Ayya Sudhamma Bhikkhuni is an American Theravāda Buddhist nun, teacher, and abbess of Charlotte Buddhist Vihara in North Carolina. Originally trained as an attorney, she practiced law before a serious battle with cancer prompted a profound reassessment of her life and priorities. During her recovery, she encountered Buddhist teachings, which inspired her to pursue a path of spiritual practice and service.

In 1997, she entered monastic training under Bhante Henepola Gunaratana and, in 2003, became the first American-born woman to receive full Theravāda bhikkhunī ordination in Sri Lanka. Since then, she has devoted her life to teaching meditation, sharing the Buddha’s teachings, and supporting the revival of the bhikkhunī lineage for women. She has been a prominent advocate for the revival and recognition of Buddhist women's monastic ordination and was honored as an “Outstanding Woman in Buddhism” at a United Nations–associated ceremony in Bangkok in 2006.

Today, Ayya Sudhamma teaches meditation, Buddhist philosophy, and monastic practice both in person and online. Her journey from legal professional and cancer survivor to pioneering Buddhist monastic has made her an influential figure in contemporary Theravāda Buddhism.

Ayya Yeshe ordained in 2001, a contemplative, and the founder of Bodhicitta Foundation India - an engaged Buddhist grassroots charity for women and children in the slums of central India. Ayya lived 13 years in an Indian slum. After studying the Dharma five years in Australia and many years in India, Ayya has also founded Bodhicitta Dakini Monastery Australia (Tasmania) which is a place for those wishing to train as monastics for deepen their spiritual practice in beautiful wilderness. Ayya has studied Buddhism in the Nyingma (her major practice), Sakya and Theravada traditions. Her Monastery is a fusion of Tibetan Buddhism and Theravada called the Mahayana Forest tradition. Ayya was ordained as a fully ordained nun by Thich Nhat Hanh and as a novice by Chobgye Trichen Rinpoche. Her teachers are Bhante Sujato,  Thich Nhat Hanh, The Dalai Lama and Teachers from the Northern Treasures Nyingma tradition. She travels internationally to teach and maintain her charity in India. Bodhicitta Foundation currently has 22 employees and four nuns and  a girls home in India.

www.bodhicitta-vihara.com  India 

www.bodhicitta-monastery.com  Australia 

Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo is a British-born Tibetan Buddhist nun, meditation master, author, and internationally respected teacher in the Drukpa Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Widely known for her unwavering commitment to contemplative practice and her lifelong advocacy for women in Buddhism, she has become one of the most influential Buddhist nuns of the modern era.

Born Diane Perry in London in 1943, she discovered Buddhism as a teenager and quickly realized that it was the path she wished to dedicate her life to. In 1964, she traveled to India, where she became one of the first Western women to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun under the guidance of the 8th Khamtrul Rinpoche. At a time when opportunities for women in Tibetan monasticism were limited, she devoted herself to studying Buddhist philosophy, meditation, and monastic discipline alongside the monks of Khampagar Monastery.

Seeking to deepen her practice, Jetsunma later spent twelve years in solitary retreat in a remote Himalayan cave, including three years in strict retreat without leaving the cave. Her extraordinary story was brought to international attention through Vicki Mackenzie's Cave in the Snow. Since then, she has dedicated herself to teaching the Dharma worldwide, founding Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery in India to provide women with a full monastic education, and co-founding the Alliance of Non-Himalayan Nuns (ANHN), an organization that supports and promotes educational and spiritual opportunities for Buddhist nuns from non-Himalayan regions. Through her teachings, writings, and example, Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo continues to inspire practitioners around the world with her life of profound meditation, compassion, and unwavering dedication to the Buddhist path.

Venerable Ayya Mārajinā is a Theravāda Buddhist monastic, teacher, translator, and co-founder of Theravada Cuba, where she serves as lead teacher and spiritual guide. She resides at Bhava Nirodha Nilaya in Fort White, Florida, where she writes, translates, and teaches online in Spanish and English, while offering daily virtual meditation sittings.

Her path to monastic life developed gradually. After pursuing doctoral studies and working as a high school teacher and adjunct professor, she eventually left academia and moved to an off-grid rural farm, where she operated a small humane dairy. Her close relationships with the cows brought a deeper understanding of care, attachment, and impermanence, particularly as she confronted the painful reality that the animals she cared for could not remain with her indefinitely.

She later discovered Theravāda Buddhism through the Access to Insight website and began studying and meditating. The deaths of her beloved aunt and uncle from cancer, whom she had helped care for, brought the realities of aging, illness, and death into sharp focus and became a decisive inspiration toward the Holy Life.

In 2010, she traveled to Aranya Bodhi Hermitage in California, receiving higher ordination on May 6, 2012, with Venerable Ayya Tathāloka as her preceptor.

Ayya Mārajinā is committed to establishing Theravāda Buddhism as a fourfold community in Cuba. Theravada Cuba, located in East Havana, provides a residential space dedicated to meditation and practice. Despite continuing economic hardship and uncertainty, she continues working to create conditions where the Dhamma can take root and flourish.

www.bhavanirodha.blog  (English)

www.bhavanirodha.org (Spanish)

www.theravadacuba.org (Spanish)

https://www.facebook.com/marajina.bhikkhuni

https://www.khachodling.org/