Born in a remote village in North-eastern Thailand, Ajahn Dhiravamsa grew up in a simple, primitive world, helping his parents grow rice and rear animals.
He joined the Buddhist Monastic Order at the age of thirteen. He spent twenty-three years there, becoming a well-educated and well-trained monk.
Immediately after obtaining the First Degree in Buddhist Studies, Comparative Religion, and Modern Subjects, he was appointed an Instructor in Educational Psychology and in English language at the Buddhist University, Mahachulalongkorn Rajavidyalaya. Also here at his beloved educational institution he rendered special services for two years, establishing, administering, and teaching the first Buddhist Sunday School for Thai children and young people.
Before accompanying his Principal Vipassana Master (the late Most Venerable Phra Dhammadhiraraj Mahamuni of Wat Mahadhatu, Bangkok) to England, in 1964, he held the position of Headmaster of a private school in Prachinburi Province and raised the standard of education to the point where it was recognized by the Provincial Authority of Education at the Ministry of Education.
He began his spiritual work in the capacity of a Vipassana Meditation teacher in England in 1965. He gradually became internationally known, particularly in Europe and North America, where he rendered most of his services to those seeking spiritual advice and instruction in meditation practices.
His accomplishments in the Buddhist monastic tradition include attaining the position of Preceptor (Upajhaya), becoming Abbott of a Thai Temple (Wat Buddhapadipa) in London, England, and being appointed Chief of the Thai Buddhist Mission in the West. He is also a Vipassana Master.
In addition he achieved appointment to the rank of Chao Khun with the Royal Name of Phra Sobhana Dhammasudhi, a highly respected position in the Thai monastic system, when he was only thirty-two years old (in 1966).
He first visited the United States in January, 1969, when he conducted a meditation workshop at Oberlin College and lectured at several colleges and universities. Since then he has regularly returned to Canada and to the States for periods of two to five months, invited by many universities and colleges to conduct his highly regarded work. He also lectures and teaches Vipassana meditation extensively throughout Europe.
In October 1971, Dhiravamsa gave up his robes after twenty-three years as a Buddhist monk. He has since lead a simple, meditative life, continuing his work of teaching Vipassana Meditation and other related activities such as Vipassana Dreamwork, Active Imagination, and Holistic Healing.
With regard to literary works, he has written and published several articles and books on the subject of Vipassana and self-growth. These books include "Insight Meditation", "The Real Way to Awakening", "Beneficial Factors of Meditation", "The New Approach to Buddhism", "The Middle Path of Life", "The Way of Non-Attachment", "The Dynamic Way of Meditation", and "Turning to the Source". Some of his books have been translated into French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Dutch. He has now completed three additional books: "Union of Opposites"(a memoir), "Selected Stories of Dhammapada" with the Buddha's verses and the author's psycho-spiritual analysis, and "Love is Not a Fairytale" (a classical Thai fairytale about genuine search for love).
Mythologically speaking, he has honored both Apollo (the god of light, order, and structure) and Dionysus (the god of ecstacy, experience, and play). It has proved wonderful for him to be able to leap up to the transpersonal realm of spiritual experience and yet, be grounded and firmly connected to the earthly realm. In other words, he balances heaven and earth within himself. On the physical plane he becomes king .... symbolically speaking .... and inwardly he is a sage.
All these symbolic notions indicate the union of opposites on an energetic level within human consciousness.
In addition to teaching courses in meditation and related activities, he spends his time writing and living a married life. He travels a great deal to carry out his work in all the continents of the Western world, and loves doing so with all his heart and mind.
See also Introduction to Vipassana
