![What’s the point of faith? - Ayya Santussika]()
September 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.
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![Celebrating World Bhikkhuni Day! An interview with Bhikkhuni Ayya Tathālokā Maha Theri | 20 September 2022]()
September 21, 2022
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 involved in the United Theravada Bhikkhuni Sangha International working group together with other international bhikkhuni preceptors and leaders of Theravada traditions.
![Guided By Faith - Ayya Santussika]()
September 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.
![A Journey Into Loving Service - Bhikkhu Mettaji]()
August 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.
![Inspiration and Beyond on the Path | Ajahn Mudito | 05 Jun 2022]()
August 22, 2022
Dhamma talk by Ajahn Mudito on the 05 Jun 2022, at the Buddhist Society of Victoria (BSV).
Bhante Mudito was born in a remote village in Northern-Finland. After completing military service, he travelled to the United States where he attended chef school and worked in a high-end hotel for a few years. While living in New York his long-time interest in Buddhism evolved as he started meditating with different groups. He sought after many teachers and found many of them to be too lofty of simply too boring. But then the stars aligned when Ajahn Brahm wrote his hit book Open the Door of your Heart and on the book promotion tour he came to New York where Mudito fell in love with Ajahn and his simple teachings. He has followed Ajahn Brahm ever since and in 2010 he went to stay in Bodhinyana and ordained as a monk in 2012.
Please visit the BSV Podcast Channel and BSV 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.
August 4, 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:
![Blazing a trail for women monastics in the UK - Bhikkhuni Canda]()
July 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:
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.
![Brahma-Viharas Series 3: Joy | Bhante Bodhidhaja | 23 January 2022]()
July 3, 2022
Bhante Bodhidhaja gives a Dhamma talk from the Newbury Buddhist monastery regarding the four Brahma Vihara taught by the Lord Buddha.
This is the third in the series of the Brahma Vihara or "The Four Highest Hangout Places", as Bhante describes it. In this video, he talks about "Mudita", rejoicing in the happiness of others.
Bhante Bodhiraja gives a good perspective on how we can learn to rejoice in the success of others by citing quotes from many different cultures of the world.
Bhante also quotes the following Sutta on Getting Rid of Resentment.
AN 5.162 -Dutiyaāghātapaṭivinaya sutta - Click here to read this on Sutta Central.
Click here to see the full presentation of this talk on YouTube.
Teaching given from Newbury Buddhist Monastery, Victoria, Australia – Buddhist Society of Victoria (BSV). Please visit the BSV Podcast Channel and BSV 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.
