Episodes

Thursday Dec 22, 2022
How To Have Everything And Be Happy | Ajahn Hasapanna
Thursday Dec 22, 2022
Thursday Dec 22, 2022
Published with permission of Treasure Mountain Podcast. Please visit Treasure Mountain Podcast, Treasure Mountain website and Treasure Mountain Facebook page.
In this episode of Sage Advice we have as our guest, Ajahn Hasapanna of Dhammasara Monastery in Western Australia. Ajahn Hasapanna was born in Ipoh, Malaysia in 1960. During her days as a lay person she and her family generously supported Ajahn Sujato when he was practicing in Ipoh. The main influence in Ajahn Hasapanna’s spiritual development is the monastic lifestyle of the forest tradition. When Ajahn Hasapanna had developed enough courage and inspiration to become a nun, Ajahn Sujato pointed her towards joining Dhammasara Nuns Monastery.
She joined Dhammasara in 2002, beginning her monastic training as an Anagarika (a trainee nun). She then ordained as a Ten Precept Nun with Ajahn Vayama as her teacher. She subsequently ordained as a bhikkhuni in 2009 with Ayya Tathaaloka as her preceptor in a ceremony at Bodhinyana Monastery, WA, Australia.
Currently, Ajahn Hasapanna is the Abbot of Dhammasara Nuns Monastery and the Assistant Spiritual Director of The Buddhist Society of WA (Inc). She is heavily involved in teaching and training nuns, anagarikas and lay people. She is the main teacher to 18 monastic trainees at Dhammasara.
In this episode we are going to ask Ajahn Hasapanna the big one: how we can have everything and be happy! Yes, that’s right it is possible to have it all and be happy!
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Links from this episode:
Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.
To find and download more precious Dhamma teachings, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the teaching you want and click on the audio to open it up on Podbean.

Thursday Dec 08, 2022
Why Secular Buddhism Is Baloney! | Ajahn Brahmali
Thursday Dec 08, 2022
Thursday Dec 08, 2022
Published with permission of Treasure Mountain Podcast. Please visit Treasure Mountain Podcast, Treasure Mountain website and Treasure Mountain Facebook page.
Ajahn Brahmali is the guest on this episode to talk about how and why Secular Buddhism misrepresents the original teachings of the Buddha. This discussion goes in to some depth about the importance of understanding the place of karma and rebirth in the Buddha's teachings, and how our views impact upon the way that we act, including upon our practice. There is also discussion about the role of mindfulness in Secular Buddhism, and how mindfulness is a good thing, but also, how we cannot practice Buddhism fully without other important factors of the Eightfold Path.
Links from this episode:
- Events coming up with Ajahn Brahmali (including his upcoming tours)
- Support the Buddhist Society of Western Australia
Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.
To find and download more precious Dhamma teachings, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the teaching you want and click on the audio to open it up on Podbean.

Thursday Dec 01, 2022
Our Most Urgent Task - Ajahn Nissarano
Thursday Dec 01, 2022
Thursday Dec 01, 2022
Published with permission of Treasure Mountain Podcast. Please visit Treasure Mountain Podcast, Treasure Mountain website and Treasure Mountain Facebook page.
In this episode of Sage Advice we have as our guest, Ajahn Nissarano who is coming to us from Newbury Monastery, which is just north-west of Melbourne, Australia.
Ajahn Nissarano was born in 1952 in Perth, Western Australia. In 1997, he was ordained by Ajahn Brahm as a novice monk and a year later took full ordination. This year will be his 25th Rains Retreat, Vassa. He lived in Sri Lanka from 2006 to 2019, for a total of 13 and half years. During that time, he lived for 8 years in a cave on the side of a mountain, surrounded by forest and going for alms round to the village below. He returned to Australia regularly to teach, primarily at the Buddhist Society of Victoria. In January 2021 he became the Senior Monk at Newbury Buddhist Monastery, outside Melbourne, which is run by the Buddhist Society of Victoria.
Ajahn Nissarano joins us on this episode of Sage Advice to discuss the topic “our most urgent task”. We are so busy these days, we often lose sight of the big picture. And we can become so distracting that we don't even see what our most urgent task in life is. In this interview Ajahn Nissarano offers advice on what is most essential and urgent for us to focus on if we are to really develop the spiritual qualities.
Links from this episode:
- Newbury Monastery, Victoria - https://www.bsv.net.au/monastery/
Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.
To find and download more precious Dhamma teachings, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the teaching you want and click on the audio to open it up on Podbean.

