Venerable Virañani

Ayya Vīrañāṇi began to practice meditation in 1979, as a scientist and conservation biologist in Hawai’i and New Zealand. In the mid-1990s, she began to practice more intensively, and in 2003 took novice ordination in the Burmese lineage of Mahasi Sayadaw. She took permanent ordination in Burma with Sayadaw U Pandita on New Year 2006, and until recently has mostly resided at the Chanmyay Myaing Meditation Centre in Myanmar. She was one of the editors (for Pāḷi and English) of the translation from the Burmese of Mahasi Sayadaw’s Manual of Insight published by Wisdom Publications. She teaches mettā and vipassanā meditation retreats worldwide.