Ayya Cittananda

Ayya Cittananda stepped onto the Buddhist path in 2005 when a college philosophy class inspired her to visit and practice at monasteries. After completing a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing and working as a registered nurse in a Texas hospital, she lived as a monastic at a small Pure Land/Chan monastery in Florida for a year before moving to California. She spent two years living and working in Redwood Valley while making daily visits to Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery, and sitting long retreats at various monasteries and meditation centers. She left Redwood Valley in 2013 in search of a place to ordain as a Theravadan nun, spending six months at the Ajahn Chah lineage monasteries in England and Scotland, seven months at Aloka Vihara in Placerville, and shorter stays at a couple of other bhikkhuni monasteries. She finally landed at Karuna Buddhist Vihara on a “less-impermanent” basis. She received her full Bhikkhuni ordination in May 2018 with KBV in California. Over the years, her practice has been guided by her teacher, Ayya Santussika, and the Thai Forest masters she visits regularly in Thailand.