Ayyā Medhānandī Bhikkhunī, is the founder and guiding teacher of Sati Sārāņīya Hermitage, a Canadian forest monastery for women in the Theravāda tradition. The daughter of Eastern European refugees who emigrated to Montreal after World War II, she began a spiritual quest in childhood that led her to India, Burma, England, New Zealand, Malaysia, Taiwan, and finally, back to Canada.
In 1988, at the Yangon Mahasi retreat centre in Burma, Ayyā requested ordination as a bhikkhunī from her teacher, the Venerable Sayādaw U Pandita Mahāthera. This was not yet possible for Theravāda Buddhist women. Instead, Sayādaw granted her ordination as a 10 precept nun on condition that she take her vows for life. Thus began her monastic training in the Burmese tradition. When the borders were closed to foreigners by a military coup, in 1990 Sayādaw blessed her to join the Ajahn Chah Thai Forest Saņgha at Amaravati, UK.
After ten years in their siladhāra community, Ayyā felt called to more seclusion and solitude in New Zealand and SE Asia. In 2007, having waited nearly 20 years, she received bhikkhunī ordination at Ling Quan Chan Monastery in Keelung, Taiwan and returned to her native Canada in 2008, on invitation from the Ottawa Buddhist Society and Toronto Theravāda Buddhist Community, to establish Sati Sārāņīya Hermitage.
A reflection on the tale of Patacara’s meeting with the Buddha after the deaths of her sons, husband, and parents and how she attains equanimity in the face of great suffering. A talk given at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, UK, Death & Dying Retreat.
Why does anger cause us so much misery? As long as we feed it, anger insidiously undermines our spiritual work. Mindful and aware, we learn to refrain from feeding that angry dog and we loosen its foothold within the mind. By the power of loving-kindness and compassion, we disarm anger's toxicity and restore peace. These are the supreme medicines that will guide us through the wilderness of anger.
National University of Singapore Buddhhist Society
We are here, on the mountain, with a tremendous view. Let the breath speak to us. Stay and watch, even the suffering, investigate patiently like a parent, even if their child objects and runs away - patiently keep trying, be receptive, be available. Gently soften, mellow, give the mind back to the moment, trust, receive it and discover its hidden truths.
Too long we have been caught in the grip of anxiety, anger, and clinging that lead nowhere. But there is an oasis in the depths of our native humanity. To understand what is true, we must empty all that is untrue. This is ultimate care of the mind: disentangling the knots in the heart that obstruct the moral-ethical fabric of our true nature. So we set our inner compass beyond all these blinding mental habits to witness that inner radiance. In the mirror of pure emptiness we reflect that silent knowing the truth of what we are.
Human beings have that special ability to deeply see and fathom things as they truly are. But we are so impatient. We resist letting go. Clinging, we harm unknowingly and stray from truth, gaining no peace. How can we recover and free ourselves from fear, anger, and mental distress? Purify the mind and directly know the larger truth of impermanence. See blessings where there was darkness. And in the heart’s core, touch the Unconditioned.
In a psychic feat for his sister, Sundari Nanda, the Buddha creates a vision of a beautiful lady who transforms into an old woman. Through this direct experience of impermanence, her mind is liberated. Likewise, those who rightly love wisdom and contemplate death without fear see the emptiness and impermanence of all conditioned things. Realizing the futility of all clinging and the inevitability of death, our wisdom and faith in the Dhamma ripen and reveal the doors to the Deathless. This is the path of awakening.
Bodhinyanarama Monastery, Stokes Valley, New Zealand
We may travel to the most beautiful setting, and yet if there is no silence on the inside, how can we find peace? But to empty and purify the mind, we enter a sacred space, and we taste only sacredness. We experience a dimension of being that is vast - without boundaries. Like pilgrims, we sit in awe at the wondrous quality of the silent heart. A talk given during a 10 day retreat at the Sisters of St Joseph Convent, Pembroke, Ontario.
The Buddha gives us lessons in freeing ourselves but there are critical choices to be made - an emptying out, a readiness, a rising up, a deep yearning for truth. We are compelled to trust so completely to wake up to the peace in our hearts, offering the best we can. It's a harvest of wisdom. And in this remarkable learning, we receive the great gift of a love, a compassion, a kindness that pervades us and, in turn, allows us to extend it to all beings.
Develop health of the mind. Many who face dire illness and many at the cusp of death overcome their fear or face death fearlessly. How is that possible? Caring for the mind can bring it to peace whereas the health of the body will never free the heart from the pain of losing what is most precious to us.
