Ven Canda encountered the Dhamma in 1996 in India. She meditated and served on scores of Vipassana retreats, before ordaining in Burma in 2006. In 2014 she received the full bhikkhuni ordination with Ajahn Brahm in Australia, making her the first English bhikkhuni in the Theravada tradition.
For the last nine years, she and Ajahn Brahm have been developing the UK charity, Anukampa Bhikkhuni Project, aimed at establishing a Forest Monastery where, for the first time in UK history, women will be able to train as full members of the monastic Sangha. In March 2024, a suitable property was secured in a tranquil forested hamlet called Boars’ Hill, just five miles from Oxford city. People of every gender identity, race, sexual orientation and background are welcome to visit or stay as residential guests, to deepen their practice alongside spiritual friends.
Besides running the charity and monastery, Ven Canda teaches extensively and spends 3-4 months a year on silent retreat. Her Dhamma teachings are richly informed by the compassion and pragmatism of the Early Buddhist texts and her meditation instructions emphasise kindness and letting go as means to deepening samadhi and developing liberating insight.