{"id":8425,"date":"2024-10-16T09:48:08","date_gmt":"2024-10-16T07:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.samita.be\/?page_id=8425"},"modified":"2026-05-16T12:00:40","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T10:00:40","slug":"tilorien-monastery","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.samita.be\/en\/tilorien-monastery\/","title":{"rendered":"Tilorien Monastery"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Tilorien Monastery is a monastic community based on Early Buddhist teachings. Our values are inspired by kindness, equality, inclusivity, and environmental sustainability. We provide a place of practice for Bhikkhunis while also supporting other female monastics, LGBTIQ+ people, and other underrepresented groups to develop in the Dhamma. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

In April 2017, the humble beginnings of Tilorien Monastery were formed in the Belgian Ardennes. The Sangha still lived in very basic conditions, in a tree house and a tent in a kind supporter\u2019s garden. In 2018 the building of the Monastery in Engreux commenced and it was finished in 2019.<\/p>\n

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Supporting the Sangha<\/h2>\n

‘When a gift is given, it makes the mind serene.
\nGratification & joy arise,’
\none gives a gift with the thought,
\n‘This is an ornament for the mind, a support for the mind.’<\/p>\n

\u2014 AN 7.52<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Giving (D\u0101na) is a fundamental practice in Buddhism to develop the mind for both monastics and lay practitioners. Monastics freely give the Dhamma. They devote their life to fully develop the Buddhist path to be able to share their insight with others and to inspire them. This Dhamma is invaluable to the world. All dhamma talks and stays at the monastery are therefore made available free of charge. Lay practitioners however have the opportunity to give donations according to their means and inspiration.<\/p>\n

In the Theravada tradition, monastics don’t use money. They depend on the lay community to provide their material needs. They have renounced the world in order to be able to fully focus on their spiritual development.<\/p>\n

By following this practice set up by the Buddha, both the lay community and the Sangha mutually depend on each other. This fosters a sense of community and responsibility for each other.<\/p>\n

There are several ways to support Tilorien Buddhist Monastery:<\/p>\n

— Donating Food<\/a>: Some basic foods are always required like nuts and seeds, oats, breakfast cereals, canned foods, etc.\u00a0 (You can find the address and instructions for sending on our contact page<\/a>)<\/em>
\n— Financial Support<\/a><\/p>\n

Monastics<\/h2>\n

\"ordination\"<\/a>
\nVen. Vimala Bhikkhuni<\/a> is the founder of Tilorien Monastery and one of the founders of Samita ASBL. They were ordained as Bhikkhuni in 2016 and has been living at Tilorien Monastery since 2018. Ven. Vimala was also one of the main developers of BuddhaNexus.net<\/a> at the University of Hamburg and was a frontend developer for SuttaCentral.net<\/a> from 2013-2018.<\/p>\n

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Sayalay Su\u00f1\u00f1anand\u012b<\/a> (Sunya for short) was ordained in Frankfurt, Germany, on August 9, 2025 by\u00a0Ven. Kusalasami<\/a>, founder of\u00a0Dhammachaya Buddhist Center, Denmark<\/a>, as a 10-precept nun (S\u012blashin) in the Burmese tradition. She was ordained as Anag\u0101rik\u0101 at Tilorien Monastery in 2021 and has been staying part-time at the monastery since 2024, while also staying in the USA and Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, she resides at the\u00a0Sri Subodha Meditation Center, Ambuluwawa<\/a>\u00a0where she studies with her teacher Ven. Dhammashanti, a senior disciple of the late\u00a0Rev. Dr. Madawela Punnaji<\/a>, and is enrolled for a Diploma of Buddhist Studies at\u00a0SIBARI<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ayya Anandabodhi Bhikkhuni<\/a> and Ayya Santacitta Bhikkhuni<\/a> are the Spiritual Advisors of Tilorien Monastery.<\/p>\n

Program and visiting<\/h2>\n

For information about visiting or staying at the monastery, please visit the visitors page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you live too far to visit, or would like to have some support for your daily practice, you can follow our online iSangha program<\/a>!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Tilorien Monastery is a monastic community based on Early Buddhist teachings. Our values are inspired by kindness, equality, inclusivity, and environmental sustainability. We provide a place of practice for Bhikkhunis while also supporting other female monastics, LGBTIQ+ people,…
Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-8425","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samita.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samita.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samita.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samita.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samita.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8425"}],"version-history":[{"count":80,"href":"https:\/\/www.samita.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9442,"href":"https:\/\/www.samita.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8425\/revisions\/9442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samita.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}