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Nanamoli Bhikkhu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nanamoli Bhikkhu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

amoli Bhikkhu, born Osbert John S Moore (June

25, 1905 March 8, 1960), was a British Theravada
Buddhist monk and Pali scholar.

Biography
Born in Cambridge, Osbert was the only child of biologist
John Edmund Sharrock Moore and Heloise Moore (ne
Salvin). He was named after Helloise's father, the naturalist
Osbert Salvin. He studied modern languages at Exeter
College, Oxford. He helped a friend to run and antiques shop
before joining the army at the outbreak of World War II,
joining the anti-aircraft regiment before being transferred to
the Intelligence Corps officer-cadet training camp. He was
posted to a camp on the Isle of Man to help oversee Italian
internees.

amoli Bhikkhu
Religion

Theravada
Personal

Nationality British
Born

June 25, 1905

United Kingdom

Died

March 8, 1960 (aged 54)

Veheragama near Mahawa, Sri Lanka
Senior posting

Based in

Island Hermitage
Religious career

Teacher

atiloka Maha Thera

In 1944 he is posted to Italy serving as an intelligence officer interrogating spies and saboteurs. During this period
he discovered Buddhism via the Julius Evola's The Doctrine of Awakening a Nietzschean interpretation of
Buddhism. This work had been translated by his friend Harold Edward Musson, also an intelligence officer serving
in Italy.
After the war Moore joined the Italian section of the BBC. Moore and Musson, who shared a flat in London, were
quite disillusioned with their lives and left to Sri Lanka in 1949 to become Buddhist monks. On April 24, 1949 they
received the novice (samanera) ordination or going forth, pabbajj, from atiloka at the Island Hermitage. In
1950 they received their bhikkhu ordination at Vajirarama Temple Colombo. amoli spent almost his entire
monk life of eleven years at the Island Hermitage.
After having been taught the basics of Pali by Nyanatiloka Mahathera, amoli acquired a remarkable command
of the Pali language and a wide knowledge of the canonical scriptures within a comparatively short time. He is
remembered for his reliable translations from the Pali into English, mostly of abstruse texts such as the
Nettippakaraa which are considered difficult to translate. He also wrote essays on aspects of Buddhism. By 1956
he had translated Visuddhimagga into English and got it published as The Path of Purification. He also compiled
The Life of the Buddha, a reliable and popular biography of the Buddha based on authentic records in the Pali
Canon. His notes with his philosophical thoughts were compiled by Nyanaponika Thera and published as A
Thinker's Note Book.
His handwritten draft translation of the Majjhima Nikaya was typed out after his death and edited by Bhikkhu
Khantipalo, and partly published as A Treasury of the Buddha's Discourses and then edited again by Bhikkhu
Bodhi and published as Middle Length Length Discourse of the Buddha and published by Wisdom Publications
in 1995. Other draft translations, edited and published after his death, are The Path of Discrimination
(Paisambhidmagga) and Dispeller of Delusion (Sammohavinodan).

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While on a pilgrimage he died suddenly due to heart failure at the hamlet of Veheragama near Mahawa. His body
was brought to Vajirarama Temple in Colombo and cremated at a nearby cemetery.

