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Ajaan Fuang's date of ordination? + other teachers' dates

Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 8:14 pm
by Wideshanks
I'm trying to make a chart of contemporary Theravada teachers as well as their own teachers that they mention in their talks.

But I can't track down Ajaan Fuang's date of ordination. Does anyone know it?

Also does anyone see that I made any mistakes in any of the other dates?

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Re: Ajaan Fuang's date of ordination? + other teachers' date

Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 8:33 pm
by mikenz66
Hi Wideshanks,

It's interesting to make these timelines. Gives a great perspective on when things happened. I think there was another exercise along these lines posted a few month ago. I'll try to find it later, since that might give you some more information.

However, inevitably, such list will always be a small sample of the huge number of interesting teachers that are out there.

Even if we just limit our selves to those who are reasonably well-known in the west, then your list, for example, omits many historically-important Burmese teachers, especially Ledi Sayadaw, Goenka and U Ban Kin. And still-living teachers, such as U Pandita, U Tejaniya, Pa Auk, and their various western disciples. In the Thai area there is Buddhadassa, Maha Bua and students. In Sri Lanka Nanananda. I'm sure others could add another couple of dozen...

:anjali:
Mike

Re: Ajaan Fuang's date of ordination? + other teachers' date

Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 9:03 pm
by Dhammanando
Wideshanks wrote:Also does anyone see that I made any mistakes in any of the other dates?
Ajahns Lee and Sujāto need re-checking. The former died rather young, some time in the 50's or 60's. I don't know exactly when Sujāto was born but it can't have been 1964 as he's several years younger than me.

Re: Ajaan Fuang's date of ordination? + other teachers' date

Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 9:08 pm
by Mr Man
Ajahn Lee's autobiography can be found here: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/lee/leeauto.pdf He died in 1961.

Re: Ajaan Fuang's date of ordination? + other teachers' date

Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 9:18 pm
by Wideshanks
Mike: I've added those teachers you mentioned. The full list is at http://theravad.in/Teachers

About the criteria for inclusion into the list: I really have no idea: I just started with those whose talks I listen to and went from there. I'm not sure what a good set of criteria would be to include or exclude based on; open to suggestions.

Dhammanando/MrMan: I updated Ajaan Lee's date of death. I'm inferring a date of 1925 for his ordination from this passage in that autobiography:
In 1925, when I was 20, my stepmother died. At the time, I was living with relatives in
Bang Len district, Nakhorn Pathom province, so toward the end of February I returned
home to my father and asked him to sponsor my ordination. I arrived with about 160 baht
in my pockets. Soon after my arrival my elder brothers, sisters, brothers-in-law, etc., flocked
around to see me—and to borrow money: to buy water buffaloes, to buy land, to use in
trading. I gave them all they asked for, because I was planning to be ordained. So in the end,
out of my original 160 baht, I was left with 40.
When ordination season arrived, my father made all the necessary arrangements. I was
ordained on the full moon day of the sixth lunar month—Visakha Puja. Altogether, there
were nine of us ordained that day. Of this number, some have since died, some have
disrobed, leaving only two of us still in the monkhood—myself and a friend.
Looks like Sujato is 1966: "Bhante Sujato (Anthony Best) was born in Perth, Western Australia on 4/11/1966." (Google search)

Re: Ajaan Fuang's date of ordination? + other teachers' date

Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 10:21 pm
by appicchato
Ajahn Jayasaro?...

Re: Ajaan Fuang's date of ordination? + other teachers' date

Posted: Sun Nov 03, 2013 3:43 pm
by Anagarika
I'd include our Ven. Dhammanando in that chart. I read a number of comments from people who have known him through the years as whose lives were changed by the experience. His scholarship is strong. I have to mention the Act Normal film https://vimeo.com/27590176 and the way that it depicts the evolution of a very interesting man on the Path of his life. The film, to my mind, inspirationally speaks to what this practice holds in modern times, at least to one very compelling young man. I'd say Ven. Dhammando has already made something of a mark on the landscape of modern Buddhism, and I expect there's more to come from him.

Re: Ajaan Fuang's date of ordination? + other teachers' date

Posted: Sun Nov 03, 2013 6:36 pm
by Wideshanks
Added Jayasaro.
BuddhaSoup wrote:I'd include our Ven. Dhammanando in that chart.
Sure, but I need to know his dates of birth and ordination.

And it raises another question: the way I programmed it, it can only have one date of ordination. I didn't make it sophisticated enough to handle disrobing and re-ordaining, I've just been indicated the most recent ordination, but I suppose I need to figure out how to show multiple periods.

Re: Ajaan Fuang's date of ordination? + other teachers' date

Posted: Sun Nov 03, 2013 8:46 pm
by mikenz66
Wideshanks wrote:
BuddhaSoup wrote:I'd include our Ven. Dhammanando in that chart.
.
I would agree,and this neatly illustrates my misgivings about such projects, unless they are clearly labelled: "My important influences".

Having interacted with him over the past six or so years (unfortunately never face to face) I personally value Ven Dhammanando's opinion more highly than a number of other people on that list. And I suspect that there are hundreds, or thousands, of "Ven Dhammanandos" out there (in the sense of really good people who are not famous here, or on the Internet in general).

I hasten to add that I don't have any problem with any of the people on the list. Just that it will inevitably be a very small sample.

:anjali:
Mike