Deva Loka, a group of Ayya Khema's students who have organized to bring her teachings to the United States, is pleased to announce the 1991 California visit of the internationally known Theravadan Buddhist meditation teacher, Bhikkuni nun and author, Ven. Ayya Khema.

Two retreats are planned: the first, in Lafayette, runs from June 21 to 28; the second, in Oakland, is for experienced meditators, from June 29 to July 28. A full thirty-day commitment is required for the second retreat, which will be limited to 24 people. At both, detailed instructions in Vipassana (Insight) meditation and the meditative absorptions will be given as taught in the Pali Canon.

Ayya Khema was born in Berlin in 1923. In 1949 she became an American citizen, married and had two children. She moved to Australia in 1964. There she co-founded Wat Buddha Dhamma, a forest monastery in the Theravadan tradition near Sydney. In 1979 she ordained as a nun in Sri Lanka, where she set up a training center for Sri Lankan nuns, and Parappuduwa Nuns Island for women practicing intensively or wishing to ordain as nuns.

Ayya Khema holds seminars, lectures and meditation retreats throughout Europe and Australia. She is the spiritual director of Buddha Haus in Mittelberg, Germany. She has written books on meditation and the Buddha's teaching in English and German. Her Being Nobody, Going Nowhere, winner of the 1988 Christmas Humphreys Memorial Award, is available from Snow Lion.

For more information, contact Isha Mayim, 6463 Benvenue #3, Oakland, CA 94618, tel. 415-655-3246.