Australian Theravada Buddhist monk
Sujato, known as Ajahn Sujato or Bhikkhu Sujato (born Anthony Best[1]), is an Australian Buddhistmonk ordained into the Thai forest lineage of Ajahn Chah.[2]
He is a former musician[3] with the post punkalternative rock Australian band Martha's Vineyard, who had toured with, amongst others, Mick Hucknall's Simply Red, INXS, Annie Lennox' Eurythmics, and early proto-punkgarage bandThe Saints before disbanding in 1990.[4] He spent several years at Bodhinyana Monastery in Western Australia before going on to found Santi Forest Monastery in 2003 where he served as the abbot. Following Sujato's wishes, Santi became a bhikkhunī (Buddhistnun) vihara in 2012, and he returned to live in Bodhinyana Monastery.[5]
In 2005, Sujato co-founded the Buddhist website SuttaCentral[2] along with Rod Bucknell and John Kelly, to provide access to Early Buddhist texts in their original language and make translations available in modern languages.[6] After being unable to secure copyright-free digital translations of the Pali Canon for SuttaCentral, Sujato moved to the island of Chimei, off the coast of Taiwan,[1][5] to undertake the task of creating English translations of the four Nikāyas, living there from 2015 to 2018. These translations have since been published on SuttaCentral, and as free edition books.[7]
In 2019, Sujato moved to Sydney to establish LokantaVihara (the Monastery at the End of the World) with his long term student, Bhante Akaliko, to explore what it means to follow the Buddha’s teachings in an era of climate change, globalisedconsumerism, and political turmoil.[8] He is also involved with Engaged Buddhism.[1] In a Buddhist Dharma talk entitled I am an anarchist for Dhammanet, Sujato states his anarchist ideology, specifically aligning himself with anarcho-pacifism, which he explains as being compatible with The Buddha, Buddhist, lay man, and renunciant life, as well as being in accord with the monasticvinaya. In the speech, Sujato explains his belief that The Buddha himself was also an anarchist.[9]
Sujato along with his teacher Ajahn Brahm were involved with Re-establishing Bhikkhuni Ordination in the Forest sangha of Ajahn Chah.[10] Sujato along with other scholars such as Brahm and Analayo[11] had come to the conclusion that there was no valid reason the extinct bhikkhuni order couldn't be re-established.[1][12] The ordination ceremony led to Brahm's expulsion from the Thai Forest Lineage of Ajahn Chah. Sujato however, was not deterred or intimidated by such a response, and, remaining faithful to his convictions that there was no reason the Bhikkhunī order should not be revived, went on to successfully found Santi Forest Monastery, and following Sujato's wishes, Santi has since flourished as a Bhikkhunī (Buddhistnun) monasteryVihara since 2012.[10]