Ayya Niyyānika

Ayya Niyyānika is a fully ordained Buddhist monastic in the Theravada tradition. Ayya uses they/them pronouns.

Ayya received their initial monastic training within the Dhammadharini Bhikkhunī community from 2014 through 2019 in Sonoma County, CA, USA and then was with the Aloka Vihara community, near Placerville, CA, USA for three years. Practicing within these monastic communities gave them a deeper understanding of renunciation, the importance of Saṇgha, and enhanced their wish to fully realize the goal of monastic life. 2023 and some of 2024 were dedicated to travel, integration, and deepening in practice. They visited a variety of monastic and lay communities in the West and in Asia, taking time for retreat and study as well as community involvement.

In 2024, Ayya Niyyānika joined Ayyā Suvijjānā in starting Passaddhi Vihara in Olympia, WA. Passaddhi Vhara’s focus is the great teachings of the Buddha and the training he laid out that is liberating, leading to the heart’s release, and the ending of suffering. Having grown up on Whidbey Island in Washington State, Ayya Niyyānika feels like this is a returning home both geographically and into the teachings of the Buddha.

Their practice focus is cultivation of an open, expansive, warm hearted body/mind state that is strong and kind. They find this effective for study and integration of the teachings from the Early Buddhist Suttas and Monastic Discipline into the lived reality of monastic life in the modern world. Ayya Niyyānika cares about deepening meditation and increasing a wise compassion in engagement with daily activities.

For more information about Ayya Niyyānika, you may visit https://niyyanika.org/

Talks by Ayya Niyyānika can be found at https://www.youtube.com/@PassaddhiVihara