This episode is about the late, great Master Hsying Yun, a true dynamo of a monk, dedicated to the spreading of the teachings and practice of Buddhism in Taiwan, China and around the world. Master Hsing Yun has achieved so much in his lifetime that it is virtually impossible to relate but a small part of it here in the introduction. However, by way of offering a introducation, here is a quick outline some of his achievements in brief:
Starting in the 1950s, Hsing Yun started making many achievements at an early age. He taught numerous classes, built many schools for children, recorded the first Buddhist hymns, and was promoted as an executive in many Buddhist associations. In 1957, Hsing Yun established a Buddhist cultural center in which a variety of Buddhist books are published with training tools such as audio and visual aids. In 1959, Hsing Yun also supported the Tibetan movement against communist supression, and organized the first float parade in celebration of Wesak in Taiwan.
Perhaps one of Hsing Yun’s greatest achievements was his successful push for Wesak to become a national holiday in Taiwan, a wish that had been granted by former President Lee Teng-hui in 2000.
Master Hsing Yun was the founder and spiritual leader of Fo Guang Shan, a Buddhist organisation that has established around 300 temples and monasteries all over Taiwan, as well as in 12 other countries including China, the United States, Australia, South Africa, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. He is also the author of 395 books in Chinese, many of which have been translated into other languages, notably to English. And all of this is just a brief outline, leaving out much of what Master Hsing Yun has achieved in his life.
---
Further information regarding to topic of this episode:
Hsingyun.org
佛光百科 FoGuangPedia - FoGuangPedia
Home - Hsing Yun Education Foundation (hsingyunef.org.au)
An-Honest-Revelation-—-An-Open-Letter-PDF.pdf (hsingyunef.org.au) 
Treasure Mountain Podcast links:
Treasure Mountain Podcast
Treasure Mountain on Facebook
Everyday Dhamma Network
Thank you for listening to the Treasure Mountain Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode please share it with you friends. If you'd like to support me to produce this type of content in future, you can support my work by offering a tip via the Ko-fi payment applet or via my Patreon.
 

Joining us on this episode is a humble monk who was quietly practicing meditation in northern Thailand until he returned to his native Ukraine just three months before the Russian invasion in February 2022. Bhante Thithidhammo was born in the former Soviet Union in 1971. He was a reserved child who enjoyed spending time alone, reading and sometimes visiting Orthodox Christian monasteries for the quiet environment. At age 14, Bhante Thithidhammo and a friend became interested in the mysticism of Tibet and both decided they would like to be monks in Tibet. However it would not be until many years later whilst on a meditation retreat in Thailand when he decided to go forth as a samanera. After six month he disrobed and returned to Ukraine, however, life seemed unfulfilling and he returned to Thailand to ordain again in early 2015 in the Forest Tradition under his teacher Ajahn Suchart in northern Thailand.
[A transcript of this episode can be found on the Treasure Mountain Podcast website.]
Bhante Thithidhammo returned to Kyiv shortly before the Russian invasion on 24 February 2022 and experienced some hair raising situations as the Russian army closed in on his position near Kyiv. Despite enduring many difficulties along with millions of other Ukrainians, Bhante Thithidhammo bears no ill-will and thinks of Ukrainians and Russians (and all humans) as being like one big family. He has gone on to become a teacher to Ukrainians, Belorussians and Russians, both online and in person. He teaches both in Ukrainian and Russian, and is finding that there is an increasing interest in the teachings of Buddhism and practices like meditation.
Bhante Thithidhammo is kindly joining us today from Kyiv and we will be finding out a little about his experiences over the past year or so, and how the practice of Dhamma is helping people find peace amidst war.
[A transcript of this episode can be found on the Treasure Mountain Podcast website.]
---
Treasure Mountain Podcast links:
Treasure Mountain Podcast
Treasure Mountain on Facebook
Everyday Dhamma Network
Thank you for listening to the Treasure Mountain Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode please share it with you friends. If you'd like to support me to produce this type of content in future, you can support my work by offering a tip or becoming a Supporter or Member of Treasure Mountain Podcast via the Ko-fi payment applet.

