BHIKKHU P. A. PAYUTTO (SOMDET PHRA BUDDHAGHOSACARIYA) is one of the world's foremost authorities on the Pali canon and Theravada Buddhism. He entered monastic life at the age of thirteen and has since authored more than four hundred books and booklets. He has taught widely at universities in Thailand and the United States and has received numerous honors and awards, including the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education. He is the abbot of Wat Nyanavesakavan, a temple outside Bangkok, Thailand.

BRUCE EVANS is a translator, editor, and Theravada Buddhist practitioner. He took bhikkhu ordination under Ajahn Chah in the 1970s and lived for seventeen years as a monk in Thailand. From 1985 to 1992, he served as abbot of a remote monastery on the Thailand-Laos border. He lives in Melbourne, Australia.