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.
When we meditate, we are alone and yet with all the world. Thoughts intrude from all sides. But we land softly, secluded within, protected, serene. Gently we open the door to the heart with unassailable trust. We bend and bow silently, observing the breath with an empty mind. Then what’s the result of that? Giving our full attention to this moment, we are absolutely present, feeling every nuance of the ground beneath us or the pressure of each breath. Mindfulness deepens our awareness. Now we truly know the boundless peace of the mind's radiance.
Impermanence stares us in the face. How then can we free ourselves to understand the raw truth of what we are? There is a sorrowless state, a way out of the pains of life where we can abide in blameless happiness and inviolable peace. It may appear elusive and out of reach. Yet we need only incline our minds faithfully to giving up all that is false, divisive, fearful or fragile. We begin to know the joy that subdues all sorrow. One taste of that and we are on the Path, sheltered in the unsurpassed protection of the Dhamma.
Compassion is a sublime, healing quality that restores us to goodwill, integrity, wisdom and equanimity. Not only do we repair the harm that we have caused, but we turn the wheel of Dhamma in this world. This can also serve as a catalyst for others to wake up from their misguided ways of living. We bear compassion for harm caused and we sow seeds of reconciliation even in the blindest or most cruel of beings, for "hatred is never resolved through hatred, but through love alone."
Are we able to dedicate our goodness and our practice for the welfare of others? COVID teaches us that if we are not healthy, others are affected, and if the world is not well, then we will also suffer – because we are all connected. We are wise to seek the inexhaustible well-spring of peace in our hearts – to be uplifted and to freely share that. Far beyond physical health, we can find that peace within our reach if we care for the mind. That will be our spiritual recovery
Not-clinging spreads very fast, very far. Its fuel power is letting go attachment to ‘self’; to selfishness and the inversion of the mind into a cocoon of self-concern – which is spiritual death. There’s no truth in that. Aren’t we all drowning – metaphorically? Not thinking of ourselves, the moment we jump into the river to rescue someone, we begin to wake up. Who can do that? We must help each other. But first we practice and gain strength to traverse the rapids and the mire of this conflicted, misguided world. Destination – directly knowing what we truly are – and are not.
As long as delusion prevails, we are in danger and our happiness is very limited. Beyond its veil, immeasurable riches await us. Four ways to focus our samadhi power help us to clear away the interior cobwebs and tame our mental turbulence into a beautiful mind. With an intention of absolute kindness, we see and know the causes of our suffering and the pathway out of it, steering our attention to pure presence and the crowning moment of the heart’s freedom.
We are searching for the Unconditioned and the way to discover it is by fulfilling our highest potential: complete transformation from human being to spiritual being. Our journey of awakening simulates the monarch butterfly's miraculous flight. Freed from its chrysalis, it emerges whole and ready to traverse unimaginable distances. Just so, the liberated mind is freed from the mire of delusion to transcend the imperfections of this realm. It flies beyond ignorance to touch the Dhamma and know the fullness of our humanity.
Deep in the space of our hearts there is a sanctity unreachable by any vehicle other than wisdom. We travel there silently to explore the galaxies that lie within us. Until we try, we can’t know the wonders of that dimension. Yet we touch this sanctity by parenting the mind with pure intention, humility, uncompromising awareness and trust. The mind gains balance and poise on the Middle Way enough to pierce the veil of delusion. We dive beyond the turbulence of panic and fear to a vast stillness, free and at peace. How long have we ignored this possibility – so priceless, and yet, costing absolutely everything?
When the inner fires flare, stay in your lane – aware, present and know – even if you are on fire, you can still the inner turbulence and sustain peace. Resist wandering to the past or future; resist the viruses of the mind’s obsessions. On the magnanimous wave of Dhamma, let go fear and control. Wise, patient, and pure-hearted, sit fearless in the truth of this moment, and right there, at the very core of the raging storm – watch it die. When the chains of life unravel and the bonds of wanting gently fall away, you enter the chrysalis. It’s a prayer, a holiness, the heart’s peace – indeed, the way from sacrifice to sanctity.
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.
