Bodhivana Forest Monastery

Bodhivana Forest Monastery was established in 2004 near East Warburton, Victoria, under the auspices of Tan Ajahn Anan of Wat Marp Jan, East Thailand. It is approx. 90 minutes drive from the centre of Melbourne. The current leader of the community is Ajahn Kalyano originally from UK. Buddhabodhivana is an affiliated Branch Monastery.

Bodhivana Monastery is a Theravada Buddhist monastery of Thai forest tradition located about a 90 minutes drive from the centre of Melbourne. It is a branch monastery in the tradition of Venerable Ajahn Chah and was established to provide a place where candidates can train for ordination as Buddhist monks.

The current Abbot of the Bodhivana Monastery is Venerable Ajahn Kalyano who has trained for many years with Venerable Ajahn Anan (the Abott of Wat Marp Jan, Rayong, Thailand), one of several disciples of Ajahn Chah who have become highly regarded as meditation masters in their own right.

Weekends and public holidays can usually get very busy and can exceed 100 or more visitors.

This centre sometimes holds all night meditation sessions for lay followers. These are usually open events and do not require any prior registration. Upcoming events are usually advertised on the notice boards placed in the dining hall and in kitchen.

Twice a year on Vesak day and on the day of Katina ceremony, lay visitors are allowed to visit kutis build high up in the mountains andhttp://buddhabodhivana.org/ a guided tour is provided usually after the lunch on these specific days. Do carry a bottle of water and wear some good and comfortable shoes as the climb can be steep and the paths can be extremely muddy and slippery.

Good and healthy segment of lay followers visit the center mostly consisting of Thais, Srilankans , Burmese and Australian (By Australian I meant Caucasians). In recent times Im observing a rapid increase in Srilankan visitors though.

Welcome back

Sign up for Review My Retreat