Thursday Nov 24, 2022
Thursday Nov 24, 2022
Published with permission of Treasure Mountain Podcast. Please visit Treasure Mountain Podcast, Treasure Mountain website and Treasure Mountain Facebook page.
In this episode of Sage Advice we have as our guest, Li-Anne Tang from Perth, Western Australia.
Li-Anne Tang, Ph.D., is an experienced spiritual life coach, guide and mentor. Li-Anne’s life changed dramatically when she found herself in the midst of a dark night of the soul whilst raising her two young children. She searched the world and was fortunate to find wise and compassionate Buddhist meditation masters to guide her on her journey. At that time, she had already explored the depths of Western understanding through a Bachelor of Psychology, Master of Science, Ph.D. in neuropsychiatry and postgraduate training in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Her subsequent practice under the tutelage of great meditation masters led her to the first of her spiritual awakenings. Since then, she has studied closely under numerous other masters, who have encouraged her to share her insights through her unique way of connecting with her students.
I hope that this episode of Sage Advice gets listeners to take a fresh look at mental illness from the point of view of spiritual practice, and I hope that this interview with Li-Anne Tang will help some people to stop asking “What’s wrong with me?”, and to start thinking “This difficult mind state I have at this time may be the opportunity I need to learn and to grow”.
Links related to this episode:
- Freeing Our Mind website
- Li-Anne Tang's Facebook page
- Li-Anne's Tangs Instagram
- Freeing Out Mind youtube channel
Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.
To find and download more precious Dhamma teachings, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the teaching you want and click on the audio to open it up on Podbean.

Thursday Nov 10, 2022
Restoring The Bhikkhuni Sangha For Our Times - Ayya Tathālokā
Thursday Nov 10, 2022
Thursday Nov 10, 2022
Published with permission of Treasure Mountain Podcast. Please visit Treasure Mountain Podcast, Treasure Mountain website and Treasure Mountain Facebook page.
- Welcome to Treasure Mountain, the podcast that inspires and guides people to find the the treasure within human experience. I’m your host Sol Hanna.
- In this episode of Spirit Stories we have as our returning guest, Ayya Tathālokā from Dhammadharini Monastery and Aranya Bodhi Forest Hermitage in California.
- Last week when we spoke with Ayya Tathālokā we found out about her journey from discovering Buddhism through many trials until finally being able to achieve her ideal of full ordination as a bhikkhuni. It’s a really interesting story of overcoming obstacles with some unexpected twists, and if you want to listen to that episode you can click on this link.
- Ayya Tathālokā has a number of achievements and been actively involved in establishing and extending the opportunities for women to go forth and also take higher ordination in the Buddhist sangha. In this episode we are going to find out about her journey since higher ordination and the work she has done and continues to do to expand opportunities for women to ordain and practice in an authentic manner that is true to the bhikkhuni vinaya - the monastic rules for Buddhist nuns. In the process we will also find out about the rapidly evolving opportunities for women within Buddhism as a result of the work being done by leaders like Ayya Tathālokā.
Links from this episode:
- Dhammadharini Monastery - https://www.dhammadharini.net/
- Donate to Dhammadharini Monastery - https://www.dhammadharini.net/support
- Ayya Tathālokā's biography - https://www.treasuremountain.info/guests/ayya-tathaloka/
Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.
To find and download more precious Dhamma teachings, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the teaching you want and click on the audio to open it up on Podbean.

