Amaravati Buddhist Monastery
Amaravati is a Theravada Buddhist monastery at the eastern end of the Chiltern Hills in South East England. Established in 1984 by Ajahn Sumedho as an extension of Chithurst Buddhist Monastery, the monastery has its roots in the Thai Forest Tradition. It takes inspiration from the teachings of the community's founder, the late Ajahn Chah. Its chief priorities are the training and support of a resident monastic community, and the facilitation for monastic and lay people alike of the practice of the Buddha's teachings.
A stupa amid the frost of late dawn
Inside Amravati Buddhist Monastery
Beyond all coming and going: the Tathagata
Temple of Amaravati Monastery UK seen from within cloister
Ajahn Sumedho is an American Buddhist monk. He was ordained in 1967, and was instrumental in establishing Wat Pa Nanachat in Thailand and the Cittaviveka and Amaravati monasteries in England. One of the most senior Western representatives of the Thai Forest Tradition of TheravÄda Buddhism, Sumedho is considered a seminal figure in the transmission of the Buddha's teachings to the West.
Ajahn Sumedho
Ajahn Sumedho (left) with a visiting Thai monk (Phra Root Chumdermpadetsuk).
Ajahn Sumedho (seated beneath the shrine) in conversation with a bhikkhu, just before Amaravati's daily meal