Picture of Thanissara

Thanissara

Thanissara (she/her) started Buddhist practice in the Burmese school in 1975. She was inspired to ordain after meeting Ajahn Chah and spent 12 years as a Buddhist monastic as a founding member of Chithurst Monastery and Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in the UK. She has facilitated meditation retreats internationally for the last 30 years and has an MA in Mindfulness-Based Psychotherapy Practice from Middlesex University & the Karuna Institute in the UK. With Kittisaro, she co-founded Dharmagiri Sacred Mountain Retreat and helped initiate and support a number of HIV/Aids response projects in South Africa. Together, they also co-founded Sacred Mountain Sangha in California.  She has written several books, including two poetry books and Time To Stand Up, An Engaged Buddhist Manifesto for Our Earth.

Standing in Fierce Compassion in this Age of Reckoning

As extractive systems collapse and uncertainty rises, how do we stay present and act with wisdom? This session explores Dharma teachings and meditative grounding for meeting grief and the call to disrupt and reimagine with courage.
EcoDharma
EcoDharma

Seeing, Confronting, and Resisting Empire

These times are terrifying. Thanissara’s sober words beckon our practice to rise, bear witness, and resist.

Moving toward Atonement, Advocacy,
and Communion with Earth

In an age of separation, how might we bring ourselves back into sacred relationship with Earth? On February 26, Thanissara led this EcoDharma Exploration on activism rooted in radical belonging.

Cultivating the Conditions for Transformation

In this second session, we will especially make space for difficult emotions, such as fear, grief, and rage. We can investigate the narratives that support these emotions and how they might be loosened, meeting our habitual defensive responses not only with kindness but with clarity, courage, and determination.
EcoDharma
EcoDharma

A World in Free Fall Calls Us to Rise Up

As the old paradigm of endless growth, extraction, and exploitation proves increasingly unable to sustain its contradictions, Thanissara invites us to step fearlessly into the radical, collective transformation that is already underway.
EcoDharma
EcoDharma

Part 2: Thanissara

Thanissara, a frequent and cherished partner of One Earth Sangha, gave the second talk of our Standing in Solidarity gathering.

Cultivating the Conditions for Transformation

In this second session, we will especially make space for difficult emotions, especially fear, grief, and rage. We can investigate the narratives that support these emotions and how they might be loosened, meeting our habitual defensive responses not only with kindness but with clarity, courage, and determination. This is an ambitious journey, one that requires not only safety and compassion, but also a certain boldness. We are challenging massive forces and patterns; Mara doesn’t go down easy (and gets back up). So we can also purposefully discover and nourish our wholesome ambition.

An Extended Earth Day Exploration

In April 2021, Thanissara, Pennie Opal Plant, and Alison Ehara-Brown led an extended exploration of the mutually enriching traditions of Buddhism and Indigenous wisdom.
Practice
Practice
Tap into the sacred power of community, even as we remain separated from one another in space. The recording of the Kuan Yin Compassion Ceremony, led by Thanissara and Kittisaro on November 8, is now available to all who wish to participate.
Practice
Practice

Background Resource

If you wish to learn the history and practice key components of the ceremony before participating, start here.