Thursday Nov 03, 2022
Determination To Live The Holy Life - Ayya Tathālokā
Thursday Nov 03, 2022
Thursday Nov 03, 2022
Published with permission of Treasure Mountain Podcast. Please visit Treasure Mountain Podcast, Treasure Mountain website and Treasure Mountain Facebook page.
On this episode of Spirit Stories we have as our guest, Ayya Tathālokā from Aranya Bodhi Awakening Forest Hermitage in California. Ayya Tathālokā was born in Washington, DC in 1968 to environmentally-minded scientist parents. In 1988, at age nineteen, urgently inspired by the sudden death of an associate, she left her Pre-naturopathic Medical studies in university and made her way first to Europe and then on to India, entering monastic life as an white robed anagarika and then two years later undertaking ten-precept nuns ordination. Wishing to connect with the ancient lineage of the Bhikkhuni Sangha, she sought and found her female mentor in Buddhist monastic life in South Korea, the most venerable bhikkhuni elder Myeong Seong Sunim (和法界 明星), who gave her the name "Tatha-alokā", and went on to train under her mentorship for ten years.
Returning to the United States in 1996, with her bhikkhuni mentor's blessings, in 1997 in Los Angeles, with an international gathering of bhikkhus, bhikkhunis, Dharma teachers and supporters in attendance, she received bhikkhuni higher ordination from the Sri Lankan bhikkhu sangha led by her preceptor, the Venerable Dr. Havanpola Ratanasara Nayaka Mahathero. Since then Venerable Tathālokā has focused on meditation, and on both the study and practice of Dhamma & Vinaya. Her meditation training in Theravada Buddhism has been largely with the masters of the Thai forest traditions stemming from Ajahn Mun Buridatta: Ajahn Maha Bua Nyanasampanno and teachers of the Ajahn Chah tradition, together with the Burmese mindfulness and insight masters of Sayadaw U Pandita's tradition and meditation master Pa-auk Sayadaw. Overall, her practice and teachings are profoundly influenced by the Buddha's own advice and injunctions as contained in the Early Buddhist suttas.
Recognizing the growing number of Theravadin bhikkhunis and samaneris in the United States and the true value of coming together in harmony, Ayya Tathālokā proposed and participated in the founding of the North American Bhikkhuni Association (NABA) in 2004. Several months later, she also participated in founding the first residential community for bhikkhunis in the western United States named "Dhammadharini”. Ayya Tathālokā is the first Western woman to be appointed as a Theravada Bhikkhuni Preceptor, and she has contributed to the going forth and full ordination of more than 50 women as nuns in the USA, Australia, India, and Thailand.
Ayya Tathālokā’s primary role is as the founding abbess and preceptor of both the Dhammadharini Monastery at the western foot of Sonoma Mountain in Penngrove and the Aranya Bodhi Awakening Forest Hermitage on the Sonoma Coast in Northern California, where she provides Dhamma and meditation teaching and guidance, and monastic mentorship. And since 2021, she has been actively invovled in the United Theravada Bhikkhuni Sangha International working group together with other international bhikkhuni preceptors and leaders of Theravada traditions.
Links from this episode:
- Dhammadharini Monastery - https://www.dhammadharini.net/
Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.
To find and download more precious Dhamma teachings, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the teaching you want and click on the audio to open it up on Podbean.

Thursday Oct 27, 2022
The Greatest Investment Of A Lifetime - Ajahn Brahmali
Thursday Oct 27, 2022
Thursday Oct 27, 2022
Published with permission of Treasure Mountain Podcast. Please visit Treasure Mountain Podcast, Treasure Mountain website and Treasure Mountain Facebook page.
On this episode of Sage Advice we have as our guest, Ajahn Brahmali from Bodhinyana Monastery in Western Australia. Ajahn Brahmali was born in Norway in 1964 and first became interested in Buddhism when travelling to Japan in his 20s. After completing university degrees in finance and engineering he decided that his true calling was the dedicated spiritual life of a bhikkhu - a Buddhist monk. Having heard the teachings of Ajahn Brahm he travelled to Western Australia in 1994 and took higher ordination in 1996.
Ajahn Brahmali is both a dedicated meditator and has a love for the teachings of the Buddha, and he has become widely respected for his work in both translating Buddhist texts, but also explaining the context of Early Buddhism to modern audiences. He has co-authored the book ‘The Authenticity of Early Buddhist Texts’ with Bhikkhu Sujato.
Ajahn Brahmali’s clear and thoughtful talks make the teachings of the Buddha easily accessible to all. And I personally recommend the Early Buddhism Series of teachings that I’ll be linking to in the description below.
Bearing in mind that Ajahn Brahmali has a degree in finance, in this episode he will be sharing his wisdom and experience on what the greatest investment of a lifetime really is.
Links relevant to this episode:
- Ajahn Brahmali's Biography - https://bswa.org/teachers/ajahn-brahmali/
- Bodhinyana Monastery - https://bswa.org/location/bodhinyana-monastery/
- Early Buddhism Course with Ajahn Brahmali and Ajahn Sujato - https://bswa.org/teaching/early-buddhism-class-workshop-6-with-ajahn-brahmali-ajahn-sujato/
Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.
To find and download more precious Dhamma teachings, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the teaching you want and click on the audio to open it up on Podbean.

