Ajahn Jayasāro

Ajahn Jayasāro
Ajahn Jayasāro in 2018
Personal life
BornShaun Michael Chiverton
(1958-01-07) 7 January 1958
Isle of Wight, England
Citizenship
  • United Kingdom
  • Thailand
Notable work(s)Stillness Flowing: The Life and Teachings of Ajahn Chah (2017)
Websitejayasaro.panyaprateep.org
Religious life
ReligionBuddhism
OrderMahā Nikāya
SchoolTheravāda
LineageThai Forest Tradition
Dharma nameJayasāro
ชยสาโร
Ordination
Senior posting
TeacherAjahn Chah
(upajjhāya)
Based inBan Rai Thosi, Pak Chong, Nakhon Ratchasima
Previous postAbbot of Wat Pah Nanachat
(1997–2002)

Ajahn Jayasāro (born 7 January 1958) is a British and Thai Buddhist monk in the Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah.

Biography

Jayasāro was born Shaun Michael Chiverton on 7 January 1958 on the Isle of Wight in England.[1][2][3] After finishing school and working to earn some money, he spent a number of years travelling, making his way overland from England to India. Upon his return, he attended a ten-day course at a vipassanā mediation centre. The centre had been founded by an Englishman who had been a monk in the Thai Forest Tradition. In the evenings, he gave Dhamma talks in which he described his experiences as a monk in Thailand, and these talks inspired Jayasāro to become a monk himself.[4]

In 1978, he joined Ajahn Sumedho's community at Oaken Holt, Oxford, for the rains retreat (vassa) as an anagārika.[2][4] In November of that year, he travelled to Thailand, where he became a disciple of Ajahn Chah at Wat Nong Pah Pong.[2] His lower ordination (pabbajjā) as a novice monk (sāmaṇera) took place in the early part of 1980, and he received higher ordination (upasampadā) as a bhikkhu on 3 June 1980, at the age of 22, with Ajahn Chah as his preceptor (upajjhāya).[5][1]

From 1997 to 2002, he was the abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat.[2][5][1][6]

In 2017, he published a biography of Ajahn Chah entitled Stillness Flowing.[7]

In 2019, he was honoured with a royal title from King Vajiralongkorn (Rama X).[8] On 9 March 2020, he was granted Thai citizenship by royal decree.[9][10]

On 12 July 2026, he was elevated to the rank of Somdet Phra Rachakhana and awarded the title of Somdet Phra Maha Phatcharayanamuni. He is the first foreign-born monk in the history of Thailand to hold the rank of Somdet Phra Rachakhana.[1]

Since 2003, he has lived in a hermitage in Pak Chong, Nakhon Ratchasima, near Khao Yai National Park. The hermitage is sometimes referred to as Ban Rai Thosi and sometimes as Janamāra.[2][1][11][5][7]: xvi 

Thai honorific ranks

  • 28 July 2019 – Phra Rat Phatcharamanit Phisitthammakhunsunthon Mahakhanitson Bowonsangkharam Khammawasi (พระราชพัชรมานิต พิสิฐธรรมคุณสุนทร มหาคณิสสร บวรสังฆาราม คามวาสี)[12][8]
  • 17 July 2020 – Phra Thep Phatcharayanamuni Wipatsanawithikoson Wimonphawanaworakit Mahakhanitson Bowonsangkharam Khammawasi (พระเทพพัชรญาณมุนี วิปัสสนาวิธีโกศล วิมลภาวนาวรกิจ มหาคณิสสร บวรสังฆาราม คามวาสี)[13]
  • 7 July 2021 – Phra Tham Phatcharayanamuni Silachansuwimon Kosonkitchanukit Mahakhanitson Bowonsangkharam Khammawasi Aranyawasi (พระธรรมพัชรญาณมุนี ภาวนาวิธีสุวิธาน สีลาจารสุวิมล โกศลกิจจานุกิจ มหาคณิสสร บวรสังฆาราม คามวาสี)[14]
  • 12 May 2024 – Phra Phrom Phatcharayanamuni Siwipatsanathurachan Phaisanwithetsatsanakit Wisitsilachandilok Sathokthammawichit Mahakhanitson Bowonsangkharam Khammawasi Aranyawasi (พระพรหมพัชรญาณมุนี ศรีวิปัสสนาธุราจารย์ ไพศาลวิเทศศาสนกิจ วิสิฐศีลาจารดิลก สาธกธรรมวิจิตร มหาคณิสสร บวรสังฆาราม คามวาสี)[15]
  • 12 July 2026 – Somdet Phra Maha Phatcharayanamuni Siwipatsanaphawanaphoson Sophonthammanusit Wichitthammapatiphan Phaisanwithetkitthada Susilachanwatsunthon Mahakhanitson Bowonsangkharam Khammawasi Aranyawasi (สมเด็จพระมหาพัชรญาณมุนี ศรีวิปัสสนาภาวนาโภศล โสภณธรรมานุสิฐ วิจิตรธรรมปฏิภาณ ไพศาลวิเทศกิจธาดา สุสีลาจารวัตรสุนทร มหาคณิสสร บวรสังฆาราม คามวาสี อรัญวาสี)[11][1]

