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.
How do we overcome obstacles on the path? An obstacle can, in fact, provide a doorway into the opening of the heart. You can learn to be a spiritual ally to yourself and to others by cultivating loving-kindness and compassion. A talk given during a 10 day Ottawa Buddhist Society retreat at the Sisters of St. Joseph convent in Pembroke, Ontario, Canada in 2009.
How can we become more aware of a thought arising? It seems like an underlying reservoir of thoughts is waiting to bubble up and flow just like Niagara Falls. By gently observing but not clinging to these thoughts, we can learn to train our focus on the present moment. Sustained pure attention like the unstoppable flow of the immense falls has a dramatic cleansing effect on the heart with equally transformative power. A talk given during an Ottawa Buddhist Society retreat at the Sisters of St. Joseph Convent, Pembroke, Ontario, Canada in 2009.
How can we become more aware of a thought arising? It seems like an underlying reservoir of thoughts is waiting to bubble up and flow just like Niagara Falls. By gently observing but not clinging to these thoughts, we can learn to train our focus on the present moment. The continuity of our pure attention like the unstoppable flow of the immense waterfalls has a dramatic cleansing effect on the heart with equally transformative power. A talk given during an Ottawa Buddhist Society retreat at the Sisters of St. Joseph Convent, Pembroke, Ontario, Canada in 2009.
What happens when we sit in a sacred space and can empty and purify ourselves? We are able to taste only sacredness, to experience another level of being that is vast and without boundaries, to be in awe of the wondrous quality of the pure heart. A talk given during a 10 day retreat at the Sisters of St. Joseph Convent, Pembroke, Ontario, Canada in 2009.
With the advent of the Winter Solstice - the shortest day of the year - comes the promise that the light will return. We can honour this principle in our practice by turning towards the light that is revealed in our own minds. The goodness and purity of this light can connect us to unconditional peace and love. A talk given at the Ottawa Buddhist Society in 2008.
