As an organization, we operate under the spiritual guidance of Bodhinyana Monastery and Santi Forest Monastery.
Our Spiritual Guides
Siddhattha Gotama
Buddha (discovered the path to liberation on his own).Siddhattha Gotama, known as the Buddha (“the Awakened One”), lived in the 6th–5th century BCE in what is now Nepal and northern India. Born into a princely family, he renounced worldly life after encountering the realities of old age, sickness, and death, setting out on a spiritual quest.
After years of practice, he attained awakening under the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, realizing the nature of suffering and the path leading to its cessation. For the next 45 years, he taught the Dhamma, and his teachings became the foundation of Buddhism, preserved and passed down to this day.
Ajahn Brahm
Abbot of Bodhinyana Monastery // PEBS Spiritual GuideAjahn Brahm (Pāli name: Brahmavaṃso) is a British Buddhist monk and meditation teacher with over 50 years of experience. He studied theoretical physics at the University of Cambridge, where he encountered Buddhism and chose the monastic path, taking ordination at the age of 23.
He trained for nine years in the Thai forest tradition under Ajahn Chah and later co-founded Bodhinyana Monastery in Australia, where he became abbot. He is widely respected for his accessible and humorous teaching of the Dhamma and supports the growth of the monastic community, including the revival of bhikkhunī ordination and the development of Buddhism in Poland.
Ajahn Brahmali
Spiritual Guide PEBS.Ajahn Brahmali was born in Norway in 1964 and became interested in Buddhism after a visit to Japan in his youth. After studying engineering and finance, he began monastic training as an anagārika at Amaravati and Chithurst monasteries in England.
Inspired by the teachings of Ajahn Brahm, he moved to Australia and was ordained in 1996 at Bodhinyana Monastery, where Ajahn Brahm became his teacher. In 2015, after 20 years of monastic life, he was awarded the title of Maha Thera.
Ayya Karunika
Spiritual Guide PEBS.Ayyā Kārunikā is a senior nun at Santi Forest Monastery in New South Wales, Australia, and the spiritual director of the New Zealand Bhikkhuni Sangha Trust in Hamilton. She has lived in the monastery for over 14 years and received full bhikkhunī ordination in 2014 at Dhammasara Nuns Monastery in Western Australia, where she trained for more than a decade under Ajahn Hāsapaññā.
A student of Ajahn Brahm and Ajahn Brahmali for over 20 years, she is dedicated to supporting the development of the bhikkhunī community worldwide. She actively contributes to projects establishing monasteries for bhikkhunīs in the Theravāda forest tradition in Australia, New Zealand, Poland, and Sri Lanka.
Ajahn Mudito
Spiritual Guide PEBS.Ajahn Mudito was born in northern Finland and after completing military service, moved to the United States, where he studied at a culinary school and worked as a chef in New York hotels. During this time, his interest in Buddhism deepened and he began a meditation practice.
A turning point came when he met Ajahn Brahm, whose teachings inspired him to pursue monastic life. In 2010, he moved to Bodhinyana Monastery in Australia and received full ordination two years later.
Ayya Tisarani
Abbess of the Sirisampanno monastery.Ayyā Tisaranī is the first fully ordained Polish bhikkhunī in the Theravāda tradition. She encountered the teachings of the Buddha in the 1990s and began monastic life in 2011, dedicating herself to meditation and the practice of Dhamma.
She has practiced in Europe and Asia and has been associated with Sirisampanno Monastery since 2015. She received sāmaṇerī ordination in 2019 and full bhikkhunī ordination in 2021 in Sri Lanka.
Venerable Vilmala
Venerable Vimala is a non-binary monastic born in the Netherlands in 1967; before ordination, they studied geophysics and completed an MBA. They became interested in meditation at a young age and encountered Buddhist teachings in 2001, practicing in the Goenka tradition.
In 2008, they took temporary ordination in Myanmar, where they became aware of gender inequality in traditional Buddhist countries. Inspired by fully ordained nuns and Ajahn Brahm, they received full bhikkhunī ordination in Los Angeles in 2016 to support the revival of the bhikkhunī lineage.
Abbess of the Tilorien monastery.
