Sāmaṇerī Arindamā’s ordination

In July 2023 Sayalay Uttara took new vows at Anenja Vihāra monastery, Germany, and was ordained as a sāmaṇerī (novice nun). She received the name Arindamā which means “a tamer of enemies, victor, conqueror”. This step prepares the way for full ordination as a bhikkhuni.

Sāmaṇerī Arindamā was able to spend much of 2023 at Anenja Vihāra during which time she was able to receive the guidance of her preceptor, Bhikkhuni Phalanyani, and she will spend this year’s vassa (the traditional three-month rains retreat) at the monastery. It has given her a wonderful chance to deepen her practice in the company of a community of bhikkhunis, sāmaṇerīs, anagārikas (eight precept postulants) and lay people.

Arindamā feels so much gratitude towards her preceptor, Bhikkhuni Phalanyani, who guided her and continues to guide her throughout the ordination process. She is also very grateful to Venerable Vimala, who supported and encouraged her in her first steps.

The chance to consider taking this new step in monastic life was made possible thanks to the generous support of a lay follower, Aminah, who offered herself as an assistant and to whom Sāmaṇerī Arindamā is likewise very grateful.

Similarly, Arindamā has also emphasized her gratitude to all the volunteers who, in one way or another, made it possible to found and grow Saraṇa Vihāra amid the Mediterranean forests of Montseny.

Copied!

First steps in the Dhamma: India and Burma

The early years of Arindamã’s Dhamma path date back to her encounter with the nun, Venerable Candā, in India. Soon after, in 2008, she was ordained as a nun at the Thé Phyu Taw Ya monastery in Burma, taking Sayadaw U Pannajota as her preceptor.

At that time she was given the name Sayalay Uttara and spent two years in a Yangon monastery. She then moved to the Maha Myaing Forest, Burma, where she spent the next five years in solitude and silence, practicing the Vipassanā technique under the guidance of her teacher.

After this, for various reasons, including family commitments, she disrobed and spent a few years as a laywoman until her re-ordination as a sayalay in 2020.

Copied!

A bhikkhuni sangha for Spanish speakers

Sāmaṇerī Arindamā is currently preparing for her final ordination as bhikkhuni.

Her vision is to initiate and help a sangha of bhikkhunis flourish among Spanish-speaking women, both from Spain and Latin America. In this way, she wishes to help the line of female ordination started by Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī more than 25 centuries ago to grow.

In many Buddhist countries this linage was considered to have died out, but in recent decades the bhikkhuni sangha has been developing, thanks to the courage and commitment of many women, as well as the support of monks and lay men. The vision of fully restoring the fourfold assembly (of bhikkhus, bhikkhunis, lay men and lay women) that the Buddha created has slowly started to be fulfilled. In Sri Lanka and Thailand there are flourishing bhikkhuni sanghas highly valued by their communities. Little by little, it has also been possible to grow the bhikkhuni presence in the West: in America, Australia and also in Europe.

Hopefully the Buddha’s vision of establishing mutually supportive communities of monastics and laypeople of both sexes will become a reality also in Spain and Latin America for the benefit of many.