Buddhanusati: Recollecting the Buddha across time and traditions

Teacher: Bhante Sanathavihari (In person, visiting from the USA)

Wed 11 June | 7.00-8.30pm AEST

Location: In person at Western Sydney University, Parramatta City Campus (Entry at 1 Parramatta Square), Level 3, Room PC-01.3.82 or online (Zoom link below)
Cost: Free

Join Bhante Sanathavihari, visiting from the US, as he explores Buddhanusati—the recollection of the Buddha—as it is practiced in the Vietnamese Pure Land tradition through the recitation of A Di Đà Phật. Bhante will explore this heartfelt practice, often associated with devotion and faith, and how it is related to cultivation of samādhi (concentration) as described in early Buddhist teachings.

Spanning from the early teachings in India to contemporary Vietnamese expressions of faith, Bhante will trace how this practice has endured and adapted across time and cultures. He will reflect on how Buddhanusati appears in early Buddhist traditions—as a meditative recollection leading to calm and concentration—and in the Vietnamese Pure Land tradition as a devotional invocation of A Di Đà Phật. This talk offers insight into a living tradition that has flowed from the Buddha’s time to the present, continuing in new forms in the Vietnamese Buddhist world while maintaining its connection to ancient practices.

About the teacher: Bhante Sanathavihari Bhikkhu is a Mexican-American Theravāda monk at the Sarathchandra Buddhist Center in North Hollywood, a Sri Lankan center. He is a student of the late Dr. Bhante Punnaji, and the director of Casa De Bhavana – an outreach project to bring the Dhamma to the Spanish-speaking world. He is also the co-author of Buddhism in 10 Steps. He represents a new generation of Spanish-speaking monastics who are extensively employing digital communication methods and social media, which is turning out to be extremely effective for spreading the Dharma in Spanish. Bhante is a U.S. Air Force veteran and served in the army for 9 years. After three deployments to Afghanistan, he was ordained as a novice in the Theravada tradition, at the age of 30, in the lineage of the Amarapura Nikaya monastic fraternity. In 2015, he received higher ordination at the Sarathchandra Buddhist Center of the Maharagama Bhikkhu Training Center (Maharagama Dharmayathanaya) in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Today, Bhante Sanathavihari is the leader of Casa de Bhavana, a Theravada organization devoted to spreading the Dharma and promoting the practice of meditation. Bhante Sanathavihari has a B.A. in Religion, and is a Mindfulness researcher at Mount St. Mary University, Los Angeles, and a Graduate Student in Counseling Psychology at Mount St. Mary University. More info can be found here.

Hybrid event: Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in an interactive session in person at the Metta Centre or online by clicking on this link to access the session: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83506489824?pwd=cmpNQ1ljSmFVYURLWVN1dWllYUN1dz09 Alternatively, you can dial in from your telephone (call charges apply): +61 2 8015 6011 | Meeting ID: 835 0648 9824| Passcode: 718905If you are feeling unwell, please consider staying at home and joining online instead