Thursday Oct 20, 2022
Dhamma Found In Translation In Eastern Europe - Radan Kuča
Thursday Oct 20, 2022
Thursday Oct 20, 2022
Published with permission of Treasure Mountain Podcast. Please visit Treasure Mountain Podcast, Treasure Mountain website and Treasure Mountain facebook page.
On this episode of Spirit Stories we have as our guest, Radan Kuča from the Czech Republic who has kickstarted interest in Buddhism by setting up the channel Ajahn Brahm Cesky to translate teachings into the Czech language. As you’ll find out this effort has already had a big impact and may already be spilling over into similar efforts for Ukrainian translations.
This interview has information about:
- Radan’s challenges in finding out about Buddhism in a country with almost no organisations in Czechia
- What inspired Radan to start a channel to translate the teachings of Ajahn Brahm, and how he and fellow volunteers have gone about doing this and making it really successful in just a year and a half
- How the Russian invasion of neighbouring Ukraine has impacted the Czech Republic and what Czech people have been doing to help Ukrainians, as well efforts to start translating Buddhist teachings into Ukrainian to help Ukrainians coping with the trauma of war.
- And what is coming next for the Czech and Ukrainian Buddhist channels.
Links referred to in this episode:
- Ajahn Brahm CZ Facebook group
- Ajahn Brahm Cesky on Youtube
- Ajahn Brahm Ukrainian on Youtube - Аджан Брам UA
Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.
To find and download more precious Dhamma teachings, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the teaching you want and click on the audio to open it up on Podbean.

Thursday Oct 13, 2022
Bringing Early Buddhism to Life in Modern America - Ajahn Kovilo & Bhante Nisabho
Thursday Oct 13, 2022
Thursday Oct 13, 2022
Published with permission of Treasure Mountain Podcast. Please visit Treasure Mountain Podcast, Treasure Mountain website and Treasure Mountain facebook page.
On this episode of Treasure Mountain we have Ajahn Kovilo and Venerable Nisabho who are both American monks that have trained in the Thai Forest Tradition in Asia and the United States. Together Ajahn Kovilo and Venerable Nisabho have the shared aspiration of establishing Clear Mountain Monastery in the vicinity of Seattle in the north-west United States. They have also set up a top quality online teaching presence through their Clear Mountain Dhamma youtube channel and podcast, and we’re going to find out about how they hope to take their experience of authentic Buddhist communities based around the principles of Early Buddhism and apply them in modern America.
Links referred to in this episode:
- Clear Mountain Monastery
- Clear Mountain Dhamma Youtube Channel
- Clear Mountain Dhamma Podcast
- Clear Mountain Monastery Facebook page
- Support Clear Mountain Monastery
Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.
To find and download more precious Dhamma teachings, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the teaching you want and click on the audio to open it up on Podbean.

Thursday Sep 22, 2022
What’s the point of faith? - Ayya Santussika
Thursday Sep 22, 2022
Thursday Sep 22, 2022
Published with permission of Treasure Mountain Podcast. Please visit Treasure Mountain Podcast, Treasure Mountain website and Treasure Mountain facebook page.
On this episode of Sage Advice we have as our return guest, Venerable Santussika, the abbott of Karuna Vihara in northern California to offer sage advice on what role, if any, does faith play in the Eightfold Path of Buddhist practice.
Ayya Santussika was born in Illinois in 1954 and grew up on a farm in Indiana. While being a single mother, she received BS and MS degrees in computer science. She worked as a software designer and developer for fifteen years in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her search for deeper meaning and ways to be of service led her to train as an interfaith minister in a four-year seminary program that culminated in a Masters of Divinity degree. She began traveling in Asia from 1999, learning from master teachers, particularly in Thailand. It was these experiences, along with time spent at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in California that caused her faith to develop to the point of choosing to live and practice as a Theravadan nun.
Ayya Santussika entered monastic life as an anagarika (eight-precept nun) in 2005, then ordained as a samaneri (ten-precept nun) in 2010 and a bhikkhuni (311 rules) in 2012 at Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara in Los Angeles. She has trained in large and small communities of nuns, including Amaravati and Chithurst monasteries of the Ajahn Chah tradition in England.
Links related to this interview:

