Born in 1952 in the San Francisco Bay Area, I grew up in the post–WWII Cold War Era. The arms race was big in everyone’s mind. I felt much fear and anxiety as a child. Later, in my early teens, there were race riots. As a teenager I participated in Vietnam War protests. I was raised Catholic, and in my teens I also began to question the validity of the heaven and hell dichotomy. I became interested in Hinduism, vegetarianism, and reincarnation.
My distress and anxiety about the world and distrust for the dominant social system eventually led me to seek an alternative lifestyle in the nearby small town of Canyon, California. I was hoping for a utopian community, but I found there was still the suffering that comes with human nature. I was introduced to Buddhism by a friend in Canyon. He was able to answer some questions I had and gave me books to read. The teachings on the Four Noble Truths really resonated with me.
In 1974 I found my way to a five-week summer session at the Buddhist Naropa Institute in Colorado. I was introduced to Zen practice through people I met there. Later I moved to Los Altos, California, to be near the Zendo led by Kobun Chino Roshi. I devoted myself fully to Zen practice. Then things changed when I married and had a child. The marriage failed after five years, and I became a single parent. I earned a license as a practical nurse to support myself and my small son. As my son grew more independent, I started to devote myself again to Buddhist meditation and practice.
In 1998 I was introduced to vipassana at Santa Cruz Insight. Soon after, I visited Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in Northern California, and in 2002 I moved to Ukiah to be closer to the monastery. I was drawn to the monastic lifestyle that I saw. Reading the suttas, I became inspired to gain a deep understanding of the Buddha’s teaching. I wanted to dedicate my life fully to the Path. Being a woman in her early 50’s made it difficult for me to find acceptance as a candidate for monastic life. At the places I sought ordination, I did not see the same opportunities that men had. The options for women were few, and they were cultural adaptations inconsistent with the full monastic form.
New Samaneri Suvijjānā, with offering tray, is about to complete the novice ordination by taking dependence on Ayyā Tathāloka. (Photo courtesy of Ayya Suvijjānā.)
Fortunately, the reestablishment of Bhikkhuni ordination was also emerging at that time. Ayya Tathāloka had received her full ordination in 1997 in Southern California, and there were great occasions for full ordination ceremonies for women being conducted in India and Sri Lanka. Ayya Tathāloka opened Dhammadharini Vihara in 2005. I became an anagarika (monastic postulant) at the age of 54 in 2006. Our location in the first years was in Fremont, California, a large and diverse population center. There was a lot of contact with people, and I had a lot of responsibility caring for practical things. I was excited to play a supportive role in the movement to establish a monastery for women and to know that it was possible for me to receive bhikkhuni ordination.
We were offered the use of forest land on the Sonoma Coast in 2008. We were fortunate that Ayya Sobhana joined us at that time and headed up the development of that land, which became Aranya Bodhi Hermitage. Others joined as well. I received my novice ordination on a makeshift platform on the land. We camped in tents and found a spring to tap for our water source. I was in my element. There was a lot of hard physical work to do to build the hermitage.
Ayya Tathāloka had been networking with the very few bhikkhunis in the United States and a number of supportive bhikkhus. With help of these venerables and others, she was able to organize the first dual ordination in North America for four female candidates. I was grateful to be among those who received bhikkhuni ordination in August 2010 at Aranya Bodhi Hermitage. I spent my first vassa (rains retreat) there.
In 2011 I had the opportunity to spend two months in Thailand at Nirodharam Bhikkhuni Arama (Monastery) in Chiang Mai. I went on alms round almost every day with other bhikkhunis and novices. People were eager to offer food into our bowls. I saw how there can be a natural interaction in Dhamma. As a visitor, I had no responsibilities.
