Ayya Santacitta
Ayya Santacitta was born in Austria and did her graduate studies in Cultural Anthropology, focusing on dance, theatre and ritual. She also worked in avant-garde dance theatre as a performer and costume designer. In 1988 she met Ajahn Buddhadasa in southern Thailand, who sparked her interest in Buddhist monastic life. She trained as a nun in England and Asia from 1993 until 2009, primarily in the lineage of Ajahn Chah. Since 2002, she has also received teachings in the lineage of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.
Ayya Santacitta co-founded Aloka Vihara in 2009 and received Bhikkhuni Ordination in 2011. She is committed to Gaia as a living being and resides at Aloka Earth Room, currently located in San Rafael, CA.
Useful Links
Personal Links
Links for Aloka Vihara Forest Monastery Nuns’ Community
Featured Audio Talk
May 6, 2021 - The Four Brahmaviharas are Craving Transformed
Mettā comes from allowing things to be just what they are, and seeing clearly the conditioned nature of all of it. Start where you are, bringing mindfulness to your present moment experience, whatever it is. We all have difficult emotions! When we can be with them in the present, with the support of the precepts, we can hold that experience and allow ourselves to be cooked soft—transformed through the turmoil of that energy. Going through the fire, let yourself be cooked by the unknown, with the clear knowing that it’s going to change—because it always does.