About Me & Short Bio
My name is Ṭhānuttamo (civil name: Bela-Raphael Bengs, Germany, 36 ), and I am a celibate Buddhist practitioner (anāgārika), living in monasteries or in nature on donation basis. Anāgārikas permanently observe the eight Buddhist training rules that include celibacy, eating only during the morning period as well as abstaining from entertainment and beautification (perfume etc.) in order to devote themselves full time to the study, practice and sharing of the Buddha’s teaching.
From 2016—2023, I have lived as a fully-ordained Buddhist monk (bhikkhu) in the Theravāda tradition. During that time and for several years prior to that (since 2007), I have been studying, practicing and/or sharing the Buddha’s teaching for a total of ca. ten years in retreat and in various monasteries throughout Europe and Asia.
The Plan
Having taken down the robes of a bhikkhu, I am now a bit more on my own when it comes to support, with a number of previous avenues not being available anymore (such as from base monasteries etc.). For that reason, I am now reaching out to the Buddhist community in the hope that I’ll meet enough understanding of what I am planning to do regarding my study, practice and teaching of the Buddha’s dispensation; perhaps it is possible to keep up the mutual benefit of living a mendicant lifestyle while continuing to engage in mentioned full-time activities.
Once I have sufficient, basic monthly support (300–350 EUR/USD), I’ll plan to retreat as soon as possible, either in Spain, South Asia (probably India) or South-East Asia, in nature or in monasteries. The mentioned amount covers food and drink as well as small savings for electronics (used mainly for study and teaching), occasional travel, medicine and possible medical treatment, everyday items, and some basic dāna (giving) – surplus offerings will go into Buddhist charity as well, with the focus on donations of Tipiṭaka sets and buildings for monasteries or hermitages for meditators.
Some Writings (free)
1. Māgadhabhāsā (Pāḷi) – A Compendious Grammar on the Language of Pāḷi Buddhism (Second Edition, Revised) (available here)
2. Saṃvegasaṅgaho – The Linguistic and Contextual Formulations of a Sense of Urgency in Pāḷi Buddhist Literature (available here)
3. Nakkhattapadāni and Basic Buddhist Calendrics – A Simplified Guide (Second Edition) (available here)
4. Lectures on Dhamma (No. 1) – Understanding, Practicing and Perfecting the Practice of Giving as Laid out in Pāḷi Buddhist Literature (available here)
5. The Five Moralities: A Survey of the Paṭisambhidāmagga and Pāḷi Commentaries (available here)
6. Die Lehrrede an Siṅgālaka – Eine Übersetzung aus dem Pāḷi (available here)
Retreats & Studies
In my present state as anāgārika, I hope being able to continue my full-time Dhamma activities in almost exactly the same way as I did as a bhikkhu, with the main exception that I plan to do more intensive solitary retreats in nature and monasteries. From retreating fully into nature, I plan to come out only to buy provisions (every three month or so). Also for a total of about three months per year, I plan to commit my studies and practice during my retreat to writing and audio-visual materials and to engage in general teaching activities. My current fields of study and research include the study of the Visuddhimagga and its commentary, research into the topic of sīla as understood in all of Pāḷi literature and to some degree Western Philosophy (the writing will be book length; first instalment of a series of books on the Buddhist path) and readings of secondary literature describing solitary practices. The Buddhist Abhidhamma is another subject of interest. At the moment, my research about sīla includes working on a translation of the Siṅgālasutta (DN 31) together with its commentaries.
Would You Like to Support?
Since it is not unproblematic to sell the teachings of the Buddha (who never charged a dime for his ministry), I would hope to find a few supporters who would see value in and would therefore like to support my full-time studies, teaching activities and my practice. Perhaps you would like to contribute a small amount to my overall living costs?
5 or 10 EUR per month would make a difference.
1. For donation from Europe:
Bank: Frankfurter Sparkasse
IBAN: DE 62 50050201 1204764148
BIC: HELADEF1822
2. For donations from Singapore:
Bank: Wise Asia-Pacific Pte. Ltd.
Bank Code: 0516
Account No.: 767-779-2
Bank address:
1 Paya Lebar
Link #13-06 – #13-08 PLQ 2,
Paya Lebar Quarter
Singapore 408533
3. For donation from the U.K.:
Bank: Wise
IBAN: GB46 TRWI 2314 7096 9721 16
Sort Code: 23-14-70
Account No.: 96972116
Bank address:
56 Shoreditch High Street
London
E1 6JJ
United Kingdom
4. PayPal: PayPal.Me/thanuttamo
May your kindness come back to you multiplied and be a supporting condition for the attainment of nibbāna.
Ṭhānuttamo 