CHITHURST BUDDHIST MONASTERY
Guiding Elders
Luang Por Sumedho
Founding Abbot
Luang Por Sumedho (Ajahn Sumedho) was born in Seattle, Washington in 1934. After serving four years in the US Navy as a medic, he completed a BA in Far Eastern Studies and a MA in South Asian Studies.
In 1966, he went to Thailand to practise meditation at Wat Mahathat in Bangkok. Not long afterwards he went forth as a novice monk in a remote part of the country, Nong Khai, and a year of solitary practice followed; he received full admission into the Sangha in 1967 ...
Luang Por Sucitto
Guiding Elder
Luang Por Sucitto was the abbot of Cittaviveka – Chithurst Buddhist Monastery from 1992 until 2014. He was born in London and went forth as a bhikkhu in Thailand in March 1976. Luang Por Sucitto returned to Britain in 1978 and took up training under Luang Por Sumedho at the Hampstead Buddhist Vihara. In 1979 he was one of the small group of monks, led by Luang Por Sumedho, who established Cittaviveka – Chithurst Buddhist Monastery. In 1981 he was sent up to Northumberland to set up ...
Ajahn Karuniko
Guiding Elder
Ajahn Karuniko was born in Greater Manchester in 1953. After graduating in Electronic Engineering in 1975 he worked for several years before coming to take up residence as a novice at Cittaviveka in 1982. He became a bhikkhu in 1984 at Cittaviveka with Ajahn Sumedho as his preceptor. From 2014 until 2019 Ajahn Karuniko served as the abbot of Cittaviveka.
Ajahn Ahimsako
Abbot
Ajahn Ahimsako was born near San Francisco, California in 1959, and moved to the UK in 1984. He spent nearly thirty years pursuing a career in classical ballet as a dancer, teacher, and educator. In 1992 he travelled to Sri Lanka, where his interest in Buddhism prompted him to begin visiting Amaravati Buddhist Monastery and the London Buddhist Vihara. He began his monastic life in 2002 at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in California ...
Ajahn Cittapala
Senior Nun
Ajahn Cittapālā (Jutta Richter) was born in Germany in 1949. She was working for nearly twenty years as a teacher and artist in Hamburg. In 1990/91 she visited Indonesia to study awareness movement, a practice which connected her with Buddhist teachings. Three years later, a retreat with Luang Por Sumedho at Amaravati changed the direction of her life. His teachings on 'the way it is’ had been such an eye-opener that she felt drawn to visit more often, ...