About Us
Our core value is upholding the development and
practice of the Noble Eight-fold Path.
In Pali, the language of the earliest Buddhist texts, Dhammadharini means "to uphold the Dhamma in the feminine form." Dhammadharini was founded by Ayya Tathaloka and friends in 2005 to offer a support network for bhikkhunis in Theravada Buddhism. Dhammadharini is dedicated to providing support for monastic aspirants, most of whom are women, both locally and worldwide. With training focused on the Buddha’s teachings on virtue, meditation and wisdom, aspirants are guided towards full ordination..
Our monastics have served as a vanguard of the Theravada bhikkhuni revival, with training focused on the Buddha’s teaching on virtue, samadhi and wisdom, as a guide towards full ordination. We use the bodhi leaf
and three currents in the stream of Awakening (of sila, samadhi and panna) as our symbol of awakening and
its embodiment.
Learn about entering monastic life, and our daily practice, on this page >
Vision
The vision of Dhammadharini is:
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To nurture and cultivate networks by which aspiring women can explore and enter into monastic life, and be able to fully ordain as bhikkhunis.
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To develop the optimal container for liberation in monastic life — complete in Dhamma & Vinaya, in virtue, meditation and wisdom.
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To channel and provide the basic requisite needs for bhikkhunis, novices and aspirants: food, shelter, robes and medicine.
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To support deep practice periods of intensive retreat, integrated with the cultivation of strong mindfulness, and full practice of the noble Eightfold Path in daily community life.
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To support the growth of bhikkhunis as Dhamma teachers and Buddhist
community leaders.
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To reconnect to the ancient luminary bhikkhuni leaders, teachers and sanghas of the past through research, publications, teaching and education.
Monastics
Venerable Kaccāyana Bhikkhuni
Venerable Kaccāyana first began meditating while in graduate school, working on a PhD in linguistics at UCLA and taking mindfulness meditation classes through UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center. Inspired by a wish to go deeper with the practice, as well as a long-standing interest in monastic life (originally imagined in a Christian context during an Episcopalian childhood), Kaccāyana spent every break during the 2013-2014 academic year visiting Buddhist monasteries. The first was Aranya Bodhi hermitage, where they felt an immediate sense of connection and rightness. After a three year discernment process, involving a number of return visits to the Dhammadharini community, Venerable Kaccāyana joined the community as a resident lay steward in early 2017, and undertook the anāgārika precepts and training in August 2018, followed by samaneri pabbajja in July 2019, and upasampada in September 2021.
Venerable Dhammānusārī Bhikkhunī
Venerable Dhammanusari was born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and later in her teenage years immigrated with her family to France. After she married, she and her husband moved to Canada, where they raised a family. She left the dusty home life to live the holy life in September of 2016 after she had been practicing Mindfulness meditation as a lay person under the guidance of Venerable Bhikkhu Saranapala at West End Buddhist Temple in Canada for about two years. Thereafter, she became an Anagarika under the guidance of Cambodian monk, Venerable Bhikkhu TT Dhammo at Wat Khmer Krom Hamilton Stony Creek, Ontario, Canada.
In 2017, she met the Most Venerable Pollamure Sorata Maha Thero at Wat Khmer in Lowell Massachusetts. He brought her and Ven Mettajivi to Sri Lanka, where Ven Mettajivi received Bhikkhuni Upasampada, and she received Pabbajja and Samaneri precepts from Bhante Sorata at Sri Sudharmarama International Buddhist Monastery, Ela Kolla, in Kandy, Sri Lanka on the 18th of February 2018, with the name of Samaneri Saddhajivi. She was the first Canadian samaneri of Cambodian descent.
After her ordination, she moved to the USA to further practice the Buddha’s teachings at Wat Lowell in Massachusetts with Bhante Sorata and the first Cambodian bhikkhuni in the Theravada tradition, Venerable Mettajivi.
Venerable Dhammanusari met Ven. Bhikkhuni Aggadhammagavesi at a Buddhist conference in Oct 2018 in Toronto and in December of 2018 joined her in Sydney. She continued her Dhamma practice with Ayya Aggadhammagavesi in Australia, and then on tudong (carika, traditional Buddhist walking pilgrimage) in Ayya Agga's home country of Vietnam, and then in her home country of Cambodia. Soon afterwards, she had a great opportunity to help young novice Samaneras aged 6-15 at the Wat Kraya novice monastic education center in Cambodia. After months of online connection from afar while Ven Mettajivi was staying at Dhammadharini, in December of 2019 she had the opportunity to meet Ven. Bhikkhuni Tathaloka Mahatheri in person on her International Bhikkhuni Dhammayatra to Cambodia, and stayed with Venerable Ayya Tathaloka during that trip. She and Ven. Mettajivi visited Dhammadharini together afterwards and then returned to Cambodia during the Covid years to support the women aspirants there. In 2022, Venerable Dhammanusari accepted an invitation to return to Dhammadharini in the USA, where she received full Bhikkhuni ordination with Ayya Tathaloka as preceptor in September 2022, along with her current Dhamma name of "Dhammānusārī".
