The Santipada Buddhist Monastery
of New Zealand is dedicated to providing opportunities for monastics and laypeople to learn and practice the liberating teachings of the Buddha. Our tradition is Zen/Theravada, which is a balanced combination of Zen Buddhism with Theravada Tradition. We are open and respectful to all other traditions that embody the Central Doctrine of the Buddha: Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path.
Santipada is a fourfold sangha of monastics (Bikkhu and Bikkhuni) and lay persons (Upasaka and Upasika) committed to learning and practice the virtue, morality, and meditation to gain the Quality of the Buddha: “The Awakened One”.
Bhante (Ayya) Yasala is the abbot of the monastery who ordained as a Bhikkuni (Female Monk) in the Korean Zen tradition in 1984. After completion of four years study of the Buddhist Doctrine, she practiced Zen meditation during a four-year intensive silent retreat in a remote mountain area. Later, Bhante went to Myanmar and India to practice meditation and learn the Theravadan tradition. In 2003, she came to New Zealand to share her experiences on meditation and the wisdom of Buddhism. Bhante Yasala is in charge of the monastery as an Abbot and responsible to train the female novice monastics.
Bhante Anuttara was born in Korea in 1967. He studied Sociology and Art and as a young man was active in social movements protesting military regimes in Korea. During this time, Bhante experienced a life-threatening coma following a heavy accident, which led him on a spiritual search. First, he lived in India for 10 years to quench his thirst on Dhamma. Thereafter he lived in Germany for 10 years as a Calligraphy Artist and as a lay Buddhist practitioner. Bhante Anuttara became an ordained Monastic under Korean Zen lineage in 2008 and shifted into Korean Theravada Tradition in 2010. After working for the revival of Indian Buddhism, Bhante came to New Zealand in 2015 to support Santipada Monastery’s aspiration to build a fourfold Sangha and Meditation Monastery in the Far North.