Bhikkhu Bodhi (b. 1944, NYC), born Jeffrey Block, is an American Buddhist Monk ordained in Sri Lanka and currently teaching in the New York/New Jersey area. He was appointed the second president of the Buddhist Publication Society and has edited and authored several publications grounded in the Theravada Buddhist tradition.
In 1944, Block was born in Brooklyn, NY. In 1966, he obtained a B.A. in philosophy from Brooklyn College. In 1972, he obtained a Ph.D. in philosophy from Claremont Graduate School.
In 1967, while still a graduate student, Bodhi was ordained as a novice monk in the Vietnamese Mahayana order. In 1972, after graduation, Bodhi traveled to Sri Lanka where, under Ven. Ananda Maitreya,he received novice ordination and, in 1973, he received full ordination in a Theravada order. In 1984, succeeding co-founder Ven. Nyanaponika Thera. He was appointed editor of the Buddhist Publication Society (in Sri Lanka) in 1984 and its president in 1988. Ven. Bodhi has many important publications to his credit, either as author, translator, or editor, including the Buddha — A Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya (co-translated with Ven. Bhikkhu Nanamoli (1995), The Connected Discourses of the Buddha — a New Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya (2000), and In the Buddha’s Words (2005).
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