Venerable Ayya Tathālokā Mahātherī
Venerable (Ayya) Tathālokā is an American-born member of the Buddhist Monastic Sangha, the first non-Sri Lankan woman to receive bhikkhunī ordination into the Theravāda tradition in modern times. She entered monastic life as an anāgārikā in 1988, received pabbajjā with her senior bhikkhunī mentor in Korea in 1993 followed by sāmanerī precepts in 1995, and received bhikkhunī upasampadā (full ordination) with the Sri Lankan Sangha in California in 1997, with the late Ven. Havanpola Ratanasāra Mahāthera as preceptor. After further studies, a three-year retreat, and time back in Asia in Sangha university and on tudong in Thailand, in 2005 she returned to the U.S. There she co-founded Dhammadharini Support Foundation together with the Dhammadharini Sangha, the first monastic community for Theravāda bhikkhunīs in the western United States. Inspired by Buddhist Forest traditions, in 2008, she co-founded Aranya Bodhi Hermitage, and later Dhammadharini Monastery. In 2009, she became the first contemporary non-Sri Lankan woman to be appointed a bhikkhunī preceptor. Ven. Tathālokā first received instruction in Mindfulness and Insight practices at age ten, further studying and training with Indian, Korean, Thai, Sri Lankan and Burmese meditation teachers, including the Thai forest traditions of the most venerable Ajahn Mun Bhuridatta, and the Burmese Vipassana meditation masters Sayadaw U Pandita and Pa-auk Sayadaw. Her practice and teaching are profoundly influenced by the Buddha’s teachings as contained in the canonical Early Buddhist suttas, together with the teachings and practices of Forest and Insight meditation traditions.
Venerable Ayya Sobhanā Therī
Ayya Sobhana is a Harvard graduate and trained with master Dhamma and meditation teacher Venerable Dr. Henepola Gunaratana Nāyaka Mahāthero (known as "Bhante G") since 1989. Her primary practice is the Eightfold Noble Path, that is, integration of meditation with ethical living and compassionate relationships for the sake of liberation. She “went forth” into monastic life as a Sāmanerī in 2003 at the Bhavana Society of West Virginia with Bhante Gunaratana as her teacher, and obtained full Bhikkhuni ordination at Dambulla, Sri Lanka in 2006, with the Most Venerables Padukke Sumithra Mahātherī and Sīri Sumangala Mahāthero as her bhikkhunī and bhikkhu preceptors. After nearly five years of monastic life and teacher training with Bhante Gunaratana, in 2010 Ayyā Sobhanā was invited to dwell at the new bhikkhunī hermitage, Aranya Bodhi, on California's Sonoma Coast, which she has played an important and leading role in developing. In 2016, Ayyā Sobhanā was appointed vice abbess of Dhammadharini, and in 2020 she was appointed a bhikkhunī preceptor. Ayyā teaches around the greater San Francisco Bay Area, and on both coasts of the US, offering retreats at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Southern Dharma Retreat Center,and at Buddhist Insights of New York. She also offers regular meditation and Sutta teachings as well as retreats online hosted by Dhammadharini Monastery (see Dhammadharini Monastery on YouTube).
Venerable Ayya Brahmavarā Bhikkhuni
Sometimes Dhammadharini visitor and guest teacher. Now with Empty Cloud Italia.
Ayyā Brahmavarā learned Vipassana meditation from age 24, under the guidance of SN Goenka, after hearing about meditation retreats from a fellow student at Sheffield University. From being a medic striving to alleviate suffering, there was a gradual realignment over the next ten years from the medical field of practice to the monastic one. Same quest, going deeper . . . as she discovered in the Buddha's Path of practice how one could begin to explore and to help alleviate suffering through facing up to its root causes.
Ayyā visited Amaravati monastery with a couple of Goenka friends in 1999 and by the end of 2000 was working as retreat center manager there. In August 2001, she was glad to have the chance to renounce the household life and enter monastic life as an anāgārikā. Sīladharā pabbajjā followed in 2004 and she practiced at Amaravati and Chithurst monasteries in the UK for the next 15 years. Ayyā benefitted from many months on tudong in the UK, Ireland, Italy, and France and from pilgrimages to Burma, India, Taiwan, China, and Malaysia which increased her faith in the sāmaṇa life and broadened her view of Buddhist practice.
