Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s Study Guides

One of my favorite Buddhist monks and scholars is Thanissaro Bhikkhu of the Thai Forest tradition. I’ve been reading and listening to him via MP3 over the years. He’s American, has a university degree, and is a serious Theravadan monk, heading up a monastery in Southern California.

He’s done some incredible anthologies and study guides which are all free. I wanted to take this opportunity to let my readers know about him and his excellent study guides. You can find them here. His approach is very practice-oriented, down-to-earth, and scholarly.

The one I linked to is called “Merit”.  Here’s the beginning of it:

Of all the concepts central to Buddhism, merit (puñña) is one of the least known and least appreciated in the West. This is perhaps because the pursuit of merit seems to be a lowly practice, focused on getting and “selfing,” whereas higher Buddhist practice focuses on letting go, particularly of any sense of self. Because we in the West often feel pressed for time, we don’t want to waste our time on lowly practices, and instead want to go straight to the higher levels. Yet the Buddha repeatedly warns that the higher levels cannot be practiced in a stable manner unless they develop on a strong foundation. The pursuit of merit provides that foundation. To paraphrase a modern Buddhist psychologist, one cannot wisely let go of one’s sense of self until one has developed a wise sense of self. The pursuit of merit is the Buddhist way to develop a wise sense of self.