About Ayya Khema:
Ayya Khema was a Buddhist teacher, born as Ilse Kussel in Berlin, Germany, to Jewish parents. Khema escaped Nazis persecution during World War II. She eventually moved to the United States. After travelling in Asia she decided to become a Buddhist nun in Sri Lanka in 1979. She was very active in providing opportunities for women to practice Buddhism, founding several centers around the world. In 1987 she co-ordinated the first ever International Conference of Buddhist Nuns. Over two dozen books of her transcribed dhammatalks in English and German have been published and in the last year of her life she also wrote her autobiography: I Give You My Life.