Notable works

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Choosuwan, Amorndej (14 July 2026). "King elevates Ajahn Jayasaro as Thailand's first foreign-born Somdet monk". The Nation. Archived from the original on 15 July 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Ajahn Jayasaro". Amaravati Buddhist Monastery. 9 September 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "2566.01.07 เกิดใหม่ทุกวัน โดย พระอาจารย์ชยสาโร" (in Thai). YouTube. 19 January 2023. Archived from the original on 22 April 2023. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  4. 1 2 "2563.03.02 Dhamma Discourse at Shan State Buddhist University by Ajahn Jayasaro". YouTube. 15 March 2020. Starts at 08:06. Archived from the original on 22 April 2023. So, following on from that, I finished my schooling and worked to make some money, and then set off overland from England to India, and spent a couple of years travelling, learning, experiencing things before returning to England with a dilemma. I was convinced in my mind that the conclusions that I'd drawn as a schoolboy were correct, but I still had no idea about how to put that into effect, how to lead a life based upon those principles, to be able to apply them without compromise. While I'd been travelling in Asia, I'd heard about a young Englishman who had been ordained as a monk in the forest tradition, a very charismatic teacher who had decided to disrobe and to set up a vipassanā or a meditation retreat centre in England, and so I applied to participate in a ten-day course. It was the first such course I'd ever attended, and in the evening Dhamma talks this teacher would tell stories about his life as a monk in Thailand, and suddenly it was just completely obvious to me what I'd been looking for, the way of life that I'd been looking for, was the way of the bhikkhu. Some months later, I joined Ajahn Sumedho's community in England and spent the vassa of 1978 just outside Oxford, a place called Oaken Holt, and following that went to Thailand because for me my goal, my ideal, was to be a bhikkhu in a Buddhist country in a Buddhist environment, Buddhist culture. I had no interest in propagating Buddhism in non-Buddhist countries, and I was fortunate enough to be accepted as a student by Venerable Ajahn Chah, and I became his saddhiviharika—he was my upajjhāya—in 1980, and I've been living in Thailand continuously since late 1978.
  5. 1 2 3 "พระอาจารย์ชยสาโร" (in Thai). Panyaprateep Foundation. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021.
  6. ↑ Ajahn Jayasāro (10 November 2017). "Just Do It". Lion's Roar. Archived from the original on 12 November 2017.
  7. 1 2 Ajahn Jayasāro (2017). Stillness Flowing: The Life and Teachings of Ajahn Chah (PDF). Bangkok: Panyaprateep Foundation. ISBN 978-616-7930-09-1.
  8. 1 2 Dibdin, Cara (14 August 2019). "Thai King Bestows High Honor on Western Buddhists". Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023.
  9. ↑ "พระบรมราชโองการ ให้แปลงสัญชาติ "พระฌอน ชิเวอร์ตัน ชยสาโร" เป็นไทยกรณีพิเศษ". Matichon Online (in Thai). 9 March 2020. Archived from the original on 9 March 2020.
  10. ↑ "โปรดเกล้าฯ พระราชทานพระบรมราชานุญาตให้แปลงสัญชาติเป็นไทยเป็นกรณีพิเศษ". Prachachat.net (in Thai). 9 March 2020. Archived from the original on 9 March 2020.
  11. 1 2 "โปรดสถาปนา 8 สมเด็จพระราชาคณะ พระพรหมพัชรญาณมุนี เป็นสมเด็จฯ ต่างชาติรูปแรก". Thai PBS (in Thai). 14 July 2026. Archived from the original on 14 July 2026.
  12. ↑ "พระบรมราชโองการ ประกาศ เรื่อง พระราชทานสัญญาบัตรตั้งสมณศักดิ์" (PDF) (in Thai). 28 July 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 July 2019.
  13. ↑ "พระบรมราชโองการ ประกาศ เรื่อง พระราชทานสัญญาบัตรตั้งสมณศักดิ์" (PDF) (in Thai). 22 July 2020. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2020.
  14. ↑ "พระบรมราชโองการ ประกาศ เรื่อง พระราชทานสัญญาบัตรตั้งสมณศักดิ์" (PDF) (in Thai). 8 July 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 July 2021.
  15. ↑ "พระบรมราชโองการ ประกาศ เรื่อง พระราชทานสัญญาบัตรตั้งสมณศักดิ์" (PDF) (in Thai). 24 June 2025. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 May 2024.
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