunity to be in contact with the principles of the Buddha’s teachings and to cultivate those same qualities in their own lives. The monastery is a place to study, practice and cultivate the central elements of the Buddha’s Path: generosity, virtue, mental cultivation, wisdom, and compassion.

The monastery is both a dwelling place for a resident community as well as a sanctuary for those who visit regularly, and provides a spiritual presence in the world. The goal is to serve these functions through monastic training and freely share the fruits of this practice.

The Sangha (community of monks and novices) lives according to the Vinaya, the code of monastic discipline established by the Buddha. In accordance with this discipline the monastics are alms-mendicants, living lives of celibacy and frugality. Above all, this training is a means of living mindfully and reflectively and is a guide to keeping one’s needs to a minimum: a set of robes, an alms bowl, one meal a day, medicine when ill, and a sheltered place for meditation and rest.

The Vinaya (monks discipline) creates a firm bond between the Sangha and the general public. One reason for this is that without the daily offering of alms food and the long-term support of ordinary people, the Sangha cannot survive. By committing to the training the Sangha provides an example that is worthy of support. This relationship creates a framework within which generosity, compassion, and mutual encouragement can grow.

For the monastic Sangha, the dependence upon others encourages a lifestyle that is based on faith and requires constant development of the qualities of contentment and humility. For those who support the Sangha, the opportunity to give and share provides occasions for generosity and a joyful and direct participation in the spiritual life. The Sangha offers spiritual guidance by teaching Dhamma and through their example as dedicated and committed monastics living the holy life.