Anagārikā Āstha

Āstha found her way to the Dhamma at the age of 18, beginning with a talk by Alan Watts on Zen Buddhism and continuing with Walpola Rahula’s book What the Buddha Taught.

Seeking a place to fully devote herself to the path, Āstha came up against institutionalized discrimination towards gender-diverse people and decided to walk alone for a while. After giving away most of her possessions, she moved into her car and wandered the Pyrenees for three months, living in solitude among nature. She then traveled to the United States, to practice at Zen Mountain Monastery in New York’s Catskills Mountains.

On a trip to Lumbini, Nepal in 2025, she met Venerable Vimala for the first time. That seemingly random meeting eventually led Āstha to Tilorien, where she received Anagārikā ordination on 14 June 2026, with Ven. Vimala as her preceptor.