Joining us on this episode is a return guest, Ajahn Kovilo who is joining us from Dharma Realm Buddhist University in California. Ajahn Kovilo is an Ohio-born monk who, having been introduced to meditation through the Goenka tradition, first entered the monastery in 2006. After receiving full ordination from Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in California in 2010, Ajahn Kovilo spent the next decade training at monasteries in the Ajahn Chah tradition in America and Thailand. In 2020, after a year practicing at a Pa Auk Sayadaw monastery, Ajahn Kovilo enrolled at the Dharma Realm Buddhist University in Ukiah, California where he is currently studying Pali and Sanskrit among other courses. Until the end of his formal studies, Ajahn Kovilo will be participating in the growing Clear Mountain Monastery community remotely and during Winter and Summer breaks. After finishing his studies, Ajahn Kovilo will join the community in person on a more regular basis.
Ajahn Kovilo is joining us today to discuss an institution that is often misunderstood in Western countries, even by practicing Buddhists in the West. That is, the Sangha, the community of ordained bhikkhus and bhikkhunis (monks and nuns). There are some in the West who say that we don’t even need a Sangha! But there is no denying that the Sangha was an integral feature of the Buddha Sasana from the very beginning, and indeed, to be a Buddhist is to have taken personal refuge with the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha! So what do we mean by the Sangha? And more importantly, what is it for? Join us in finding out more about the meaning and purpose of the Sangha with Ajahn Kovilo as we seek for the treasure within…
---
Links referred to in this episode:
Clear Mountain Monastery 
Clear Mountain Dhamma Youtube Channel
Clear Mountain Dhamma Podcast
Clear Mountain Monastery Facebook page
Treasure Mountain Podcast links:
Treasure Mountain Podcast
Treasure Mountain on Facebook
Everyday Dhamma Network
Thank you for listening to the Treasure Mountain Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode please share it with you friends. If you'd like to support me to produce this type of content in future, you can support my work by offering a tip via the Ko-fi payment applet.
 

Our return guest today on Treasure Mountain Podcast is Bhante Akaliko who is an Australian monk in the Theravada forest tradition. He is the spiritual director of Little Dust and founder of the Rainbodhi LGBTQIA+ Buddhist Community. Bhante Akāliko is also the spiritual advisor of Central West Buddhists and a chaplain at Western Sydney University. He sits on the boards of the Buddhist Council of NSW and the Federation of Australian Buddhist Councils.
Bhante Akaliko’s inspired project that we will be discussing today is Rainbodhi.
Rainbodhi is a spiritual friendship group for LGBTQIA+ Buddhists and an advocate for more inclusion and diversity in the broader Buddhist community. They offer meditation, Dhamma discussion and social events in a safe, supportive environment. Rainbodhi welcome everyone regardless of race, gender, sexuality, or ability. Rainbodhi is a non-sectarian Buddhist group, welcoming people from all faiths or with no faith. And all their events are free.
The Rainbodhi name combines two words; rainbow representing our diverse community and bodhi the Buddhist concept of Enlightenment. And it’s Rainbodhi that we will be discussing with Bhante Akaliko in this interview. So join us as we seek for the treasure within…
---
Links from this episode:
Rainbodhi
About Bhante Akaliko
Treasure Mountain Podcast links:
Treasure Mountain Podcast
Treasure Mountain on Facebook
Everyday Dhamma Network
Thank you for listening to the Treasure Mountain Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode please share it with you friends. If you'd like to support me to produce this type of content in future, you can support my work by offering a tip or becoming a Supporter or Member of Treasure Mountain Podcast via the Ko-fi payment applet.

Our guest today on Treasure Mountain is Ian Green, who is Chairman of the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion Ltd and Founder of the Jade Buddha for Universal Peace. Along with his wife Judy, he has been a Buddhist for over 40 years and a vegetarian for over 25 years.
Ian’s connection to Buddhism began with a visit to India in 1971. He has had the good fortune to meet many Buddhist teachers including Geshe Loden, Zasep Tulku, Lama Thubten Yeshe, Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Ayya Khema. In 1979 Ian completed the month long course at Kopan Monastery, in Kathmandu. Ian has continued his studies under many Buddhist masters to this day.
In the 1980 Ian’s father, Ed Green offered 50 acres of land to set up a Buddhist centre near Bendigo. This original 50 acres was later added to with further land from Ian’s mother and himself so that the Buddhist Centre in Bendigo is now 200 acres (85 hectares).
Ian was founding Director of Atisha Centre, he has served as board members of Tara Institute and Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition Inc. He is currently Chairman of the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion Ltd and Founder of the Jade Buddha for Universal peace.
Ian has received various awards for his international work for peace and is a recipient of the Order of Australia Medal.
It is the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion that is Ian Green’s Inspired Project that we are going to focus on in this episode, and as you’ll find out in this interview, and what its real meaning and purpose is.
---
Links from this episode:
The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion
Treasure Mountain Podcast links:
Treasure Mountain Podcast
Treasure Mountain on Facebook
Everyday Dhamma Network
Thank you for listening to the Treasure Mountain Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode please share it with you friends. If you'd like to support me to produce this type of content in future, you can support my work by offering a tip via the Ko-fi payment applet.