After returning to the U.S. and Dhammadharini, life became more demanding again. I had to work with my tendency toward negativity. Monastic life is not a utopian ideal; there is a lot of hard work both internally and externally. The inner work is the hardest and most important. Metta bhavana became one of my main practices. I gave myself permission to be happy. This certainly does not mean that I was free from anger and longing. But I was starting to understand more deeply that contentment is one of the most important qualities for progress on the path.
At Aranya Bodhi we had a number of kutis (meditation huts) built. I had the joy of spending my days in seclusion after some time. I loved studying suttas in my kuti and practicing solitary walking and sitting meditation. Dhammadharini eventually purchased a property near Penngrove, California, to develop a new monastery. So there was the rhythm of spending time at the hermitage and in town.
Every aspect of life became a way to deepen understanding. Looking through the lens of the Buddha’s teachings helped me through the difficulties and challenges of monastic life. I began to understand that joy comes in giving and helping without reservation. The happiest people I know give of themselves freely. This letting go is part of the purification process. Purifying the heart brings a happiness that is not dependent on external conditions.
Teaching at Clear Mountain Monastery in Seattle, Washington, with Ajahn Nisabho (left) and Ayya Niyyānika (right).
As the years progressed, my senior position as a bhikkhuni opened doors for me. I started to spend more time away on retreat and at various other monastic communities in the U.S., New Zealand, and Australia. More opportunities for women were emerging. I was asked to take part in offering teachings to the lay community. This was also a time for me to learn from the experience of life at different monasteries and through Dhamma discussion with other monastics.
In 2023, while I was at Empty Cloud Monastery in New Jersey and Ayya Niyyānika was at Tilorian Monastery in Belgium, the two of us discussed our respective goals. We decided to join together to realize the vision of a new vihara in Western Washington, dedicated to practicing toward liberation. In April of 2024 we arrived in Seattle. We were hosted by friends of Clear Mountain Monastery and attended their Saturday gatherings and offered Dhamma talks.
Ayya Suvijjānā and Ayya Niyyānika on a walk in a forest reserve near Passaddhi Vihara in Olympia, Washington. (Photo courtesy of Ayya Suvijjānā.)
In May of 2024, with the help of many friends, we opened a new monastic residence, named Passaddhi Vihara, in Olympia, Washington. We now share teachings online and at other venues. We have begun our first phase in developing a monastic community in the Pacific Northwest.
I am grateful for my teachers and all who have helped me along the Path.
A Life Fully Dedicated to the Path
By Ayya Suvijjana
My distress and anxiety about the world and distrust for the dominant social system eventually led me to seek an alternative lifestyle in the nearby small town of Canyon, California. I was hoping for a utopian community, but I found there was still the suffering that comes with human nature. I was introduced to Buddhism by a friend in Canyon. He was able to answer some questions I had and gave me books to read. The teachings on the Four Noble Truths really resonated with me.
In 1974 I found my way to a five-week summer session at the Buddhist Naropa Institute in Colorado. I was introduced to Zen practice through people I met there. Later I moved to Los Altos, California, to be near the Zendo led by Kobun Chino Roshi. I devoted myself fully to Zen practice. Then things changed when I married and had a child. The marriage failed after five years, and I became a single parent. I earned a license as a practical nurse to support myself and my small son. As my son grew more independent, I started to devote myself again to Buddhist meditation and practice.
In 1998 I was introduced to vipassana at Santa Cruz Insight. Soon after, I visited Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in Northern California, and in 2002 I moved to Ukiah to be closer to the monastery. I was drawn to the monastic lifestyle that I saw. Reading the suttas, I became inspired to gain a deep understanding of the Buddha’s teaching. I wanted to dedicate my life fully to the Path. Being a woman in her early 50’s made it difficult for me to find acceptance as a candidate for monastic life. At the places I sought ordination, I did not see the same opportunities that men had. The options for women were few, and they were cultural adaptations inconsistent with the full monastic form.
