Four-Day Hybrid Retreat with Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi (online or in-person)
Buddhist Association of the United States (BAUS, Chuang Yen Monastery, Carmel, Upstate NY
PRACTICING THE DHAMMA: From Bondage to Liberation
a Four-Day Hybrid Retreat with Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi
Beginning Sept. 4th and running through Sept. 7th a retreat will study the groups of mental factors that hold us in bondage to samsara, the cycle of repetitive birth and death, and the opposing factors that lead to liberation.
This retreat is based on the Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma, Chapter II, Sections 4–8, and Chapter VII, Sections 3–14 and 24–40.
The retreat includes Dhamma talks, discussion periods, and five sessions of meditation each day. It also provides the opportunity for those who haven’t yet “gone for guidance” (ti-sarana) to go for guidance to the Three Jewels, the first decisive step to formally becoming a follower of the Buddha-Dharma.
This retreat is conducted in hybrid mode, meaning it is both onsite in New York and online worldwide. Those who cannot attend in person can practice at home, participating online over Zoom or YouTube.
Those who wish to join in-person can come to BAUS/Chuang Yen Monastery and stay from Friday evening until Monday afternoon.
The monastery can accept only 50 onsite practitioners. If someone applies after the 50 spaces have been filled, that person will be put on a waiting list and accepted if prior applicants drop out.
Remember, anyone who can’t join in person can join from home via Zoom or YouTube.
REGISTER to participate in person only if committed to coming to Chuang Yen Monastery and staying all the way through Monday afternoon. If participating only part time, please join online.
A more detailed schedule will be posted later, but reserve these dates now. To register, go HERE.
Order a copy of the Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma (either electronic edition or hardcopy) from Pariyatti Press HERE.
As the year draws to a close, we pray that readers, family, and friends are all blessed with longevity and good fortune day and night as the calendar transitions.
BAUS temple cordially invites all to a New Year's Blessing Ceremony on Feb. 17, 2026, from 10:00 am to 12:15 pm.
On the day of the ceremony, those assembled will recite the "Eighty-Eight Buddhas Great Repentance Liturgy" and offer a grand offering before the Buddha. BAUS sincerely invites all to participate in the lighting of lamps and other meritorious deeds. The entire family is welcome to visit the temple and share in the Dharma benefits.
Abiding in great compassion and eternal freedom
Dear Friends,
At the ending of the year, lasting auspiciousness to all day and night! Chuang Yen Monastery will conduct a ceremony of New Year's blessings from 10:00 am to 12:15 pm on Feb. 17, 2026. During this ceremony, all will recite the Great Repentance before the Eighty-Eight Buddhas and make a Grand Meal Offering to the Buddhas. All are invited to sponsor the lighting of a blessing lamp and to sponsor other memorial services. All are welcome to bring family and friends to the Monastery to share the benefits of the Dharma.
May all enjoy the constant ease of great compassion.
The temple is open to the public:
Feb. 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 (6 days in total)
Opening hours:
10:00 AM to 3:00 PM
It looks like this message is in Chinese (Traditional)
莊嚴寺
2026年新春祈福大法會
線上登記點燈祈福
Light a light
Announcing the 2026 New Year's Blessings Ceremony
Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, marks the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar, which is used by a large part of Asia beyond China.
It is one of the most important holidays in Chinese culture and was placed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list in 2024.
Marking the end of winter (no matter what Punxatawney Phil rituals say) and the beginning of spring, this festival takes place from Chinese New Year's Eve (the evening preceding the first day of the year) to the Lantern Festival, held on the 15th day of the year.
The first day of the Chinese New Year falls on the new moon that appears between Jan. 21 and Feb. 20 [a].
The Chinese New Year is associated with several myths and customs. The festival was traditionally a time to honor deities and ancestors [3]. Throughout China, different regions celebrate the New Year with distinct local customs and traditions [4].
Chinese New Year's Eve is an occasion for Chinese families to gather for the annual reunion dinner.
Traditionally, every family would thoroughly clean their house, symbolically sweeping away any ill fortune to make way for incoming good luck. Windows and doors may be decorated with red paper-cuts and couplets representing themes such as good fortune, happiness, wealth, and longevity. Other activities include lighting firecrackers and giving money in red envelopes. More
Students of the Dharma, tomorrow (Saturday, May 17th, 2025) instead of Bhikkhu Bodhi's regular class on the AN, the venerable American Theravada Buddhist scholar-monk will be giving an online lecture on the Abhidhamma ("Higher Doctrine") through another Buddhist organization, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche's Tergar:
All regular students are welcome to join this program, which will run from 10:00 am to 11:30 am (ET).
