As It Is: Karma and Rebirth (Bhikkhu Bodhi)

Bhikkhu Bodhi (baus.org); Dhr. Seven and Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The Buddha’s Teaching: As It Is

When Bhikkhu Bodhi was a young monk, he lived in Washington D.C. in the Washington Buddhist Vihara, a Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhist monastery. It was 1979 when he recorded a series of ten lectures, a profound Basic Buddhist Teachings released in 1981 about everything from the Buddha to Nirvana for home study.

Wisdom Quarterly went to see him when he was living in the Forest Hermitage in Kandy, Sri Lanka, as editor in chief of the Buddhist Publication Society to ask if we could promote and distribute it. BAUS converted those cassette tape talks into a CD series in March of 2008, but the internet has made it even easier to spread the wisdom of the Buddha.

Introduction to CD: Bhikkhu Bodhi gave a series of lectures on the fundamental teachings of early Buddhism. Bhante G (Ven. Gunaratana), at the time the president of the Buddhist Vihara Society, suggested Ven. Bodhi record the lectures so that the vihara could distribute them as a set of cassette tapes. In the summer of 1981, Ven. Bodhi recorded them in the Washington D.C. monastery basement using an ordinary, nonprofessional tape recorder.

An enthusiastic lay supporter had the master copies reproduced in large quantities for distribution. They have continued to be distributed on tape and as CDs for over 25 years. They are now considered “public domain” for anyone to copy and distribute freely, the one condition being that they not be sold or made a commodity. They are best understood in order and can be heard in their proper sequence on the BAUS CD.

Bhikkhu Bodhi (born Jeffrey Block in 1944) is an American Theravada Buddhist monk, ordained in Sri Lanka and currently teaching in New York at Chaung Yen Monastery and New Jersey at Bodhi Monastery. He was appointed the second president of the Buddhist Publication Society and has edited and authored many publications grounded in the Theravada Buddhist tradition. He is founder of Buddhist Global Relief, an organization that funds projects that cure hunger and empower females across the world.