American Buddhist

Ajahn Sumedho, born Robert Karr Jackman in 1934, is a seminal American-born Buddhist monk who became a leading pioneer of the Thai Forest Tradition in the West. After serving as a US Navy medic and working in the Peace Corps, he traveled to Thailand, where he spent nearly a decade practicing under the renowned meditation master Ajahn Chah and co-founded Wat Pah Nanachat for international disciples. In the late 1970s, he moved to England, establishing influential monastic communities like Cittaviveka and Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, where he served as abbot until his retirement in 2010. Renowned for his accessible teachings on mindfulness and the intuitive application of the Four Noble Truths, his work has been instrumental in firmly planting Theravāda monasticism in the Western world.