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.
In our meditation practice, we journey inwards to come to the edge and see ourselves as we really are. To do this, we have to cultivate special qualities, the paramis or perfections. And so we learn to grow a silent harmless space within ourselves which does not know how to be afraid.
Joy can come with wise reflection and a pepper of difference. I learned this standing in town with my alms bowl as a mendicant nun one morning. Living for the sake of what is highest within us, we can each know the beauty, brilliance, and brightness of that joy and see how to nurture loving kindness and presence of mind. We learn to understand our predicament and forgive the brokenness and estrangements we have endured. We stand compassionate inwardly and to all, trusting our noble Dhamma inheritance to awaken in this very life.
In the world of Arahant Rohini, the same forces of violence, greed, and delusion we face now were at play. She encourages us to sustain faith in the Dhamma, using its special weapons to counter the erosion of peace and to liberate the mind with kindness, courage, selflessness, and wisdom - for the benefit of all beings.
The Winter of the World is here… How do we bear it? What does the mind need in order to open to the teachings? Dana. Sila. Generosity and virtue. Cultivating generosity, starting with the material, can mature into acts of sharing one’s time, energy, abilities, kindness and compassion. Let us cherish these noble qualities and develop them in a boundless way, for all beings. The Buddha advises us how to be fearless and present with a loved one near death. A talk given at Sati Saraniya Hermitage in November, 2017.
We can be kind to anyone with practice. So start where you are and trust this practice of kindness. Even in the face of painful times, reflect wisely – not to be poisoned by fear, despair, or sorrow. Rather see the truth within and open a well-spring of infinite love in your own heart. For you are the hero of your life. First, we slay the dragons of fear and aggression. Gently and resolute, break them apart and extend kindness to all as to yourself. To accept the miracle of pure awareness – patient, diligent, with unwavering compassion, draw out the dart of sorrow and know the gift of love.
What stops us from realizing Truth? We face the human condition besieged with obstacles in the mind that can be overcome with a total commitment to giving up our many forms of addiction. We learn to stay present and to develop the enlightenment factors which defy all the hindrances until we see the jewels in the mind that are brighter than the sun. These are the gifts of the Path. A talk given during a 7 day Satipaññā Insight Meditation Toronto retreat at Chapin Mill Retreat Centre, Batavia, Rochester, NY.
Just as a gardener cultivates seedlings by watering them well, metta is praised as a foundational quality for watering the full liberation of the heart. As a spiritual gardener, work to deeply understand and integrate metta in all aspects of life and practice. It is present in every skillful mind-state and ripens in the awakened mind as unconditional and universal spiritual love.
As we establish awareness on the breath, notice where the mind is, polishing it until it shines like a bright moon. Use the sublime abidings to spread calming energy throughout the breath and the body. The hindrances fall away. Relieved of our attachments, we become like a lotus, a violin, able to hear our true voice in the silence. We tune the instrument of the mind to full understanding. A guided meditation given during a 7 day Satipaññā Insight Meditation Toronto retreat at Chapin Mill Retreat Centre, Batavia, Rochester, NY.
The heart is a moral tapestry of clear coordinates for liberation. Caught between duality and proliferation, we vanquish the ‘self’ using the Buddha’s pithy instruction to Bahiya of the Bark Cloth. “In the seen, there is only the seen. In the heard. . . only the heard. In the sensed. . . only the sensed. In the known. . . only the known. When for you there will be only the seen . . . there is no you there.” We too shall come out of the jungle of our attachments.
The nine-cemetary contemplations presented in the Satipatthana Sutta work with elemental perspectives on the parts of the body by simulating their condition after death. The clarity of mind realized in these special practices sheds light on how valuable death contemplations are for a wholesome and happy life. Not only does the mind gain immense lucidity and peace, but we are able to access and develop special qualities of mental composure, joy and discernment.
Can we face what we most fear and touch the well-spring of goodness, kindness and compassion within us? The first step towards Truth is taking responsibility for our own actions, intentions, and their consequences. Denial and distraction only numb us to what is painful to remember let alone face up to. But the Truth will always emerge. There is no running away from it. So we acknowledge our unskillful acts and open the door to forgiveness and reconciliation. One glimpse into the true marrow of our being reveals the urgency of repairing harm and the healing power of forgiveness.
