Bhavana, in Pali, the ancient language of the Buddhist canon, means meditation. In a fuller sense it means the unfolding and development of human potential, supported by the cultivation of wisdom and compassion.
Bhavana House, a Dhamma (Dharma) sanctuary in the old north of Tel Aviv, was established as a private initiative, which derived from the understanding that Israel, as a place of continuing existential conflict and tension, is an optimal place for practising the meditative approach to life. Its aim was to offer an urban center that allows ongoing teaching, inquiry and practice of the Buddhist path within the community in daily life. Bhavana House is a Regional Centre of the World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB) in Israel. The centre offers appropriate conditions for meditation and study, and facilitates:
- Silent contemplation - Meditation courses for beginners (SAMATHA, VIPASSANA, METTA) - Sitting groups within extensive courses -Dhamma lessons and readings from Buddhist texts - Individual meetings and instruction - Weekend - Retreats - The use of books in the study room - Accommodation for Dhamma teachers and monks from Israel and abroad - Hosting the meetings of the study group of Akoda, which is a Peace Learning Community
Bhavana House welcomes experienced and beginning meditators from diverse Buddhist traditions. Its activities are not-for-profit, and are made possible by the generosity and donation (DANA) of participants.
Itamar Bashan – was born in Israel in 1953 to Holocaust survivor parents of European origin. He holds a PsyD in Clinical Psychology, a specialist and a supervisor in psychotherapy. He has practiced for 25 years, in psychiatric and general hospitals, and public mental health clinics (Talbieh Psychiatric Hospital, Jerusalem; Carmel Hospital, Haifa; counseling service at Hebrew University, Jerusalem), and privately in his own clinic. His professional background includes short and long term dynamic psychotherapy with adults and bereaved families; treatment of distressed adolescents; supervision of graduate psychologists specializing in psychotherapy. An encounter with the Buddhist Teaching in 1995 opened up a new professional and personal path, enabling him to integrate western psychology with a Buddhist way of life, and promote harmony among the various dimensions of his personal and professional life. This harmony, together with faith in the Buddhist Path, led him to found Bhavana House, together with Dr. Thor Gonen, his life partner, and their daughter, Gaya, in 2002. His emotional affiliation is to Ajahn Sumedho and to the monastic community of Amaravati in the UK. For guidance on questions of Dhamma he consults the teachers and monks who practice the forest monks tradition.
Thor Gonen – was born in Israel in 1950 to Holocaust survivor parents from Europe. She holds a PhD in Education, and is a leading scholar and lecturer in the field of the relation between values and aesthetics in illustrated children’s literature, and in bibliotherapy. She directed the children’s literature section at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, edited an academic journal in Haifa University, and has published numerous articles in journals and books. She has been a lecturer at Haifa University and in various teacher training colleges, and is currently a member of the faculty of the Levinsky College of Education where she integrates in her teaching the values of the Buddhist Path. In addition, she is a scientific consultant for exhibitions in museums and cultural centers. Since the 1970s, the practice, research and study of different spiritual traditions has occupied a very meaningful place in her life, together with her academic and professional pursuits. From 1995 on, following an illness, she has deepened her commitment to the Buddhist Path, and in 2002, she founded Bhavana House, together with her life partner, Dr. Itamar Bashan, and their daughter, Gaya. She has an emotional affiliation to Ajahn Sumedho and to the community of the Amaravati monastery in England, to the teachers and monastic Sangha in the forest monks tradition.
Among the guest-teachers at Bhavana-House
Kittisaro, From the US, is a graduate of Princeton and Oxford Rhodes Scholar. Kittisaro ordained with Ajahn Chah in Thailand in the 70's and was a monk for 15 years, helping to establish the first Theravadin Western monasteries in the UK. For three years he was abbot of a monastery in Devon. He left the robes in 1991 and married in 1992. Over the last 12 years he has taught Buddhist retreats internationally, synthesizing the principles and practices of the Mahayana and Theravada schools . He is currently residing at a small mountain hermitage in South Africa, with his wife Thanissara, where they facilitate long retreats and are involved in supporting local HIV/Aids Outreach projects and local rural education.
Thanissara, From an Anglo/Irish background, began Buddhist practice in 1975 in the Burmese school, later studying with Goenkaji in India and in Burma at the U Ba Khin Centre. In her early practice she was a regular visitor to Krishnamurti's teachings at Brockwood Park, UK. In 1979, after meeting Ajahn Chah, she ordained as one of the first Theravadin nuns in the West at Chithurst monastery in the UK and for 12 years was involved in the early years of founding a Western order of nuns until disrobing in 1991. The last 12 years she has also taught retreats extensively and is interested in the engagement of Buddhist principles and practices within the larger society. She is author of a book of poetry 'Garden of the Midnight Rosary'.