Find more details and a registration form here: Tergar Events
Note two options on the registration form: (A) If no translation from English to another language is needed, register to view the lecture through YouTube. (B) If translation into another language is needed, register to view the lecture through Zoom.
With metta,
BAUS via Wisdom Quarterly
"Many, fearful of annihilation [extinction] at death, construct belief systems that ascribe to their individual selves, their souls, the prospect of eternal life. A few yearn for a path to liberation but do not know where to find one. It was precisely to offer such a path that the Buddha has appeared in our midst."
- Bhikkhu Bodhi
Details
Ven. Buddhaghosa, the great Buddhist scholar-monk, compiling Theravada Abhidhamma texts
Seeking a deeper understanding of your own mind — a map to greater well-being? Join us for a special online webinar with Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi, a renowned Buddhist scholar and teacher of Buddhist philosophy, as he unravels the profound wisdom of the Abhidharma.
Often referred to as “Buddhist psychology,” the Abhidhamma [the “Dhamma in Ultimate Terms" or “Higher Doctrine”] offers a detailed map of consciousness, illuminating the intricate workings of our thoughts, emotions, and perceptions.
In this event, Bhikkhu Bodhi will guide us through the “topography” of consciousness and core principles of the Abhidharma, exploring how this ancient system of analysis can provide valuable insights into the causes of suffering and the path to innate well-being.
By systematically exploring the inner landscape of mind, we can clarify which mental states lead to suffering, which cultivate happiness and well-being at present and in the future, and which ultimately lead to full inner freedom (enlightenment, awakening, bodhi).
This is a unique opportunity to learn from a renowned master teacher and deepen your understanding of these essential teachings.
Why attend?
Wow, so my emotions actually make sense.
Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi is a respected Buddhist monk, scholar, and translator renowned for his clear and insightful teachings on Abhidharma, the system of Buddhist psychology. Bhikkhu Bodhi's teachings emphasize the importance of understanding the mind by systematically guiding us to recognize confusion and discover the reality that leads to profound self-understanding and lasting well-being.
What will we learn?
But consciousness is too big to understand! - Successful meditators understand it.
. In this program, participants will get an overview of the Abhidharma's teachings and learn the classifications of consciousness how to cultivate beneficial mental states
What is included in this program?
Included in this LIVE teaching by Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi is a presentation followed by a Q&A session, during which participants may ask what pertinent questions they like.
Cost?
This webinar is free of charge, so no payment is required.
Bhikkhu Bodhi is an American-born Buddhist monk from New York City. After completing his PhD in philosophy at Claremont in Los Angeles. He then traveled to Theravada Buddhist Sri Lanka, where he received full ordination in 1973, under the leading Sri Lankan scholar-monk Ven. Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Mahanayaka Thera. From 1984 to 2002, he served as editor for the Buddhist Publication Society in Kandy, where he lived for ten years with the senior German Buddhist monk Ven. Nyanaponika Mahathera at the Forest Hermitage. He currently lives and teaches at Chuang Yen Monastery (BAUS.org) in Carmel, New York. More
The session consists of a 15-minute vandana (chanting verses of homage), followed by a 45-minute guided meditation. All are welcome to join. For the texts recited, see class page on web: chanting text.
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Today is the full moon lunar observance or poya day in Sri Lanka, where BB studied.
Keep the sabbath (uposatha) day.
On Saturdays Bhikkhu Bodhi leads a full morning program of meditation and sutra study. The meditation is from 9:30-10:10 am, and the sutra study from 10:10-11:20 am ET (New York time).
The class is held in two modes, in-person and online. Those in the vicinity of Chuang Yen Monastery in Carmel, Upstate NY who would like to attend in person can come to the monastery for the class, which is held in Woo Ju Memorial Library.
Those who prefer to attend the class online can join through the Zoom platform.
The class is based on the Anguttara Nikaya (AN), the "Numerical Discourses of the Buddha." The AN arranges discourses of the Buddha according to a numerical pattern, grouping together discourses that revolve around the same number of items.
We are presently studying “The Book of the Sixes.” For an electronic file of the text, use the button to the left.
ABOUT: The teacher, Ven. Bodhi, has been a Theravada Buddhist monk since 1972 and is highly regarded as a scholar and teacher. He has lived at Chuang Yen Monastery since 2007 and is the current president of BAUS (Buddhist Association of the United States). His translation of the entire Anguttara Nikaya is published by Wisdom Publications (Boston, 2012, 1,900 pages) under the title, The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha.