Thursday Sep 15, 2022
Guided By Faith - Ayya Santussika
Thursday Sep 15, 2022
Thursday Sep 15, 2022
Published with permission of Treasure Mountain Podcast. Please visit Treasure Mountain Podcast, Treasure Mountain website and Treasure Mountain facebook page.
On this episode of Spirit Stories our guest is Ayya Santussika, the abbott of Karuna Buddhist Vihara in northern California.
Ayya Santussika was born in Illinois in 1954 and grew up on a farm in Indiana. While being a single mother, she received BS and MS degrees in computer science. She worked as a software designer and developer for fifteen years in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her search for deeper meaning and ways to be of service led her to train as an interfaith minister in a four-year seminary program that culminated in a Masters of Divinity degree. She began traveling in Asia from 1999, learning from master teachers, particularly in Thailand. It was these experiences, along with time spent at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in California that caused her faith to develop to the point of choosing to live and practice as a Theravadan nun.
Ayya Santussika entered monastic life as an anagarika (eight-precept nun) in 2005, then ordained as a samaneri (ten-precept nun) in 2010 and a bhikkhuni (311 rules) in 2012 at Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara in Los Angeles. She has trained in large and small communities of nuns, including Amaravati and Chithurst monasteries of the Ajahn Chah tradition in England.
Links related to this interview:
Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.
To find and download more precious Dhamma teachings, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the teaching you want and click on the audio to open it up on Podbean.

Thursday Sep 08, 2022
Nurturing a Buddhist Community - Dennis Sheppard
Thursday Sep 08, 2022
Thursday Sep 08, 2022
Published with permission of Treasure Mountain Podcast. Please visit Treasure Mountain Podcast, Treasure Mountain website and Treasure Mountain facebook page.
On this episode of Treasure Mountain Podcast we have a guest who has been a mentor to me and remains a personal friend. Dennis Sheppard has been involved with Buddhist community since 1978, joining with the Buddhist Society of Western Australia as a young man interested in meditation and spiritual practice, and going on to serve multiple terms as president, as well as serving in several other capacities including designing several buildings for both monastics and the lay community.
In this interview with Dennis Sheppard:
- Getting involved with Buddhism in Australia in the late 1970s and what that was like
- Sending lay people to Thailand to request Ajahn Chah to send monks to Australia
- How Ajahn Jagaro changed the Buddhist Society of WA and his lasting legacy
- The impact of Ajahn Jagaro's departure and the commencement of Ajahn Brahm's tenure as Spiritual Director
- What the early years of the Buddhist Society of WA were like, the challenges they faced and how they overcame them.
Links from the episode:

Thursday Sep 01, 2022
Giving From The Heart - Bhikkhu Mettaji
Thursday Sep 01, 2022
Thursday Sep 01, 2022
Published with permission of Treasure Mountain Podcast. Please visit Treasure Mountain Podcast, Treasure Mountain website and Treasure Mountain facebook page.
On this episode of Sage Advice, Venerable Mettaji returns to offer his advice on the topic of giving from the heart.
Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.
To find and download more precious Dhamma teachings, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the teaching you want and click on the audio to open it up on Podbean.

Thursday Aug 25, 2022
A Journey Into Loving Service - Bhikkhu Mettaji
Thursday Aug 25, 2022
Thursday Aug 25, 2022
Published with permission of Treasure Mountain Podcast. Please visit Treasure Mountain Podcast, Treasure Mountain website and Treasure Mountain facebook page.
In this episode our guest is Venerable Mettaji, formerly Stephen Mayers, a man who has had a journey from the heights of corporate success down into the valley of trial and loss. This has led him on to ordaining as a bhikkhu - a Buddhist monk - later in life. But through all the ups and downs of Venerable Mettaji’s journey there has been a will to serve others stemming from a well-spring of kindness. In this episode we’re going to learn about that journey and some of the unexpected ways behind the scenes that he is serving the growing Buddhist community in Australia with a heart of kindness.
Links related to Venerable Mettaji and this episode:
Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.
To find and download more precious Dhamma teachings, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the teaching you want and click on the audio to open it up on Podbean.

Thursday Aug 18, 2022
Finding a way back to peace when everything falls apart - Bhikkhu Mudu - Sage Advice
Thursday Aug 18, 2022
Thursday Aug 18, 2022
Published with permission of Treasure Mountain Podcast.
In this episode of Sage Advice, we have Venerable Mudu from Bodhinyana Great Southern calling in from the deep south of Western Australia, here to share his advice on finding a way back to peace when everything falls apart.
For more information about Venerable Mudu:
For more information about Treasure Mountain Podcast:
- Treasure Mountain webpage - to find out more, leave a message or join the mailing list
- Treasure Mountain on Facebook
Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.
To find and download more precious Dhamma teachings, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the teaching you want and click on the audio to open it up on Podbean.

