Questions from the City Answers from the Forest: Simple Lessons You Can Use from a Western Buddhist Monk

Written on a well-traveled, battery-powered laptop in a meditation cave in Thailand, this distillation of Buddhist wisdom for Western readers answers the questions of "city" people from the U.S. who sought out the American Buddhist in his forest retreat to obtain his answers to life's most basic questions. Original.

Ajahn Sumano Bhikkhu was part of the original group of monks and yogis to visit England in the mid-70's. He was the first Westerner to be ordained in the tradition of Ajahn Chah. During the seven years he lived and trained in England, he worked to restore the old Victorian estate that has become the Dharma lotus of Theravada Buddhism. From this auspicious beginning more than ten centers in Europe have been established and are flourishing. As a lay individual, Ajahn Sumano Bhikkhu was one of the original benefactors in the purchase and development of Cittavivekn, a cave in northeast Thailand. Since 1998 he has traveled throughout the world leading retreats and spreading his dream of establishing a Spiritual Park outside of Bangkok which would bring together all the world's religions in the spirit of Unity and Peace. This center would teach skillful ways to live in the world and to accept and respect all Beings as brothers and sisters. He has written many books on contemplative practice in the forest tradition. Those available in the U.S. are Questions from the City, Answers from the Forest, and Meeting the Monkey Halfway.