Venerable Canda encountered the Dhamma in 1996 and dedicated the next ten years to sitting and serving numerous vipassana retreats in India and Nepal. She ordained in Myanmar in 2006 with Sayadaw U Pannyajota and practiced with his guidance for the next five years. In 2014 she received full (bhikkhuni) ordination in Australia with Ajahn Brahm, who requested she begin teaching. In 2016 Ven Canda returned to England to establish Anukampa Bhikkhuni Project, a charity committed to spreading the early Buddhist teachings and developing a monastery where, for the first time in the UK, women can take up the full monastic training leading to Enlightenment. The charity recently acquired a property near Oxford, to become Anukampa Grove Bhikkhuni Monastery.
Ven. Canda devotes 3-4 months a year to silent retreat, outside teaching and running the monastery. Her teaching style is warm, engaging and richly informed by the Early Buddhist Texts. She emphasizes right view, kindness and letting go as wise approaches to meditation, and guides meditators to integrate their insights into daily life by cultivating a heart of selfless service and contentment.