Master Sheng-Yen, Became a monk in 1943, at the age of 13, in a monastery near Shanghai. At the time of the Communist unrest, he fled to southern Taiwan. There he spent 6 years in solitary retreat. Later, he continued his formal study, earning a doctorate from Rissho University in Tokyo. He has received transmission in the two major branches of Ch'an: the Ts'ao-tung (Soto) and the Lin-chi (Rinzai) in which he is a direct descendent of the lineage of Ch'an Master Xu Yun (Empty Cloud). He divides his time between New York, where he is the resident teacher of the Ch'an meditation center he founded in 1978, and Taipei, where he is the Abbot of two monasteries. Master Sheng Yen died on February 3, 2009
Ajahn Amaro - Born in England in 1956, Ven. Amaro Bhikkhu received his BSc. in Psychology and Physiology from the University of London. Spiritual searching led him to Thailand, where he went to Wat Pah Nanachat, a Forest Tradition monastery established for Western disciples of Thai meditation master Ajahn Chah, who ordained him as a bhikkhu in 1979. He returned to England and joined Ajahn Sumedho at the newly established Chithurst Monastery. He resided for many years at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, making trips to California every year during the 1990s. In June of 1996 he established Abhayagiri Monastery in Redwood Valley, California, where he was co-abbot with Ajahn Pasanno until July, 2010. Ajahn Amaro has written a number of books, including an account of his 830-mile trek from Chithurst to Harnham Vihara called Tudong - the Long Road North, republished in the expanded book Silent Rain. Other works published by him include Small Boat, Great Mountain (2003), Rain on the Nile (2009) and The Island - An Anthology of the Buddha's Teachings on Nibbana (2009) co-written with Ajahn Pasanno. Ajahn Amaro returned to Amaravati in July, 2010. At that time, he then moved back to Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in England to take up the position of abbot of this large monastic community.
Ajahn Sukhito, A Israeli Buddhist monk, was ordained in 1995 at Wat Pah Nanachat, Thailand.
Bhante Walpola Piyananda, a Sri-Lankan Theravadan Buddhist monk. At the age of 12 he was ordained as novice and later as a monk. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of California & The College of Buddhist Studies in L.A. He is the abbot and the founder-president of Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara, a Buddhist meditation center in Los Angeles, California, and one of the oldest Theravada temples in America. He also occupies the position of chief Sangha Nayaka Thera in America. Bhante Walpola Piyananda is the writer of the book "Saffron Days in L.A.", in which he shares his experiences of his 25 years in America as a monk.
Ajahn Candasiri, was born in Scotland in 1947 and was brought up as a Christian. After university, she trained and worked as an occupational therapist, mainly in the field of mental illness. In 1977, an interest in meditation led her to meet Ajahn Sumedho, shortly after his arrival from Thailand. Inspired by his teachings and example, she began her monastic training at Chithurst as one of the first four Anagārikā. Within the monastic community she has been actively involved in the evolution of the Nuns’ vinaya training. She has guided many meditation retreats for lay people, and particularly enjoys teaching young people and participating in Christian/Buddhist dialogue.
Ajahn Kovida. After 20 years as a nun in the Forest Tradition, most of them at Amaravati and Cittaviveka Buddhist Monasteries in the UK and extended periods of time in Burma practicing with Sayadaw U Tejaniya, Sister Kovida now lives outside of the monastic setting walking on tudong (wandering) practicing, studying and teaching.
Akincano, was born in 1960 in Berne, Switzerland. He graduated in Business Management before joining monastic life in England in the Theravada Forest Tradition in 1985. He lived and trained as a Bhikkhu under Ajahn Sumedho in the UK-monasteries, primarily in Chithurst and Amaravati. In 1993 he moved to Thailand where he lived for several years with the renowned scholar monk Bhikkhu Payutto, studied Thai and Pali languages and deepened his understanding of Buddhist scriptural Teachings. In between and following his studies, he practiced meditation in several of Ajahn Chah’s monasteries, mainly in North East Thailand. By 1998 he returned to Europe to live in the small monastic community of Dhammapala in the Swiss Alps. From there he acted as spiritual counsellor, meditation teacher and Buddhist exponent in several European countries. In early 2005 he left the monastic community after 20 years and went forth into non-ordained life. He lives in Cologne, Germany, teaches meditation internationally and is particularly interested in the interface of contemplative practice and Western Psychology.
Ken Waight, began his studies with Karate in 1963 with Harada sensei and became his head disciple, touring with him throughout the UK and Europe. He then went to Japan and met Master Egami Shigeru, head of Shotokai Karate and became a live-in disciple of Master Aoki. He introduced Shintaido to Europe and was Head Instructor in the UK and served on the International Technical Board for many years. Ken sensei began studying Zen in 1981 with Genpo Merzel Roshi and has continued to practice Zen at international meetings and teach it through the Kitaido system. He has also studied Dance Movement Therapy with Marcia Leventhal at the first Roehampton University course offered in 1988.
Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh Ji, is one of central leaders of the Sikh tradition and he is one of the keepers of the Sikh holy place, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India. He is active in interfaith dialogue and charitable projects around the world, and the spiritual successor and current Chairman of Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha in Birmingham, England. This gurudwa is one of the largest centers of Sikhism. Bhai Sahib ji was born in 1939 in Uganda, studied civil engineering and structural engineering for 7 years, worked for several major civil engineering firms in East Africa and the UK, and gained extensive experience in Project Management in Africa, before becoming involved in housing development projects. In 1989 Bhai Sahib Ji emigrated from Zambia to UK, to answer a spiritual call and devote his life to full time selfless voluntary service for the community. In 2002 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Central England for his services to the Sikh community.
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