In 2019, Ayyā Brahmavarā moved to Thailand and Wat Subthawee to practice under the guidance of Luang Por Ganha. From him she learned the value of sacrifice, of selfless service, and of love. Ayyā Nirodhā is a valued bhikkhuni there and she encouraged Ajahn Brahmavarā to consider full ordination as a bhikkhuni.
In 2021, Ayyā feels blessed to have been invited to receive bhikkhunī upasampadā with Mahātherī Ayyā Tathālokā as preceptor, and to join the auspicious Vassa gathering at Dhammadharinī Monastery and Aranya Bodhi Hermitage. Ayyā Brahmavarā's aspiration is to continue the practice using this form as a way of serving and supporting liberation from suffering for all beings.
Venerable Ayya Suvijjanā Therī
Long-time Dhammadharini resident, and sometimes Dhammadharini guest teacher. Now with Passaddhi Vihara in Olympia Washington.
Ayya Suvijjana began practicing meditation in 1976. She started with Zen meditation and was a student of Kobun Chino Roshi
in Los Altos, CA. In 1998 she was introduced to Vipassana
at Santa Cruz Insight. Shortly after she visited Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery and soon became a lay student of
Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. She moved to Ukiah to be closer to the monastery. Ayya was called to monastic life herself and became a student of Ayya Tathālokā in 2006 when she took up residency and training at the first Dhammadharini Vihara in Fremont. She received full ordination as a bhikkhuni in August 2010 at Aranya Bodhi Hermitage. She has played a supportive role in establishing Dhammadharini and Aranya Bodhi Hermitage.
Ayya Suvijjana has been on a long-term leave of absence from Dhammadharini since 2020, and has been accepting teaching invitations while visiting other communities.
Venerable Dhammavarā Bhikkhunī
Venerable Dhammavara remembers with great affection the engaging professor who introduced her to Buddhism while a student. Over many years, her interest in the Dhamma was nourished through books, listening to recorded talks, and attending dhamma talks in person. Most recently, while living and serving at several meditation centers, she realized how important the Dhamma was in her life, and how necessary it was to put meditation and Buddhism first, and let everything else revolve around that. However, she discovered that even living at lay meditation centers was not enough and asked herself whether she was ready to devote her life to the Dhamma? After some investigation, she was led to Dhammadharini where she was accepted into the community and undertook anagarika precepts in September 2018, samaneri pabbajja in September 2020, and full ordination as a bhikkhuni in September 2022.
Venerable Vandana Bhikkhunī
Bhikkhuni Vandana was born in Gujarat, India, but now lives and works on Dhamma in Nagpur, Maharashtra, India. She ordained as a Samaneri in 2005 at the age of 7. Her grandmother is Bhikkhuni Supriya Theri, and who used to teach Venerable Vandana when she was very young. Venerable Vandana received higher ordination in November of 2022 in Bodh Gaya, India, with her Bhikkhuni preceptor Bhikkhuni Santini from Indonesia, and Bhikkhu Preceptor Bhante Pelawatte Seewalee Maha Thera. She is currently visiting the United States, staying at Dhammadharini Monastery to practice and learn Dhamma with Ayya Tathaloka Mahatheri. She'll be staying with Dhammadharini through the 2024 Vassa.
Venerable Thāvirā Bhikkhunī
Venerable Thavira was initially introduced to mindfulness practice by her Mom, as a teenager, to which she was of course resistant (as is the nature of teenagers). However something must have soaked in, because over the following years she began to read books about the Dhamma and occasionally meditate, finally beginning to attend retreats and cultivate a more serious practice in her mid-20s. For about 10 years, she developed a successful engineering career working in aviation safety, while attending retreats and visiting monasteries during her vacations from work. During this time, she also actively supported Bhikkhunis, eventually joining the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Bhikkhunis and becoming its president.
Venerable Thavira gradually realized that her Dhamma practice was, by far, the most satisfying and interesting part of her life, and decided to consider pursuing it more fully. In 2018 she left her engineering career, spending a year traveling, visiting monasteries, and in retreat. In 2019 she became a resident at Dhammadharini, and remains completely happy with this choice and grateful for the opportunity to practice in the monastic form. She undertook samaneri pabbajja in September 2021 and bhikkhuni upasampada in June 2024, both with Ayya Tathālokā.
Anagarikā Mittakhantī
Anagarikā Mittakhantī started out with secular meditation during her university studies. However, she thought it seemed better to get meditation advice from real Buddhist monastics. This eventually led to studying the suttas and discovering the Buddha and his teachings. The desire to ordain grew steadily while she was practicing as a lay person, working to pay off her student debt so she could ordain. She is hoping to end the rounds of transmigration through the truly transformative practice of the Buddha's Dhamma. She received Anagarika precepts with Dhammadharini in January 2024.