Thursday Aug 11, 2022
Pioneering a dhamma community in a regional town with Bhikkhu Mudu - Spirit Stories
Thursday Aug 11, 2022
Thursday Aug 11, 2022
Published with permission of Treasure Mountain Podcast. Please visit Treasure Mountain Podcast, Treasure Mountain website and Treasure Mountain facebook page.
In this episode of Spirit Stories our guest is Venerable Mudu who is leading an effort to establish a community of practice in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. Venerable Mudu first became interested in Buddhism when a chance invitation by a Thai friend to join her in offering food to the Buddhist monks at Serpentine’s Forest Monastery. He became inspired by the monastic way of life. Several years later after developing an understanding the importance of meditation and renunciation, he decided to take up the training to become a Buddhist monk.
In 2014, after completing the two year trial and preliminary training, Venerable Mudu received the higher ordination as a fully ordained Bhikkhu under his teacher and preceptor, Ajahn Brahm at Bodhinyana Buddhist Monastery. In 2018 he went to Albany at the request of community members there, and has since established Bodhinyana Great Southern Hermitage and he teaches regularly in Albany, as well as frequent visit to Denmark, Walpole and Mt Barker, all in the Great Southern region in the far south of Western Australia.
Links mentioned in the show:
- About Bodhinyana Great Southern
- Bodhinyana Great Southern Facebook Group
- The Basic Method of Meditation by Ajahn Brahm
- Link to BAMBI
To donate to Bodhinyana Great Southern use the link or QR code below:
Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.
To find and download more precious Dhamma teachings, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the teaching you want and click on the audio to open it up on Podbean.

Thursday Aug 04, 2022
Developing Resilience with Ayya Canda
Thursday Aug 04, 2022
Thursday Aug 04, 2022
Published with permission of Treasure Mountain Podcast. Please visit Treasure Mountain Podcast and Treasure Mountain website.
In this episode of Sage Advice, we have Bhikkhuni Candavisuddhi, known as Venerable Canda, the pioneering nun blazing a trail for women monastics by striving to establish the Anukampa project, a monastery for fully ordained nuns in the United Kingdom. Those who previously listened to Venerable Canda’s story in a previous episode of Treasure Mountain will know that she has a lot grit to practice in challenging circumstances, and now to lead the way to establish a community of practice, and eventually a monastery in the UK. One quality that she has demonstrated in large measure is resilience, and she joins us today for this episode of Sage Advice to discuss the topic of resilience and determination.
Ayya Canda's links:
Treasure Mountain links:
Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.
To find and download more precious Dhamma teachings, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the teaching you want and click on the audio to open it up on Podbean.

Thursday Jul 28, 2022
Blazing a trail for women monastics in the UK - Bhikkhuni Canda
Thursday Jul 28, 2022
Thursday Jul 28, 2022
Published with permission of Treasure Mountain Podcast. Please visit Treasure Mountain Podcast and Treasure Mountain website.
In this episode of Spirit Stories our guest is Venerable Candavisuddhi, also known as Ayya Canda, who first encountered meditation and the spiritual path when travelling through Asia as a young woman. This led to several years of going on and supporting retreats in India and Nepal. Whilst the yearning to live the Buddhist monastic life intensified, she found that opportunities for women to lead a meditative monastic life were few, until finding out about a chance to ordain with Sayadaw U Pannyajota in rural Burma. The meditative life suited Venerable Canda very well, but four years of the Burmese climate, diet and parasites took a toll on her health, and she decided to return to the West. A chance encounter led Venerable Canda to the teachings of Ajahn Brahm, and the opportunity to practice and take higher ordination at Dhammasara Monastery in Western Australia in 2014. Now she is blazing a trail for women monastics by leading a project to start a monastery for bhikkhuni sangha in the country of her birth, the United Kingdom. Venerable Canda joins us now to share her Spirit Story.
Links related to this episode:
- Anukampa Bhikkhuni Project
- Donate to the Anukampa Bhikkhuni Project to help Ayya Canda start a monastery.
- To find out more or volunteer with the Anukampa Bhikkhuni Project email team@anukampaproject.org
Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.
To find and download more precious Dhamma teachings, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the teaching you want and click on the audio to open it up on Podbean.