Venerable Bhikkhunī Visuddhi Therī was invited to speak at a local college in the U.S.A.

(March 29, 2018 KALAMAZOO, MI, U.S.A.) Venerable Bhikkhunī Visuddhi Therī and Ivona Swan, the president of the Association Karuna Sevena, were both invited to speak on the topic of Theravāda Buddhism at the Kalamazoo Valley Community College (KVCC) based in Kalamazoo, Michigan in the U.S.A. Theo Sypris, Professor in the Political Science Department and Professor Mike Keller from the English Department suggested to Bhikkhunī if she would answer questions of KVCC's students. Ivona Swan gave an introduction to what the major traditions of Buddhism are, she spoke about the history of Buddhism and three foundations (Buddha, Dhamma, Saṅgha), Vinaya, the Buddha’s life, Bhikkhunī order and briefly mentioned the Association Karuna Sevena and its projects and activities in the Czech Republic. She introduced Bhikkhunī Visuddhi to the students and opened the class for an Q & A session. The students expressed a lot of interest and asked Bhikkhunī many questions. They were interested in the monastic life, rules of conduct for monks and nuns, what some of the duties in a temple are, inquired about the daily schedule of a monastic. Students wanted to know why it is important to meditate, what the typical meditation obstructions of people coming to the temple are and how to overcome non beneficial states of mind, such as depression or anxiety. Bhikkhunī Visuddhi was encouraged by one of the students to talk about sīla (virtue) and its importance and it drew attention of Professor Sypris as he mentioned that morality is not being commonly taught in schools/colleges in the west and yet it is a very important aspect of education. Both, professors and students showed much interest in meeting with Bhikkhunī Visuddhi during an upcoming Tuesday meeting at Ms. Swan's house. She already held two Dhamma meetings with local friends in her home followed by a short meditation of loving kindness.

Association Karuna Sevena would like to thank for organization of this event to Mr. Sypris and Mr. Keller and KVVC and we are looking for the next meeting.