Thanissara (Linda Mary Peacock Weinberg) From an Anglo-Irish family in London, started Buddhist practice in the Burmese school in 1975. She was inspired to ordain after meeting Ajahn Chah and spent 12 years as a Buddhist nun, initially as a mae chee (eight precept nun), then as a nun in the siladhara order, based on the ten precept ordination. She one of the first women to take ordination in the UK. During her monastic life she became interested in the placement of the feminine within Buddhism and helped found Dhamma retreats for families and children. She was a founding member of Chithurst Monastery and Amaravati Buddhist Monastery. Thanissara has facilitated meditation retreats internationally the last 25 years and has an MA in Buddhist Psychotherapy from Middlesex University & the Karuna Institute in the UK. She has written a book of poetry, 'Garden of the Midnight Rosary'. Thanissara is co-facilitator of the Community Dharma Leader Program at Spirit Rock Meditation Centre CA, USA. She is director of Dharmagiri Hermitage and Outreach in South Africa and also guides an affiliated HIV/AIDS program. She is also a facilitator for the community Dhamma leader program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California. Thanissara has been married to Kittisaro since 1992. They spent 7 years as guiding teachers of the Buddhist Retreat Centre KwaZulu S.Africa and then went onto found Dharmagiri Hermitage on the border of Lesotho. They and co-founded several HIV/Aids Outreach Programs and currently support Kuluingile Project, a home for children left vulnerable due to HIV/Aids run by Sister Abegail Ntleko, award winner of the Dalai Lama Unsung Hero Award. They lead retreats in Europe, the US and Israel and regularly host one to three month retreats at Dharmagiri Hermitage. They are currently resident in Chattanooga, TN, USA.