Venerable Dhammadinna -Updated Statement-January 7, 2016

I was born in a Buddhist family. My parents came from poverty. My father got married at age 18 to my mother who was 16 years of age.In their adulthood they had to integrate into the French and thenthe American system in Saigon where they raised their family. Buddhism is practiced as Ancestor Worship and my parents do not take their children to learn Buddhism. During the Vietnam War my only exposure to a physical Buddhist Temple is when my Grandfather occasionally brought me to The Buddha’s Birthday Celebration andto the Vietnamese New Year event at Vinh-Nghiem Buddhist Pagoda inthe South of Vietnam. I was basically taught by my parents that being aBuddhist is to not commit harm to anyone, to have compassion for otherbeings, to not tell lies, to not take what is not given, majorly to obey and to care for parents when they get old and sick. I came to the U.S as a refugee of war with my parents and sisters in 1975. It was only when I found that being an art teacher is not enough for me that I visited a branch of Vinh-Nghiem Pagoda in the City of Pomona, CA to try to learn What Buddhism is! I was told by the Nunsthat I have the potential to become a Nun myself. But I hesitated then to become a Nun knowing that being a radical lesbian within the 1990s Vietnamese religious and community of Vietnamese cannot be accepted.After my mother’s passing in 2012, I became confident in my search for the Buddha’s mother and the Teaching of the historical Buddha. I found Mahapajapati Monastery in PioneerTown of Yucca Valley via the internet. I arrived there and studied as a no-body under the mentorship of the Abbess, Ayya Gunasari originally from Burma. In November of 2014 I was ordained as a Ten Precepts Nun, as Samaneri Dhammadinna in the Sry Lanka Theravada Lineage by Bhante, Walpola Pyananda, the Abbott of Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara in Los Angeles.As a Nun-Aritst I realizes that my contribution parallels my attitude in embracing, comprehending and transferring the Teachings of The Buddha in a contemporary way. A more engaged Buddhist practice and direct involvement with the difficulties of life can serve as anecdotes to sufferings, greed, anger and violence. It is possible we can cultivate a Free Energy Clarity dimension in creativity with deeper understanding, of a more compassionate and non-harming planet.