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Aspirations for

Better Rebirth

or No Rebirth?

By Ven Ajahn Kovilo and Ven Ajahn Nisabho

Ajahn Kovilo first encountered meditation through Benny discussed with both ajahns about their early
the Goenka tradition and entered the monastery in interest in Buddhism, how a lay person should
2006, receiving full ordination from Ajahn Pasanno approach the topic of rebirth and no more rebirths, and
and Ajahn Amaro at Abhayagiri Monastery in 2010. the ultimate aim of the Teachings, the attainment of
He spent the next decade training in Ajahn Chah awakening.
monasteries in the U.S. and Thailand, completing all
levels of the Nak-Tham Exams in Thai while there. Benny: May I ask how each of you first became
interested in Buddhism, and what led you to take
In 2020, after a year at a Pa Auk Sayadaw ordination in the Theravāda tradition?
monastery, he enrolled at Dharma Realm Buddhist
University to study Pāli and Mahāyāna practices. Ajahn Kovilo: A friend recommended that I take a
Ajahn Kovilo served as the editor of Stillness Flowing Goenka 10-day meditation course, that totally changed
and Gold Wrapped in Rags, and is the compiler/ my life. I decided that I needed to give my life to the
translator of Thus Should You Train Yourselves and process that started to take shape during those 10 days.
The Wellbeing Cascade. Ajahn Kovilo now lives in Though the Goenka tradition is ecumenical, it took me a
Seattle, devoted to Clear Mountain full time. year to realize that it was teaching Buddhism, and later
realize it was Theravāda Buddhism. This led me to read
After finishing college in 2012, Ajahn Nisabho left and learn about the Pāli Canon.
his native Washington to go forth as a Buddhist
monk in Thailand. He received full ordination From the modern English translations of Thai forest
the following spring under Ajahn Anan, a senior masters, I was inspired by Ajahn Mun in his biography,
disciple of renowned meditation master, Ajahn Chah, and having discovered that it was possible to ordain in
this ancient lineage in America, my mind turned in that
and spent the following years training in forest direction. Three years after my first Goenka retreat, I
monasteries around the world with contemporary moved to a monastery. I gave away everything, there
masters such as Ajahn Anan, Ajahn Pasanno, and was no turning back.
Ajahn Jayasaro. Over these years, he came to believe
the tradition represented a faithful embodiment of Ajahn Nisabho: My parents were Buddhists. I was
the original Buddhist path able to yield great fruit introduced to the tradition through them when I was
even amidst the complexities of modern life. In the young. I owe them a debt of gratitude for that. When
summer of 2021, he returned to Seattle to plant the I was 15, I had a profound realization that a life could
first seeds of Clear Mountain Monastery. be lived with the goal of purification of one’s heart and
mind, and in pursuit of awakening as an entire path.
I began to read the Pāli suttas, and learned about Ajahn
Chah and the forest tradition in Thailand. After college,
I went to Wat Mopchan, the monastery of a disciple