In conversation with Bhante U Agga at iSangha on 30 May: Lessons from the Jungle – The Freedom of a Simple Life

You are very warmly invited to join Bhante U Agga in conversation with Ayya Anopama at Tilorien’s iSangha (http://tilorien.org/en/isangha/) on Saturday 30 May from 9.30-11am CEST (see here for other time zones). The session will also include meditation and time for Q&A.

The Covid-19 pandemic has faced many of us with major restrictions in our daily lives which, for some, has led to unease and distress. At the same time the situation has also allowed us to step back and re-evaluate our frantic, consumption-driven life styles full of distraction. We have had an opportunity to re-discover the beauties of a simple life and how gestures of kindness and generosity can brighten our own and others’ lives.

Bhante U Agga and Ayya Anopama will explore the freedom that can come from the renunciation, simplification, and kindness encouraged by the Buddha and how the life style of a forest monastic can inspire us all.

Bhikkhu Agga (formerly known as Tjeerd Aukes, born in the Netherlands) started meditating in 2001 when he attended his first 10-day Vipassana retreat. Since then he has been practising regularly.

In 2006 he travelled to India and Myanmar to deepen his meditation practice. He ordained as a Buddhist monk in 2011 in Myanmar and was given the name U Aggawamsa, shortened to U Agga. Since then he’s been staying in different places and settings across Myanmar, living a simple and solitaire life, mostly in forests and jungles, together with other monks, nuns and lay practioners or just by himself in a wooden hut.

In 2016 and 2019 he visited Europe for two months. He currently resides in a Forest Monastery in the North-East of Thailand.