Thanissara (Mary Weinberg) was one of the first women to be ordained in the West as a nun in Ajahn Chah’s Forest tradition, initially as a mae chee (eight-precept nun), then as a nun in the siladhara order, based on the ten-precept ordination. She left the order after twelve years. She is director of Dharmagiri Hermitage and Outreach in South Africa, and a facilitator for the community dharma leader program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California.