Teachers: Bhante Suddhāso and Ayyā Somā (In Person, Visiting from Italy)

Wed 19 Nov | 7.00-8.30pm AEDT

Location: In person at Western Sydney University, Parramatta City Campus (Entry at 1 Parramatta Square), Level 6, Room 1.6.31

or Online (Zoom link below)

Cost: Free

Change is built into our existence—at times intentional, at times unexpected. In this session, Bhante Suddhāso and Ayyā Somā will invite participants to explore how moments of transition can be met with mindfulness. Their own experience of moving from lay life to monastic life offers a perspective that may resonate with anyone sensing shifts in their path or wishing to cultivate clarity and steadiness in daily life.

About the Speakers

Bhante Suddhāso is one of the co-founders of Buddhist Insights, a non-profit organization created to help connect laypeople with Buddhist monastics.

Bhante Suddhāso is a practitioner of both Theravāda and Mahāyāna Buddhism, with a particular emphasis on the teachings found in the Pāli Suttas and the methods of practice used in Chan/Zen. His teachings focus on incorporating multiple step-by-step meditation techniques, as well as on detailed explanations of the Buddhist scriptures that provide the underlying theoretical framework for Buddhist practice.

Bhante Suddhāso has studied under the direct guidance of some of the most well-respected monastics in Western Buddhism, including Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Amaro, Ajahn Vīradhammo, and Bhante Gunaratana. His monastic life began at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, where he was trained in Soto Zen Buddhism; during that time, he discovered a deep affinity for the Theravāda Forest Tradition, which led him to receive ordination at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in California. Since then he has lived at several different monasteries from a variety of Buddhist traditions. In 2019, together with Ayyā Somā, he co-founded Empty Cloud Monastery in New Jersey, where he currently resides as co-abbot.

Ayyā Somā is an Italian Buddhist monk and co-abbot of Empty Cloud Monastery in New Jersey. A former fashion and lifestyle editor, her first encounter with Buddhist monasticism was at Santacittārāma Monastery in Italy, in the tradition of Ajahn Chah. She started practicing as a renunciant in 2016, received monastic ordination in 2018, and full bhikkhunī ordination in 2020. As the co-founder of Buddhist Insights, a non-profit organization connecting people with monastics, she has learned the Dharma through the perspective of monks of all different traditions like Bhante Suddhāso, Bhikkhu Bodhi, Ajahn Pasanno, Ven. Robina Courtin, Khenmo Drolma, Ajahn Brahm, Thich Phap Hai, Ven. Paññavati, and Bhante Gunaratana

Hybrid event: Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in an interactive session in person at the Metta Centre or online by clicking on this link to access the session: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83506489824?pwd=cmpNQ1ljSmFVYURLWVN1dWllYUN1dz09 Alternatively, you can dial in from your telephone (call charges apply): +61 2 8015 6011 | Meeting ID: 835 0648 9824| Passcode: 718905

If you are feeling unwell, please consider staying at home and joining online instead.