Ajahn Amaro | |
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 Ajahn Amaro in Bangkok in June 2019 | |
| Personal life | |
| Born | Jeremy Charles Julian Horner (1956-09-02)2 September 1956 (age 69) Kent, England |
| Nationality | British, American |
| Education | Bedford College, London(BSc) |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Buddhism |
| Order | Maha Nikaya |
| School | Theravāda |
| Lineage | Thai Forest Tradition |
| Ordination | 1979 (46 years ago) |
| Senior posting | |
| Teacher | Ajahn Chah |
| Present post | Abbot ofAmaravati Buddhist Monastery (since 2010) |
| Previous post | Co-Abbot ofAbhayagiri Buddhist Monastery (1996–2010) |
| Website | amaravati |
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Ajahn Amaro (born 2 September 1956)[1] is a British–AmericanTheravādaBuddhistmonk and teacher, and abbot of theAmaravati Buddhist Monastery at the eastern end of theChiltern Hills inSouth East England. The centre, in practice as much for ordinary people as for monastics, is inspired by theThai Forest Tradition and the teachings of the lateAjahn Chah.[2] Its chief priorities are the practice and teaching ofBuddhist ethics, together with traditionalconcentration andinsight meditation techniques, as an effective way of dissolvingsuffering.
Ajahn Amaro was bornJ. C. J. Horner[3] inKent. He was educated atSutton Valence School andBedford College, University of London. He is a second cousin ofI.B. Horner (1896–1981), late President of thePali Text Society.[4][5]
Apart from a certain interest in the theories ofRudolf Steiner—to which he had been introduced byTrevor Ravenscroft,[3] Amaro's principal enthusiasms on leaving university were, by his own admission, pretty much those standard-issue among sceptical students of the day:sex, drugs and rock'n'roll.
Having completed his honours degree inpsychology andphysiology,[3] in 1977 he went toMalaysia,Indonesia andThailand on an undefined "open-ended" spiritual search. He somehow found himself in northeast Thailand, at the forest monastery ofWat Pah Nanachat. Ajahn Chah's charismatic impact and the encouragement of the senior American monkAjahn Pabhakaro were decisive. It changed his life. Having become alay renunciate, four months later he became anovice and in 1979 he receivedupasampada from Ajahn Chah and took profession as a Theravadinbhikkhu.[2] He stayed in Thailand for two years. Amaro then went back to England to helpAjahn Sumedho establishChithurst Monastery in WestSussex.[2] With the blessing of hisabbot, in 1983 he moved toHarnham Vihara in Northumberland. He made the entire 830-mile journey on foot, chronicled in his 1984 volumeTudong: The Long Road North.[6][7]
In the early 1990s Amaro made several teaching trips to northern California. Many who attended his meditation retreats became enthusiastic about the possibility of establishing a permanent monastic community in the area.
Amaravati, his mother house back in England, meanwhile received a substantial donation of land inMendocino County fromChan MasterHsuan Hua, founder of theCity of Ten Thousand Buddhas inTalmage. The land was allocated to establish a forest retreat. Since for some years Ajahn Sumedho had venerated the Chinese master, both abbots hoped that, among its other virtues, the center would serve as a symbolic bond between the otherwise distinct Theravāda andMahayana lineages.
Care for what becameAbhayagiri was placed in the hands of a group of lay practitioners, theSanghapala Foundation.[7]Ajahn Pasanno was appointed founding co-abbot of Abhayagiri with Ajahn Amaro. The latter announced on 8 February 2010 that he would be leaving Abhayagiri and returning to England, having accepted a request from Ajahn Sumedho to succeed him as abbot at Amaravati.[8]
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