Birken Dhamma Resources: Your Online Monastery
Below you’ll find an extensive library of Theravada Dhamma resources, including video, audio, print, and digital teachings from Ajahn Sona, the Abbot of Birken Forest Buddhist Monastery, available for access anytime of day, wherever you may be.
View one of Ajahn Sona’s recent YouTube Dhamma talks below:
Videos, Podcasts & Audio Downloads
PLUS: Ajahn Sona Q&A Directory
Nearly 300 video talks are now available on Ajahn Sona’s YouTube Channel and via audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Anchor. The Podbean feed allows for independent audio download of each file.
These talks are organized by thematic series and cover a wide variety of topics from the basics of breath meditation to the subtleties of Buddhist cosmology.
Search for answers on a specific topic using the Ajahn Sona Q&A Directory. Browse for past questions related to your topic or search by specific words as well. The search results provide direct links to both the pertinent question and Ajahn Sona’s answer on his YouTube channel.
If you would like to support our continuing efforts to share the Dhamma with more people around the globe, please consider making a monthly donation to sustain this noble endeavour for many years to come.
Books and Articles by Ajahn Sona
What Comes Before Mindfulness – Effective Effort: How to Garden Your Inner Life: available worldwide through Amazon, as well as your local bookstore and library by special order.
Life is a Near Death Experience: available worldwide through Amazon, as well as your local bookstore and library by special order.
Bloom: available in paperback and ebook through Sumeru Books, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, other online book sellers, plus your local bookstore and library. Also available as an audiobook at Ajahn Sona’s YouTube Channel (Part One: Serenity, Part Two: Love) and on your favourite podcast platform.
Meditations on Breath & Loving-Kindness: available as pdf download
Cemetery Contemplations: available as pdf download
The Mystery of the Breath Nimitta: available as pdf download
Birken Monastery Publications
Birken Brochure
Birken Chanting Book
Birken English Meal Reflection
Birken Pali Meal Blessing
Birken Guest Guide
Metta Sutta
Meditation Postures
Other Resources
- “The Noble Eightfold Path: The Way to the End of Suffering” (second edition, 1994) by Bhikkhu Bodhi
- In the Buddha’s Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon, Bhikkhu Bodhi, editor and introductions (for purchase only)
- “Dana: The Practice of Giving: Selected Essays”, Bhikkhu Bodhi, editor
- “The Discourse on Right View: The Sammaditthi Sutta and Its Commentary” by Bhikkhu Nanamoli, Bhikkhu Bodhi, editor
- “Going to Refuge; Taking the Precepts” by Bhikkhu Bodhi
- “Nourishing the Roots: Essays on Buddhist Ethics“ by Bhikkhu Bodhi
- “The Taste of Freedom” by Bhikkhu Bodhi
- “Transcendental Dependent Arising: A Translation and Exposition of the Upanisa Sutta” by Bhikkhu Bodhi
- Sutta Central: a comprehensive site containing early Buddhist texts, known as the Tipiṭaka or “Three Baskets”, in original languages, translations in modern languages, and extensive sets of parallels that show the relationship between them all.
- Forest Sangha Portal: portal for international monasteries affiliated with the Thai Forest Tradition of Venerable Ajahn Chah (with audio talks, e-publications, lunar calendars, etc.)
- “The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah“, compiled by disciples of Ajahn Chah
- Birken Buddhist Forest Monastery: Asian Migration, the Creative Class, and Cultural Transformation in the New Pacific British Columbia by Luke Clossey and Karen Ferguson, published by BC Studies no. 208, Winter 2020/21.
- A Monastery for Lay People: Birken Forest Monastery and the Monasticisation of Convert Theravada in Cascadia by Karen Ferguson, published by The Journal of Global Buddhism 2022, Vol. 23 (2): 203-218.
Support the Monastery
Birken Forest Buddhist Monastery is a registered Canadian charitable society and is supported entirely by donations or ‘dāna’ (generosity). All teachings, accommodations, and meals are offered free of charge. It is left to the good will and discretion of visitors and well-wishers to decide how they might support the work of the monastery.
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Birken Forest Buddhist Monastery
7000 Smith Lake Forest Srv Rd.
Knutsford, BC | V0E 2A0 | Canada