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Thanissara

Thanissara

Thanissara embodies the integration of the contemplative with the activist. Trained in the Ajahn Chah Forest Tradition, she was a monastic for 12 years. She and husband Kittisaro founded Dharmagiri in South Africa where they integrated activism on AIDS with hosting Theravadan retreats. As senior teachers at Spirit Rock, Thanissara and Kittisaro later co-founded Sacred Mountain Sangha based in California. She has an MA in Mindfulness-Based Psychotherapy from the UK, and is author of several books, including Time to Stand Up: An Engaged Buddhist Manifesto for Our Earth — The Buddha’s Life and Message through Feminine Eyes.
Photo by Joanne Francis

Of Endings and Risings

A Brutal Year Ends as Extinction Rebellion Rise
In this intensely personal piece, Thanissara reflects on the events of 2018 and the unprecedented challenges to humanity they represent. She invites us to perceive their deep roots in the domination mindset and how we can, out of sheer necessity, respond with a fierce clarity of heart.
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“Defend the Sacred” Photo by Red Hawk (Ryan Vizzions)

A Living Prayer

Report from Standing Rock
"What one is bequeathed through the gift of Standing Rock is a clarified, strong, heart, burning with a light of commitment and hope in the face of incalculable odds."
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attack on Buddhist template

Time to Stand Up

Dharma teacher and activist Thanissara urges us to move "beyond a personal introversion and quietism" and apply the Buddha's radical teachings to the catastrophe of climate change and its underlying causes.
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buddha-cross

“Praised Be!”

Affirming Pope Francis' Message to the World
People of faith around the world are joining with Pope Francis in his message to all people of the world: the time to act swiftly and decisively on climate change is now.
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A Path of Wise Action

A San Francisco Insight Sangha Insight News Interview with Thanissara
With the People's Climate March just three weeks away, Dharma teacher Thanissara suggests that the Buddhist perspective has much to contribute to this activist moment.
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No Mud, No Lotus

— Thích Nhất Hạnh

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