Fortunately, the reestablishment of Bhikkhuni ordination was also emerging at that time. Ayya Tathāloka had received her full ordination in 1997 in Southern California, and there were great occasions for full ordination ceremonies for women being conducted in India and Sri Lanka. Ayya Tathāloka opened Dhammadharini Vihara in 2005. I became an anagarika (monastic postulant) at the age of 54 in 2006. Our location in the first years was in Fremont, California, a large and diverse population center. There was a lot of contact with people, and I had a lot of responsibility caring for practical things. I was excited to play a supportive role in the movement to establish a monastery for women and to know that it was possible for me to receive bhikkhuni ordination.
We were offered the use of forest land on the Sonoma Coast in 2008. We were fortunate that Ayya Sobhana joined us at that time and headed up the development of that land, which became Aranya Bodhi Hermitage. Others joined as well. I received my novice ordination on a makeshift platform on the land. We camped in tents and found a spring to tap for our water source. I was in my element. There was a lot of hard physical work to do to build the hermitage.
Ayya Tathāloka had been networking with the very few bhikkhunis in the United States and a number of supportive bhikkhus. With help of these venerables and others, she was able to organize the first dual ordination in North America for four female candidates. I was grateful to be among those who received bhikkhuni ordination in August 2010 at Aranya Bodhi Hermitage. I spent my first vassa (rains retreat) there.
In 2011 I had the opportunity to spend two months in Thailand at Nirodharam Bhikkhuni Arama (Monastery) in Chiang Mai. I went on alms round almost every day with other bhikkhunis and novices. People were eager to offer food into our bowls. I saw how there can be a natural interaction in Dhamma. As a visitor, I had no responsibilities.
After returning to the U.S. and Dhammadharini, life became more demanding again. I had to work with my tendency toward negativity. Monastic life is not a utopian ideal; there is a lot of hard work both internally and externally. The inner work is the hardest and most important. Metta bhavana became one of my main practices. I gave myself permission to be happy. This certainly does not mean that I was free from anger and longing. But I was starting to understand more deeply that contentment is one of the most important qualities for progress on the path.
At Aranya Bodhi we had a number of kutis (meditation huts) built. I had the joy of spending my days in seclusion after some time. I loved studying suttas in my kuti and practicing solitary walking and sitting meditation. Dhammadharini eventually purchased a property near Penngrove, California, to develop a new monastery. So there was the rhythm of spending time at the hermitage and in town.
Every aspect of life became a way to deepen understanding. Looking through the lens of the Buddha’s teachings helped me through the difficulties and challenges of monastic life. I began to understand that joy comes in giving and helping without reservation. The happiest people I know give of themselves freely. This letting go is part of the purification process. Purifying the heart brings a happiness that is not dependent on external conditions.
As the years progressed, my senior position as a bhikkhuni opened doors for me. I started to spend more time away on retreat and at various other monastic communities in the U.S., New Zealand, and Australia. More opportunities for women were emerging. I was asked to take part in offering teachings to the lay community. This was also a time for me to learn from the experience of life at different monasteries and through Dhamma discussion with other monastics.
In 2023, while I was at Empty Cloud Monastery in New Jersey and Ayya Niyyānika was at Tilorian Monastery in Belgium, the two of us discussed our respective goals. We decided to join together to realize the vision of a new vihara in Western Washington, dedicated to practicing toward liberation. In April of 2024 we arrived in Seattle. We were hosted by friends of Clear Mountain Monastery and attended their Saturday gatherings and offered Dhamma talks.
In May of 2024, with the help of many friends, we opened a new monastic residence, named Passaddhi Vihara, in Olympia, Washington. We now share teachings online and at other venues. We have begun our first phase in developing a monastic community in the Pacific Northwest.
I am grateful for my teachers and all who have helped me along the Path.
For more information and to see our vision for the future, please visit Passaddhi Vihara’s website.
Special thanks to Alliance for Bhikkhunis volunteer Ajitha Cristie-David for her help in commissioning and editing this article.