Lineage Stories with Kittisaro, Thanissara and Yong Oh
This is an online annual series of Fall, Winter and Spring Lineage Story Circles, spanning the next 3 (or more) years.
About this Program
This program was recorded live on January 23, 2025.
Welcome friends.
Five sanghas from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta have come together to create this special lineage story series. Read more about us. And, we are delighted to be partnering with IMS Online to bring this to the wider sangha. We offer a warm prairie welcome to all practitioners!
Our vision is to have our teachers share stories about their teachers, to honour our gratitude to the Asian roots of the practice; to give a sense of these teachings being handed down, generation to generation; and to give current practitioners a sense of carrying this precious gift forward.
Our collective practice is primarily rooted in the Burmese and Thai Forest lineages through Mahasi Sayadaw and Ajahn Mun, and, is also influenced by many other traditions. We will build a virtual lineage image as we go along, to create a visual sense of our practice and its roots.
During this session, these beloved teachers shared stories of their beloved teachers from the Theravada Thai Forest Tradition as well as exploring how the Theravada and Mahayana traditions balance and support one another. This session also explored how our lineage and practice support wise and strong action in our world for climate, peace, and social justice.
Meet Your Teacher
Kittisaro .
Kittisaro graduated from Princeton as a Rhodes Scholar and went on to Oxford before going to Thailand to ordain with Ajahn Chah in 1976. He was a monk for 15 years, during that time helped found Chithurst Monastery and Devon Vihara in the UK, trained monks, was a prison Chaplain, and taught extensively. He disrobed in 1991 and since then has taught internationally. He co-founded Dharmagiri Sacred Mountain Retreat in 2000 and helped initiate and support a number of HIV/Aids response projects in South Africa. He has studied and practiced Chan and Pure Land for 35 years, informed by the Chinese school of Master Hua, and has completed two year-long silent self-retreats. With Thanissara, he is co-author of Listening to the Heart, A Contemplative Journey to Engaged Buddhism. Also with Thanissara, he is co-founder of Dharmagiri Sacred Mountain Retreat in South Africa, and Sacred Mountain Sangha, a public charity in Sebastopol. Kittisaro is a member of the Spirit Rock Teacher Council.
Thanissara .
Thanissara started Buddhist practice in the Burmese school in 1975. She was inspired to ordain after meeting Ajahn Chah and spent 12 years as a Buddhist nun, where she was a founding member of Chithurst Monastery and Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in the UK. She has facilitated meditation retreats internationally for the last 30 years and has an MA in Mindfulness-Based Psychotherapy Practice from Middlesex University & the Karuna Institute in the UK. With Kittisaro, she co-founded Dharmagiri Sacred Mountain Retreat and helped initiate and support a number of HIV/Aids response projects in South Africa. She has written several books, including two poetry books. Her latest book is Time To Stand Up, An Engaged Buddhist Manifesto for Our Earth. Thanissara is a member of the Spirit Rock Teacher Council.
Yong Oh
Yong is a Dharma Council teacher at the Durango Dharma Center and a core teacher for Sacred Mountain Sangha, and is also a visiting teacher for other community centers across North America. He teaches retreats at the Insight Meditation Society, Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Big Bear Retreat Center, and Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center. He is a graduate of the 4-year Insight Meditation Society Retreat Teacher Training program, Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s 2-year Community Dharma Leaders program, and the Sacred Mountain Sangha 2-year Dharmapala training, taught by his primary teachers Kittisaro and Thanissara. Yong is also a retired acupuncturist, is passionate about Nature and Dharma, and has particular interests in devotional expression, supporting caregivers, and offering teachings to communities of color in the Dharma.
More Information
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Additional Questions
If you have additional questions please contact us at [email protected].