Ajahn Candā
Abbess of the Anukampa Bhikkhuni Project monastery.Ajahn Candā encountered the Dhamma in 1996 in India and practiced for many years in Asia, including in the Vipassana tradition of S.N. Goenka. She was ordained in Myanmar in 2006 and moved to Australia in 2012 to train under Ajahn Brahm.
In 2014, she received full bhikkhunī ordination at Dhammasara Monastery, and in 2016 co-founded the Anukampa Bhikkhuni project in the UK. She is a respected meditation teacher, leading retreats worldwide and supporting the development of female monasticism.
Bhante Sujato
Bhante Sujato is an Australian Buddhist monk in the Theravāda tradition and a meditation teacher. After early spiritual searching, he traveled to Thailand, where he received full ordination in 1994 in the Thai forest tradition of Ajahn Chah.
He has practiced for many years in monasteries in Thailand and Australia, including under Ajahn Brahm, and founded Santi Forest Monastery in 2003. He is a co-founder of SuttaCentral and works to support the revival of bhikkhunī ordination and the spread of early Buddhist teachings.
Founded Santi Forest Monastery.Private Hermitage
Ajahn Sunyo
Ajahn Sunyo moved to Bodhinyana Monastery in Australia in 2013 after completing his studies to become a monk. He has extensive knowledge of the Pāli language and has taught it at the monastery, as well as co-leading workshops on Early Buddhism, including Dependent Origination, with Ajahn Brahmali.
He is currently establishing a new hermitage in the Margaret River region of Australia.
Co-founder of the BAMBI
Ajahn Nitho
Co-founder of the DBNFAjahn Nitho was born in 1970 in Norway. After studying in Bergen and at the Norwegian School of Economics, he worked as a CFO before developing an interest in meditation following a two-year journey around the world. In 2007, he moved to Australia to begin monastic life under Ajahn Brahm.
After training as an anagarika and sāmaṇera, he received full bhikkhu ordination in 2009. Following over a decade of practice in Perth and time in Thailand, he returned to Oslo, where in 2021 he co-founded the Buddhist Society in Oslo and Viken, leading retreats and teaching while working to establish a Dhamma center in Norway.
Ajahn Munissarā
Ajahn Munissarā was born in 1978 in Manila to a Thai family and grew up in the Philippines, later living in Bangladesh and the United States. She developed an interest in spirituality from a young age, deepening it during her studies at Harvard under the influence of Buddhadasa Bhikkhu’s teachings.
In 2009, she took sāmaṇerī ordination and in 2012 received full bhikkhunī ordination at Dhammasara Monastery in Australia, where she now lives and teaches. She leads meditation and Dhamma talks, supporting the development of the bhikkhunī Sangha and emphasizing ethics as the foundation of practice.
Ayya Vimalanyanī
Ayya Vimalanyani is a German Buddhist nun who was ordained about eight years ago. After spending several years in Asia, she recently returned to Germany and currently lives in Berlin.
She is particularly interested in early Buddhist texts and the lifestyle of nuns during the Buddha's time. As part of her research, she translates suttas and texts on monastic discipline from ancient Chinese into English.
She is also an artist and publishes Dhamma Doodles under the pseudonym Ven. Yodha.
Private Hermitage
Venerable Sabbamittā
Sabbamittā Silashin first encountered Buddhism in her youth through Tibetan teachers and later turned to early Buddhism through the Suttas. For around 30 years, she practiced the Dhamma while working as a doctor and psychotherapist, drawing inspiration from teachers such as Ajahn Brahm and Bhante Sujato.
In 2017, she took anagārika ordination, and in 2021 she was ordained as a silashin in the Burmese tradition. She currently works on translations of Pāli Canon texts and contributes to the Voice.suttacentral.netproject.
Ayya Dhammadinnā
Co-founder & director - Āgama Research GroupBhikkhunī Dhammadinnā was born in Italy in 1980 and entered monastic life in Sri Lanka in 2012. She studied Indology, Tibetology, and philology in Naples, Tokyo, and Kyoto, earning her PhD in 2010.
Her research focuses on early Buddhist texts, Vinaya, and meditative traditions, as well as textual work and translations within the Āgama Research Group. She has practiced meditation since 1996 and has been teaching worldwide since 2017.
Polish Early Buddism Society
It is an organization whose mission is to support the practice of Dhamma based on the Early Buddhist Texts by creating spaces for practice and providing access to teachings rooted in the most ancient sources of Buddhism.
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