Thai Forest Tradition

The Kammaṭṭhāna Forest Tradition of Thailand (Pali: kammaṭṭhāna; [kəmːəʈːʰaːna] meaning "place of work"), commonly known in the West as the Thai Forest Tradition, is a lineage of Theravada Buddhist monasticism that developed in Thailand.

The Thai Forest Tradition started around 1900 with Ajahn Mun Bhuridatto, who wanted to practice Buddhist monasticism, and its meditative practices, according to the standards of pre-sectarian Buddhism. After studying with Ajahn Sao Kantasīlo, and wandering through the north-east of Thailand, Ajahn Mun started to teach in North-East Thailand. He strived for a revival of the oldest Buddhism, insisting on a strict observance of the Buddhist monastic code, known as the Vinaya, and teaching the actual practice of jhana and the realisation of nibbana.

Initially Ajaan Mun's teachings were met with opposition, but in the 1930s his group was acknowledged as a formal faction of Thai Buddhism, and in the 1950s the relationship with the royal and religious establishment improved. In the 1960s western students started to be attracted, and in the 1970s Thai-oriented meditation groups spread in the west.

Related Forest Traditions

Related Forest Traditions are also found in other culturally similar Buddhist Asian countries, including the Galduwa Forest Tradition of Sri Lanka, the Taungpulu Forest Tradition of Myanmar and a related Lao Forest Tradition in Laos.

Further reading

• Maha Bua Nyanasampanno, Ajahn (2004), Venerable Ācariya Mun Bhuridatta Thera: A Spiritual Biography, Forest Dhamma Books 
• Taylor, J. L. (1993). Forest Monks and the Nation-state: An Anthropological and Historical Study in Northeastern Thailand. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. ISBN 978-981-3016-49-1. 
• Tiyavanich, Kamala (January 1997). Forest Recollections: Wandering Monks in Twentieth-Century Thailand. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-1781-7. 
• Lopez, Alan Robert (2016), Buddhist Revivalist Movements: Comparing Zen Buddhism and the Thai Forest Movement, Springer 

External links

Monasteries

• Portal for monasteries in the Ajahn Chah tradition
• Metta Forest Monastery
• Forest Dhamma Monastery

About the Tradition

• The Customs of the Noble Ones, Dhammatalks.org
• Significant figures with published and translated dhamma books — Access to Insight
• Page about the forest tradition from Vimutti Buddhist monastery in New Zealand
• About the Forest Tradition — Abhayagiri.org
• Book by Ajahn Maha Bua about Kammatthana practice

Dhamma Resources

• Thanissaro Bhikkhu's translations and dhamma talks, Dhammatalks.org
• Resources on the Ajahn Chah Tradition
• Books translated by Ajahn Dick Silaratano, Ajahn Suchard Abhijato, Ajahn Pannavaddho, and Thanissaro Bhikkhu