Our guest today on Treasure Mountain is John Waite who was born in post WW2 United Kingdom and brought up to be fiercely independent. From a young age he was searching for a better way to live in the world and was influenced by the simultaneously political and spiritual principles of Mahatma Gandhi. Travelling to India in the 1970s he was touched by the kindness of the Indian people despite their modest means. A chance meeting with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala was a turning point on his spiritual journey. Later Joh would go on a two-week meditation retreat in Queensland an was pleasantly surprised when every thorny question and challenge to the teacher was warmly received and returned with wise, well-considered answers. This led him to commit himself to the path of practice. He was influenced deeply by Lama Zopa’s emphasis and example of being of service to others. John put this philosophy into practice enthusiastically as a volunteer fire fighter, ambulance medic, trade union steward and later as the Director of Hayagriva Buddhist Centre in Perth for 17 years helping to bring many great Buddhist teachers to Australia and supporting his local community of practice.
John is an old friend of mine and we worked together to found the Buddhist Council of Western Australia around 2005, and we also participated in getting the Federation of Australian Buddhist Councils off the ground around the same time. Not only did I appreciate his calm and steady presence in the work we were doing to bring the various Buddhist groups together for a common cause, but also his insistence that all the Buddhist traditions have the same heart of dharma at their core. I think his attitude was prescient as we enter into this post-sectarian Buddhist renaissance in the twenty-first century.
And that’s why I wanted to interview him on the podcast. In one sense this interview is John Waite’s Spirit Story, about his path into practice, but on the other it’s telling a broader story about Buddhism as it moves into the West, specifically into Australia, and where it may be heading in future. I’m so glad you’ve joined us as we seek for the Dharma within…
Links from this episode:
Hayagriva Buddhist Centre
Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition
Treasure Mountain Podcast links:
Treasure Mountain Podcast
Treasure Mountain on Facebook
Everyday Dhamma Network
Thank you for listening to the Treasure Mountain Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode please share it with you friends. If you'd like to support me to produce this type of content in future, you can support my work by offering a tip or becoming a Supporter or Member of Treasure Mountain Podcast via the Ko-fi payment applet.
 

One of the most impactful traditions of Buddhism in the modern world is one that isn’t very good at publicity - but is very dedicated to practice. Despite it’s strict adherence to the principles of monastic discipline and the principles of Buddhist ethics, like for instance never selling the teachings, it has gained a huge grass roots following in many Western countries where people are drawn to its plain, simple honesty and dedication to the original principles of set out by the Buddha. I’m referring to the Thai Forest Tradition, and to help us understand the origins and practices of the Thai Forest Tradition I have as our guest, Steven Towler, who, at the age of 19 left his home in the UK to travel to Thailand to ordain as a bhikkhu in 1972. This was a time in which the Thai Forest Tradition was in full bloom, and the first Westerners were travelling to Thailand to practice and even ordain. Steven ordained at Wat Bovornives with Phra Khantipalo, and we on to have many great teachers, including the renowned meditation master Ajahn Thate. He’s still dedicated to the Thai Forest Tradition and practicing to this day, and he has translated several Dhamma books from Thai to English for the benefit of the community. He’s kindly joined us on the Treasure Mountain Podcast to offer his knowledge and insights into this tradition that continues to grow in popularity to this day.
---
Links from this episode:
Talks by Steven Towler
Treasure Mountain Podcast links:
Treasure Mountain Podcast
Treasure Mountain on Facebook
Everyday Dhamma Network
Thank you for listening to the Treasure Mountain Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode please share it with you friends. If you'd like to support me to produce this type of content in future, you can support my work by offering a tip or becoming a Supporter or Member of Treasure Mountain Podcast via the Ko-fi payment applet.
 

Our guest today on Treasure Mountain Podcast is Bhante Akaliko. Akāliko Bhikkhu is an Australian monk in the Theravada forest tradition. He is the spiritual director of Little Dust and founder of the Rainbodhi LGBTQIA+ Buddhist Community. Bhante Akāliko is also the spiritual advisor of Central West Buddhists and a chaplain at Western Sydney University. He sits on the boards of the Buddhist Council of NSW and the Federation of Australian Buddhist Councils.
Bhante Akāliko went forth as a monastic in 2016 and received full ordination with Ajahn Brahm at Bodhinyana monastery in 2017. He lived for several years with Bhante Sujato at the Monastery at the End of the World in Sydney and now lives as a wandering monk. He is now working on setting up the Little Dust Buddhist Community.
Little Dust connects communities across Australia to the Buddha’s teachings. It is aiming to create Dhamma and meditation events for Buddhists from diverse cultural backgrounds, as well as new Buddhists and the Buddh-ish. Little Dust aims to make Buddhism available to everyone, especially in regional and country areas where access to the Dhamma is limited.
So in this episode of Treasure Mountain Podcast we’re going to look at the work of Little Dust in working to develop communities of practice in outback Australia, but also to address the broader question of what to do to develop practice of Buddhism as both and individual and as small groups and communities to support one another in the dhamma.
---
Links from this episode:
Little Dust Buddhist Community
About Bhante Akaliko
Treasure Mountain Podcast links:
Treasure Mountain Podcast
Treasure Mountain on Facebook
Everyday Dhamma Network
Thank you for listening to the Treasure Mountain Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode please share it with you friends. If you'd like to support me to produce this type of content in future, you can support my work by offering a tip or becoming a Supporter or Member of Treasure Mountain Podcast via the Ko-fi payment applet.