The teachings are free, and your generous dana (charitable donations) to support the teachings are welcome.
Please make check payable to BAUS and/or click HERE to donate at our website (baus.org/en). Please reference the course on all the payment methods. Thank you for your generosity.
To participate in this class, you must register with BAUS. You can register by clicking on Sign-up for the class notice or by clicking “Register.” If you are already registered, there is no need to re-register.
Bhikkhu Bodhi (BAUS); Eds., Wisdom Quarterly BUDDHIST SUMMER SCHOOL
Bhikkhu Bodhi: Introduction to Buddhism, As It Is (3): The True Nature of Existence
(AudioBuddha) The series
lecturer is American Theravada Buddhist scholar-monk Ven. Bodhi, who now resides and teaches at Chuang Yen Monastery (baus.org) in Carmel, Upstate New York. Recorded in the Washington Buddhist Vihara in 1981. Source: Dharma Seed, Sept. 3, 2021.
These audio recordings, books, and videos are for educational purposes only. Public domain. For enquiries or copyright issues, please contact audiobuddho@gmail.com.
What's BAUS? The Buddhist Association of the United States at Chaung Yen Monastery, NY
American Theravada scholar-monk Bhikkhu Bodhi goes live from Carmel, Upstate New York, in another one of his broadcasts on Models of the Path to Liberation in Early Buddhism (with simultaneous translation in Russian for viewers in the former USSR). Yes, there's Buddhism in Russia and there has been for a long time, by way of Mongolia and Tibet. In fact, Kalmykia is the only part of Europe that is indigenously Buddhist. But maps change, populations move, and culture persists, so that explains that.
This year Bhikkhu Bodhi will resume his monthly Dhamma talks for speakers of Russian (and English) with a new series on the theme “Models of the Path to Liberation in Early Buddhism.”
In the sutras we see that the Buddha presented the Teachings on the Path or Dhamma in a variety of ways designed to meet the needs of his many audiences.
Some models are more comprehensive and general; others are narrower, intended for particular individuals. In this series, Ven. Bodhi explores four comprehensive models of the Path:
the noble eightfold path,
the sequential training of the monastics,
the Seven Factors of Enlightenment, and
the Seven Stages of Purification.
The talks will be based on the discourses of the Buddha.
A file with the text material can be found here.
The Sutta Nipāta contains some of the oldest sutras in the Pali Canon. It is a rich source of texts offering guidance to lay Buddhists and also abounds in discourses that extol the contemplative ideals of early Buddhism.
Though as a formal "collection" it exists only in the Theravada tradition, some of the individual sutras are found in other traditions. One entire chapter, the Aṭṭhakavagga, is also found in the Chinese Tripiṭaka (canon, lit. "Threefold Basket").
In a series of lectures given at Bodhi Monastery in New Jersey beginning in October 2004, Bhikkhu Bodhi explains sutras from the first three chapters.
The first three studied -- the Ratana Sutta, Mahā Maṅgala Sutta, and Mettā Sutta -- are among the most popular texts in ancient Theravada Buddhism, the "Teaching of the Elders."
They provide the backbone of understanding, practice, and attitude in the Theravada Buddhist world and are often taught to lay people, who grow up imbibing the values and ideals of early Buddhism.
They also serve as “Protective Discourses” (paritta suttas), recited to provide blessings and protection in times of difficulty and danger. The first discourse on the Jewel or Gem (Ratana) also gives a good introduction to the Sutta Nipāta in general and its place and history in the larger Discourse Collection comprised of many sections. LISTEN (with read along PDF handouts)
The Buddha’s Teaching As It Is
Bhikkhu Bodhi, former BPS editor, is the foremost American Theravada scholar-monk
The Buddha with a Sangha of noble disciples (Thai-on/flickr.com)
1.
The Buddha
2.
The Four Noble Truths
3.
The True Nature of Existence
4.
Dependent Origination
5.
Rebirth and Karma
6.
Nirvana
7.
The Noble Eightfold Path
8.
Meditation
9.
Social Teachings of the Buddha
10.
The Community (Sangha)
In the fall of 1979, while living at the Washington Buddhist Vihara, in D.C., Bhikkhu Bodhi recorded a series of ten lectures in English on the most fundamental teachings of early Buddhism. Ven. Gunaratana, at the time the president of the Buddhist Vihara Society, in B.C., suggested the venerable American scholar-monk record the lectures so that the monastery could distribute them as a set of cassettes. LISTEN (with PDF handouts)
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