The Venerable One is a fully ordained Buddhist nun (bhikkhuni), Theravāda tradition and Dhamma teacher. The Venerable Visuddhi is characterized by kind-heartedness, generosity, and disinterest in personal gain. If you are lucky enough to spend more time with her, you will love her for her energy, zest for life and unshakable optimism, which, in the short time she has been back in the Czech Republic, has enabled her to create so much.
The first teacher who greatly inspired Venerable and led her to the path of the Buddha’s teachings was Venerable Rewatadhamma Sayado, an eminent Theravāda Buddhist monk and an outstanding expert on Abhidhamma from Myanmar. In 2003, after Venerable Visuddhi had followed the Dhamma for many years as a practicing layperson at the Dhammapala Buddhist monastery in Switzerland, she went to Sri Lanka where she was ordained as a sāmanerī. She lived a simple life with other nuns in seclusion in Sri Gothamī ārāmaya in Olabudowa, a small poor village. With her teacher, bhikkhunī Matale Vijitha, and other nuns, she concentrated on teaching Dhamma, social work, and caring for the poor and suffering. Bhikkhunī Visuddhi’s main focus has always been on children living in extreme poverty: she taught Dhamma Sunday School in Olabudowa and Srī Sambodhi Vihāraya in Colombo, and founded the “Children of the Sun” project. Its aim is to enable children from poor families to be educated and to have at least the basics of life.
In 2006, for ten months, Venerable studied and trained at Fo Guang Shan Monastery near Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and ordained as a Dharmaguptaka bhiksun at Tzu Yun Monastery in Nanziya, Taiwan. In February 2007, she returned to Srī Gothamī ārāmy in Sri Lanka and continued to live in her bhikkhunī community there. Venerable Visuddhi also practiced, for over a decade, as a student and later assistant teacher of Venerable Bhante Pemasiri, who is one of the most respected and experienced traditional meditation teachers in Sri Lanka.
In 2008, Venerable Visuddhi began regularly visiting monasteries in Europe such as Anenja Vihāra in Germany and Dhammapala in Switzerland. In 2012, with her supporters, she established her monastic abode (bhikkhunī ārāma) called Karunā Sevena (Abode of Compassion), located in Prostějov. In 2015, the Venerable completed the Dalhīkamma Vinaya ceremony and admission to the Theravāda Bhikkhu and Bhikkhunī Sangha in Sri Lanka. In 2016, Venerable Visuddhi completed her tenth vassa and thus became a bhikkhunī therī (senior nun).
In 2016, thanks to generous donations, a major renovation took place at ārāma Karunā Sevena, during which a new meditation hall was built. The monastic abode was thus opened to practitioners interested in meditation. With the new space, there was an opportunity to stay in retreat under the guidance of Venerable Bhikkhunī Visuddhi. The Venerable herself focuses mainly on cultivating ethics and good qualities as part of her studies and training,