Works
Published by the Pali Text Society, London
Minor Readings and Illustrator. The Khuddakapha and Commentary. Transl, from the Pali. 1960.
The Guide (Nettippakaraa). Transl. from the Pali. 1962.
Piaka-Disclosure (Peakopadesa). Transl. from the Pali. 1964.
The Path of Discrimination (Paisambhidmagga). Transl. from the Pali, 1982.
Dispeller of Delusion (Sammohavinodan). Transl. from the Pali. Revised by L.S. Cousins, Nyanaponika
Thera and C.M.M. Shaw, 2 volumes, 1987, 1991.
Published by the Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy
The Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga) by Bhadantcariya Buddhaghosa. Translated from the
Pali. First edition 1956. 3rd ed. 1991. View online (http://books.google.com/books?
id=B_UWm9xLDVQC&dq=The+Path+of+Purification&source=gbs_navlinks_s)
Mindfulness of Breathing (npnasati): Buddhist Texts from the Pali Canon and Extracts from the
Pali Commentaries. First edition 1964. Fifth edition 1991. View Online (http://books.google.com/books?
id=NVfgV9kyISwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Mindfulness+of+Breathing&hl=en&ei=yvxNTrb9MuX_4Q
TcrqC1Bw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false
)
The Life of the Buddha: as it appears in the Pali Canon, the oldest authentic record. (369 pp.) First
printing 1972, fifth printing 2007.
The Practice of Loving-kindness (Mett): as taught by the Buddha in the Pali Canon. Compiled and
translated 1958. Published in The Wheel No. 6/7. First printing 1958. Sixth reprint 2005. Read
(http://www.bps.lk/olib/wh/wh006-u.html)
A Pali-English Glossary of Buddhist Technical Terms. Edited by Bhikkhu Bodhi. First edition 1991.
Second edition 2007.
Three Cardinal Discourses of the Buddha: Translation with Introduction and Notes. First printing
1960; third reprint 1981 as The Wheel No. 17. Read (http://www.bps.lk/olib/wh/wh033-u.html)
Pathways of Buddhist Thought: Four Essays (from Posthumous papers). 1963, 1983(The Wheel
No. 52/53.) Reprinted in an anthology of The Wheel publications published by George Allen & Unwin,
London, 1971 under the same title). Read (http://www.bps.lk/olib/wh/wh052-u.html)
The Three Refuges. 1959. (Bodhi Leaves No. A. 5). Read (http://www.bps.lk/olib/bl/bla05-u.html)
Anicca-Dukkha-Anatta. According to the Theravda. Three Essays in The Three Basic Facts of
Existence (The Wheel Nos. 186/187, 191/193, 202/204), 197374. Read
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(http://www.bps.lk/onlinelibrary_wheels.asp)
A Thinkers Notebook: Posthumous Papers of a Buddhist Monk. Compiled by Nyanaponika Thera.
First edition 1972 (Forest Hermitage, Kandy). Second edition: 1980. Third edition, including Pathways of
Buddhist Thought (earlier published under the same title as Wheel Publication 52/53), and the previously
unpublished essay 'The Sukkhavipassaka', 2008. Read
(http://waij.com/oldbooks/thinkersnotebook.html%20www.waij.com/oldbooks/thinkersnotebook.html)
Published by Mahamakuta Rajavidyalaya Press, Bangkok
The Ptimokkha. 227 Fundamental Rules of a Bhikkhu. Translated from the Pali. 1969.
A Treasury of the Buddha's Discourses. Compilation of Suttas from the Majjhima Nikaya. Edited by
Bhikkhu Khantipalo, 1977.
Published by Wisdom Publications, Boston
Middle Length Length Discourse of the Buddha Translated from the Pali. Edited by Bhikkhu Bodhi.
1995, 2005, 2009. ISBN 0-86171-072-X, 9780861710720

Sources
The Life of Nyanatiloka: The Biography of a Western Buddhist Pioneer Bhikkhu Nyanatusita and
Hellmuth Hecker, Kandy, 2009. View online (http://books.google.com/books?
printsec=frontcover&id=LLkyNT5md7cC).
'A Sketch of the Life of anamoli Thera (Osbert Moore)' Read
(http://nanavira.110mb.com/Nanamoli_bio_sketch.htm)
'The Life of Osbert Moore, Also Known As anamoli Thera' Read
(http://nanavira.110mb.com/Thoughts_on_Nanamoli_sketch.htm)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nanamoli_Bhikkhu&oldid=622580198"
Categories: Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford Pali Theravada Buddhist monks Deaths from heart failure
British Theravada Buddhists British Buddhist monks Buddhist studies scholars Converts to Buddhism
1905 births 1960 deaths
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