Ayya Medhanandi talks about developing virtue and moral disarmament for true peace in this world. If we want to protect each other and promote harmlessness and nonviolence, we must do the work of inner disarmament ourselves. A talk given at the 10th Global Conference on Buddhism, Neuroscience, and Mental Health, Toronto 2017.
Standing up in pure presence is one of the four great postures. In this simple act of being present, know one mind-moment at a time, repeatedly. Grateful for one breath, one posture, one point, we gain balance and poise. We allow our suffering to dissolve in the suffering of all the world. This is how we stand for the Dhamma in a practical way – with the body; and in a practice way – with compassion and understanding of the Dhamma.
When delusion, impatience and lack of trust prevail in our spiritual work, we rape our own goodness and execute ourselves over and over again. This suffering, clearly known, helps us to see how we cling and how we let go. When clinging again, let go again – stop the subterfuge of clinging and undermining ourselves. Actually, we are our own liberators. We are powerful beyond our understanding.
Reviewing our effort to practise, recalibrate and make adjustments as needed. Make peace with what arises – neither controlling nor being passive; like a parent – compassionate, mindful, discerning. Whatever hindrance is most predominant, make it skilful, waking up if we’re asleep, or settling down if we’re restless, calming when agitated or patiently balancing. This is nothing short of the way to Nibbana, the supreme goal. Step by step, through all manner of sufferings and joys, we radiate blessings in the ten directions.
We come on retreat from our busy lives where we can easily relapse into old unworthy mental habits, hoping that here, at last, we can put them to sleep. They too are impermanent. Reflect on their impermanence using these chants for the funeral of our ego and the death of our ignorance. Once their corpse is seen and placed in a coffin, it’s possible to sustain open compassionate awareness wherever we are.
What can protect us from the repercussions of negative and unwholesome mind states? Begin the journey, the archeology of our own heart. It’s a total cleansing. Like a mountain climber, we ascend the interior slopes and our burden lightens. We clear it out moment by moment. Whatever misfortunes come, letting go, we wean ourselves away from the quicksand of habit. We grow fearless, students of life, learning to bow and bring forth these gifts, like diamonds from coal in the quiet eternity within us. Therein, we hear the timeless hymn of unspoken love.
Venerable Punna was one of the great bhikkhus of the Buddha’s time, known especially for his fierce faith, practice skill, and his fearlessness. When the Buddha hears that Punna plans to wander on foot in a remote and dangerous frontier region, he questions Punna how he would respond to the inevitable perils and violent ways of the native people of that place. Their dialogue reveals Venerable Punna’s remarkable courage, wisdom, and selflessness.
Standing as still as we can like the earth, aware, embodying qualities of heart that we treasure, share the goodness with all who are dear to us, and with all beings. Live wisely from that kind of pure inner space. As we chant these essential five recollections, reflect: we are all subject to aging, sickness, and death; we shall all be separated from what is ours, it will fade and be lost; and we are the heirs of our karmic deeds – for good or for ill.
How do we deal with life when it bites us? Without trusting the Path, there is no way we can fulfill it. Practise seeing what works and what doesn’t, what binds us and what frees us. Seeing pain as our teacher, we can face whatever we are feeling and not lament. Not owning our suffering is letting go the second arrow of mental pain. This will be for our safety, and when wise insight into suffering reveals the truth in us, there arises incalculable joy and peace.
Walking as a meditation posture is dynamic and complementary to breath meditation. With more to distract us from being attentive to our own experience, walking requires sharper effort, mindfulness, focus, and present moment awareness. This provides an invaluable template for practice in the many walking times of our daily lives.
Whether we live as laity or in a monastery, there is a sacred path open for all to explore. Yet few would brave its fierce tests. How we train and incline the mind will naturally determine our spiritual growth. So the Buddha encouraged us to go to the forest, to seek seclusion from devices, worldly concerns and attachments. These cannot rescue us from mental sufferings; nor from ageing, disease or dying. . . because it’s about pure love – an unearthly love that never dies – and the gift of true safety, peace, and transcendent awareness of our true nature. As this knowing dawns in the heart, we are freed from every kind of suffering. No riches, no power, nothing in this wide universe can offer such blessings.
