Kittisaro

Kittisaro (he/him) is originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee. He graduated from Princeton as a Rhodes Scholar and went on to Oxford before going to Thailand to ordain with Ajahn Chah in 1976. He was a monk for 15 years. During that time, he helped found Chithurst Monastery and Devon Vihara in the UK, trained monks, was a prison Chaplain, and taught extensively. Kittisaro disrobed in 1991 and has since taught internationally, primarily in the UK, U.S. and South Africa. With Thanissara, he co-founded and guided Dharmagiri Sacred Mountain Retreat from 2000 for over 20 years, and helped initiate and support several community development projects in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He has studied and practiced Chan and Pure Land for 40 years, informed by the Chinese school of Master Shu Yun and Master Hua, and has completed two year-long silent self-retreats. Kittisaro has an MA in Buddhist Classics from Dharma Realm Buddhist University, California, and co-authored, with Thanissara, Listening to the Heart, A Contemplative Journey to Engaged Buddhism. In 2017, Kittisaro and Thanissara went on cofound Sacred Mountain Sangha as a U.S. based 501(c)3 Non Profit with Church status.