As a southern California woman, Ajahn Thanasanti was inspired by the teachings of the Buddha and embarked on monastic life finding deep meaning in a life focused on awakening and the wholehearted dedication of others doing the same.

The practices of ethics, meditation and wisdom from within the Ajahn Chah Tradition are renown for their integrity and liberating insight. After 20 years of training in this tradition she now seeks to establish a vibrant community in her home country based on the profound wisdom and compassion of the Buddhist teachings creating practice situations for nuns and lay people that use the monastic training as a vehicle for liberation. The principles of the community will be based on the following:

• Tenacity and joy for practice.
• Fearless dedication to the fidelity of essential teachings.
• Open hearted compassion that sees through conditioning of cultures, systems and emotional patterns to address suffering where it is present.
• Clear articulation of the Dhamma.

A vision that includes:

• Creating training places for women monastics.

• Developing a community of like-minded people committed to Awakening.

• Practicing and sharing the teachings of the Buddha in ways that both embodies essential meaning and are relevant to contemporary society.

• Embodying for the wider community a lifestyle of ethics, compassion and renunciation appropriate to the level of commitment one undertakes.

• Continuing to investigate ways essential Buddhist principles take form in modern society.

• To live with ecological awareness and respect for nature.

Toward this end she has left the formal affiliations with the communities associated with Amaravati to set out to explore new possibilities.

Over 2500 years the forms of practice have evolved and will continue to evolve in the West.  You are invited to participate in this community that is based on the principles of ethics, compassion and renunciation and how they apply in life today.