Programme : WBU BUDDHIST SUNDAY FORUM
Topic :” What is Nibbāna”
Date & Time : September 5th, 2553(2010), 12:00 – 13.30 P.M
Speaker : Dhammadarsa Bhikkhu
About the Topic : “What is Nibbāna”
He will talk on the topic of What is Nibbaana. He focus on the suttas for a theoretical perspective and as much as possible on the Words of the Buddha. Since He believe the purpose of the Buddha’s teaching is to end suffering in “this very life”, He seek a practical meaning of Nibbaana. He think the qualities the Buddha gave of the Dhamma, such as “to be seen here and now/verifiable/sandi.t.thiko, timeless/akaaliko, inviting inspection/ehipassiko” all point to this very life. A popular interpretation of Nibbana, as the end of all desire and sometimes presented as the end of all action, is not interesting to me coming from the sutta and practical, Nibbana in this life, perspective.
About the Speaker :
He was born in England in 1965, but migrated to Australia when he was only one and a half years old. He did most of his primary and secondary schooling in Sydney, New South Wales. In 1975, at the the age of 10, his family did the Transcendental Meditation [TM] course and this was his first introduction to meditation. This is classed as a Samatha, or Calm practice in Buddhism. He took up Yoga during his high school studies in Sydney. In 1980 his family moved to Brisbane, Queensland where he completed the last year of his secondary education. During this time, he took up Judo and came into contact with Zen meditation.
Ven. Dhammadarsa became interested in Buddhism in 1985, when he moved to Melbourne, Victoria. There He studied Tai Chi, which would also be classed as a Samatha, or Calm practice in Buddhism. In 1986 he took ordination as a Thai Theravada Buddhist monk in Australia. This was probably the first Bhikkhu ordination in Australia. Shortly after ordination He started Buddhist Samatha meditation as taught in Wat Paknam, Bhasicharoen, Bangkok. In 1988 He first started Buddhist Vipassana meditation, at which time He spent three years in retreat in Thailand, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. In 1993 he met Buddhadaasa Bhikkhu, who encouraged him to focus on the words of the Buddha, which he did and which clarified greatly the Buddha’s teaching for him. In 1994 he returned to Australia and left the monkhood until 2008 when he reordained, to dedicate the rest of his days to the study and practise of Dhamma.
Location :
Meeting Room, the World Buddhist University, 3rd floor, WFB Headquarters Bldg., in Benjasiri Park, Sukhumvit 24, Bangkok, Time : 12.00-13.30 pm. All are welcome to join the programme free of charge. For more information, please call 02-258-0369 to -0373, fax 02-258-0372, or see http://www.worldbuddhistuniversity.com
The WBU shares the same building with the WFB (World Fellowship of Buddhists), and can be found by our maps below. It is on the third floor. The WBU is open most office hours, and the building can be entered from the rear of the building from the Soi. The front gate that faces the park is generally locked, but there is access to walk through to the rear.
click maps for larger view
