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.
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.
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.
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 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.
The first step towards Truth is taking responsibility for our own actions, intentions, and their consequences. Distractions are not a support but only numb us to what is difficult to face or remember. Truth will always emerge, despite all attempts to bury it. Bring into the light unskillful acts, our own or those of others towards us, and make forgiveness and reconciliation possible. Penetrate into the marrow of life to reveal both the garbage we must purify and the treasure to be discovered in the process. What are we really running away from?
Ayya Medhanandi talks about developing virtue and moral disarmament for true peace in this world at the 10th Global Conference on Buddhism, Neuroscience, and Mental Health, Toronto 2017.
