Ajahn Nyanarato
Vice-abbot of Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, Hertfordshire, England. His interest in the meaning of life became very strong when he was studying medicine at Kyoto University.
Ajahn Nyanarato (Shigehito Nakao) was born in 1958, in Nara, Japan. His interest in the meaning of the life became very strong when he was studying medicine at Kyoto University.
When he graduated, he decided to go to India on a spiritual quest instead of becoming a doctor. After he spent one year in India and another year visiting various monasteries in Thailand, he came to Wat Pah Nanachat(International Forest Monastery), a branch monastery of Ajahn Chah’s tradition, in North-East Thailand. Impressed by the serene presence of the Sangha(ordained community) there, he finally found a place to settle. In 1986 he was ordained as a Sāmanera (Buddhist novice) and became a Bhikkhu(Buddhist monk) the following year. He was being trained in Thailand over ten years.
Interested in learning how to live in the Sangha in the West, he came to England and started living at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in 2001. Deeply inspired by Ajahn Sumedho, the first western disciple of Ajahn Chah and the founder of the place, Ajahn Nyanarato has resided there ever since.