Ayya Santussika 

We received the dana for the upcoming ordination–anumodana! We so much appreciate the work you are doing to help the bhikkhuni sangha grow and flourish. It is humbling and heartening to have friends in the Dhamma supporting us as we work to awaken–not only for ourselves but for all those who will benefit from the presence of fully ordained female monastics in the world.
Venerable Santussika Bhikkhuni began exploring meditation in the late seventies. In 1996 she joined a Kriya yoga-based center where she deepened her meditation practice and made spiritual development the central theme of her life. In 2002 she received a Masters of Divinity degree after completing a four-year interfaith seminar program to become a minister. The program emphasized meditation study of the major world religions meticulous ethical conduct and development of the skills required in ministry such as spiritual guidance counseling support for the ill and dying teaching and conducting ceremonies.

In 1999 Ayya Santussika made her first trip to Thailand to visit her son who had ordained there as a monk in Ajahn Chah’s international monastery Wat Pah Nanachat. As a guest at the monastery and mother of a monk she was able to spend a lot of time with the monks and learn from many of Ajahn Chah’s students. Over the years she traveled to Thailand once or twice each year to stay in various monasteries learning from master teachers including Ajahn Jayasaro Ajahn Anan Ajahn Dtun Luang Ta Maha Boowa and Ajahn Pannavaddho. During those years she also visited Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery many times and in 2003 formally became a student of Ajahn Pasanno. In 2004 she spent time in Australia with Ajahn Brahm and at Ajahn Kalyano’s monastery near Melbourne where she met Ajahn Plien whose teachings strongly impacted her development.