Ajahn Sundara

Buddhist monastic
Ajahn Sundara
Personal
Born1946 (age 77–78)
France
ReligionBuddhism
NationalityFrench
SchoolTheravāda
LineageForest Tradition of Ajahn Chah
Organization
OrderSīladhārā
Senior posting
TeacherAjahn Sumedho
Based inAmaravati Buddhist Monastery
Ordination1983 (41 years ago)
Websiteamaravati.org
Thai Forest Tradition
Bhikkhus

Dhammayuttika Nikāya

Ajahn Sao Kantasīlo (1861–1941)
Ajahn Mun Bhūridatta (1870–1949)
Ajahn Waen Suciṇṇo (1887–1985)
Ajahn Thate Desaransi (1902–1994)
Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo (1907–1961)
Ajahn Maha Bua (1913–2011)
Ajahn Fuang Jotiko (1915–1986)
Ajahn Suwat Suvaco (1919–2002)
Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu (1949–)

Mahā Nikāya

Ajahn Buddhadasa (1906–1993)
Ajahn Chah (1918–1992)
Ajahn Sumedho (1934–)
Ajahn Khemadhammo (1944–)
Ajahn Viradhammo (1947–)
Ajahn Pasanno (1949–)
Ajahn Sucitto (1949–)
Ajahn Brahm (1951–)
Ajahn Amaro (1956–)
Ajahn Jayasāro (1958–)
Ajahn Sujato (1966–)
Sīladharās
Ajahn Sundara (1946–)
Ajahn Candasiri (1947–)
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Ajahn Sundara (born 1946) is a French-born Buddhist sīladhārā in the tradition established by Ajahn Sumedho.[1]

Life

She studied contemporary dance and worked as a dancer and dance teacher until her early thirties when she had the opportunity to meet Ajahn Sumedho in England and to attend one of his Dhamma talks and then a retreat.[2] She was one of the first four women ordained by Ajahn Sumedho in 1979 as an anagārikā (an eight-precept novice) and in 1983 as a ten-precept sīladhārā.[3][4] After living at Chithurst Buddhist Monastery in England, Ajahn Sundara moved in 1984 to Amaravati Buddhist Monastery and was instrumental in founding the nuns' community there.[5] She went to Thailand in the mid-1990s, where she spent more than two years, primarily on retreat at forest monasteries. She has been teaching and leading retreats in Europe and North America for many years.[6] She currently resides at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, whose history and relevance to women in Buddhism she has chronicled in the book chapter "The Theravada Sangha Goes West: The Story of Amaravati".[7]

Publications

  • Gates, Barbara; Gates, Wes, eds. (2008), "On Fearlessness and Fear: a conversation with Tenzin Palmo, Ajahn Sundara, Ajahn Jitindriya and Yvonne Rand" (Paperback), 25 Years of Dharma, Drama, and Uncommon Insight, Boston: Wisdom Publications, pp. 192–198, ISBN 978-0861715510
  • Sundara, Ajahn; Candasiri, Ajahn (2011), Friends on the Path, ISBN 978-1-870205-24-5
  • Sundara, Ajahn; Candasiri, Ajahn; Metta, Ajahn (2013), The Body, ISBN 978-1-870205-72-6
  • Sundara, Ajahn (2014), Walking the World
  • Sundara, Ajahn (2016), Seeds of Dhamma, Amaravati Publications, pp. 1–94, ISBN 978-1-78432-046-1
  • Sundara, Ajahn (2017), Paccuppanna: The Present Moment, Amaravati Publications, pp. 1–78, ISBN 978-1-78432-079-9

See also

References

  1. ^ "Female Monastic Community". Amaravati Buddhist Monastery. Retrieved 2018-09-14.
  2. ^ "It Can be Very Simple: An interview with Ajahn Sundara". Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. Archived from the original on 14 October 2006. Retrieved 2006-09-16.
  3. ^ "Biography". dhammatalks.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2006-05-05. Retrieved 2006-09-16.
  4. ^ "British Museum Special Event - Following the Buddhist path: insights on the nature of mind". 2018-09-22. Retrieved 2018-09-19.
  5. ^ Angell, Jane (2006). "Women in Brown: a short history of the order of sīladharā, nuns of the English Forest Sangha, Part Two". Buddhist Studies Review. 23 (2). doi:10.1558/bsrv.2006.23.2.221. ISSN 1747-9681.
  6. ^ Sundara, Ajahn (February 4, 2011). "For Intérieure / 10-11". France Culture (Interview). Interviewed by Olivier Germain-Thomas. Paris.
  7. ^ Chodron, Thubten, ed. (1999). "The Theravada Sangha Goes West: The Story of Amaravati" (Paperback). Blossoms of the Dharma: Living as a Buddhist Nun. Berkeley, California: North Atlantic Books. pp. 61–74. ISBN 9781556433252.
  • Amaravati Buddhist Monastery
  • Audio recordings of 19 Dharma talks in English on the Dharma Seed library
  • Discipline et Liberté a 2011 interview on the TV show Sagesse Boudhiste on France 2 retrieved from the French on-line magazine Bouddhisme au Feminin
  • Effort Juste a 2013 interview on the TV show Sagesse Boudhiste on France 2 retrieved from the French on-line magazine Bouddhisme au Feminin
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