Venerable Juṇhā is a sāmaṇerī, or novice Buddhist monastic, in the bhikkhunī revival of the Theravāda tradition. Juṇhāvarā is her full Pāli name.
She first tasted another way of being in the world while hiking the Pacific Crest Trail many years ago. The rhythm of walking and immersion in nature continue to be vital to her practice, along with the cultivation of the heart, chanting, and early Buddhist scriptures.
Animated by the question of just how to live a whole-life practice in this time and place in the world, an apprenticeship to the generations of collective wisdom embodied in the monastic form is her response to this question.
Ven. Juṇhā began her monastic life at Āloka Vihāra in 2022 shortly before it came to an end and first took novice ordination in 2023, with Ayya Ānandabodhī as her preceptor. She was a founding member of Pārāyana Vihāra and trained there until September 2025. After a reluctant return to lay life, she took novice ordination again in December 2025 with Ayyā Santussikā as her preceptor.
