Dhamma Wheel Buddhist Forum

Finally, an all-american theravadan forest tradition can now be found in the US.



Most Venerable Vimalaramsi Mahathera is the founder
of the American Buddhist Forest Tradition.

There is a monks and nuns monastery:
Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center





utube: Begin To See
Online training: 2010 Foundation Series Buddhist Meditation Training

The first ?

Abhayagiri was established in 1995.

And I heard that Vilamaramsi says he can cure aids, so beware.

Modus.Ponens wrote:And I heard that Vilamaramsi says he can cure aids, so beware.

Where / When did he say this?

Sanghamitta wrote:The first ?

Abhayagiri was established in 1995.

My understanding may be wrong, of course. I briefly visited Dhamma Sukkha a couple of times last year. I understood them to be establishing a truly American Forest Tradition, as opposed to extending another tradition to America.

"Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery, the first monastery in the United States to be established by followers of Ajahn Chah, was founded in 1996 in the mountainous forests north of Ukiah, California." (from their web site, bold face is my addition).

So there may be room for lots of discussion of what's first and of what tradition, but that is what I understood as one of the main distinctions between Dhamma Sukkha and other Theravadan centers.

Other distinctions are probably best read on their respective web sites.

Hoo

mr. gordo wrote:

Modus.Ponens wrote:And I heard that Vilamaramsi says he can cure aids, so beware.

Where / When did he say this?

That was mentioned in this thread: http://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... 48&start=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Moggalana wrote:

mr. gordo wrote:

Modus.Ponens wrote:And I heard that Vilamaramsi says he can cure aids, so beware.

Where / When did he say this?

That was mentioned in this thread: http://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... 48&start=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'll check it out, thx!

Modus.Ponens wrote:And I heard that Vilamaramsi says he can cure aids, so beware.

Hi Modus.Ponens,

I can remember that Dhamma-Talk. Bhante Vimalaramsi tells a story about a woman who was about to die from cancer.
By chance she became his student and followed his advice. Then her cancer went away. But he never said, that he can cure cancer.

He only states, that acting in a certain holesome way can lead to a lot of holesome power.
It's a talk on the Cula-kammavibhanga Sutta (MN135). THe title of the video posted at youtube is
"Karma and How to Cure Cancer - w/Bhante Vimalaramsi " which, I think, is misleading, because it was
only one case that happend and never happend again and he only reports of it as an example of how
strong Kamma can grow from ones actions in this very lifetime.

Here's the snippet of that talk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgBx91_8JUs

Be well,
Mirco

Sanghamitta wrote:The first ? Abhayagiri was established in 1995.

Hi Sanghamitta,

as Hoo said, it's not an foreign Theravadan lineage.

American born Most Venerable Vimalaramsi Mahathera is the teacher who follows wisdom, Suttas and Vinaya.

Bets Regards,
Mirco

mirco wrote:I can remember that Dhamma-Talk. Bhante Vimalaramsi tells a story about a woman who was about to die from cancer.By chance she became his student and followed his advice. Then her cancer went away. But he never said, that he can cure cancer... THe title of the video posted at youtube is"Karma and How to Cure Cancer - w/Bhante Vimalaramsi "

Wrong talk. In the talk entitled How to Handle Pain w/ Bhante Vimalaramsi, posted in the following thread, at the 1:25 mark he says.."Im not real wild about getting AIDS even though I know how to get rid of them."

Have a listen.

http://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... 48&start=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

bodom wrote:

mirco wrote:I can remember that Dhamma-Talk. Bhante Vimalaramsi tells a story about a woman who was about to die from cancer.By chance she became his student and followed his advice. Then her cancer went away. But he never said, that he can cure cancer.

Wrong talk. In the talk entitled How to Handle Pain w/ Bhante Vimalaramsi, posted in the following thread, at the 1:25 mark he says.."Im not real wild about getting AIDS even though I know how to get rid of them." Have a listen. http://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... 48&start=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hi bodom,

ask the Venerable Vimalaramsi himself, how he exactly meant that:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dhammasukha" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; or [email protected]

All the best,
Mirco

Thats ok, im not all that interested in what he meant by the statement as I don't follow his teachings. Maybe you can ask him since you seem to be a follower of his.

mirco wrote:

Sanghamitta wrote:
American born / teacher who follows wisdom, Suttas and Vinaya.

as are most of the forest monks mentioned here

it's not an foreign Theravadan lineage.

unless he just ordained himself he brought it from somewhere, as have the above mentioned monks.

jcsuperstar wrote:

mirco wrote:

Sanghamitta wrote:American born / teacher who follows wisdom, Suttas and Vinaya.

as are most of the forest monks mentioned here

it's not an foreign Theravadan lineage.

unless he just ordained himself he brought it from somewhere, as have the above mentioned monks.

He ordained somewhere, thats true. But he didn't bring any of the cultural influence of that countries (Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka) had had been to.

He does not refer to any other teacher but the Buddha.

mirco wrote:
He does not refer to any other teacher but the Buddha.

If he refers to himself as a bhikkhu, there needs to be a legitimate ordination lineage to which he belongs and of which he is a member in good standing. And this should be information that is easily known.