Ayya Anandabodhi speaks at iSangha on 22 May: Words of Awakening – Poems of the Early Buddhist Nuns

You are very warmly invited to join Ayya Anandabodhi, Tilorien Monastery’s spiritual advisor, on Friday 22 May at 7pm CEST (local times) at Tilorien’s iSangha (http://tilorien.org/en/isangha/) where she will share poems from The First Free Women – Poems of the Early Buddhist nuns, opening up the teachings that are woven into these timeless verses. 

The poems are based on the Therigata (verses of the Senior Nuns), verses uttered by some of the very first, fully awakened Buddhist nuns living in the times of the Buddha. The Therigata is the world’s oldest collection of women’s literature, forming the basis for ‘The First Free women – Poems of the Early Buddhist Nuns’ which offers a radical and contemporary adaptation of these verses while remaining true to the essence of each poem and highlighting the struggles and doubts, as well as the strength, perseverance, and profound compassion, embodied by these courageous women. 

Ayya Anandabodhi first encountered the Buddha’s teachings in her early teens, igniting a deep interest in the Buddha’s Path of Awakening. She lived and trained as a nun in the Forest Tradition at Amaravati and Chithurst monasteries in England from 1992 until 2009, when she moved to the US to help establish Aloka Vihara, a training monastery for women.

Her practice and teaching are guided by early Buddhist scriptures and through nature’s pure and immediate Dhamma. In 2011 she took full Bhikkhuni Ordination, joining the growing number of women who are reclaiming this path given by the Buddha.

In 2016 she received the Global Bhikkhuni Award:https://americanbuddhistwomen.com/anandabodhi.html