Venerable . Ariya Nyani

Venerable Sister Ariya Nyani was born and raised in a small town in Switzerland . She was trained as a music teacher. In 1992 she went to Burma to study with Sayadaw U Janaka, a senior teacher in the Mahasi Sayadaw tradition.

She ordained as a nun at his centre, Chanmyay Yeiktha in Rangoon , and has been staying in Burma on and off until now. When the forest centre of Chanmyay Yeiktha opened in 1996, Venerable Ariya Nyani became the guide and teacher for the foreign yogis, looking after their needs as well as translating during interviews, and giving teachings herself.

Since 1999 she has been guiding vipassana retreats in Europe (Beatenberg meditation centre and other venues in Switzerland , and elsewhere), as well as in Australia and the U.S. She has been coming to Passaddhi on a regular basis. Venerable Ariya Nyani will be teaching a month-long vipassana retreat at Passaddhi in August 2007.

She has translated several books of her teachers’ discourses from Burmese into English and German, notably Metta, The Practice of Loving Kindness as the Foundation for Insight Meditation Practice by Sayadaw U Indaka. She is currently working on editing and retranslating the classic commentary on the Satipatthana Sutta (the vipassana root text) by the Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw.