Venerable Sati Santikaro
Venerable Sati Santikaro was born on the Christmas Eve of the fiery Dragon year, in a small country at the very heart of Europe – Slovakia. He studied at the Comenius University number of academic subjects like philosophy, religions, ethics, sociology, literature, psychology and pedagogy and received the Master degree (Mgr.) in his studies in Y2K.
Venerable Sati Santikaro was attracted by searching of the ultimate truth since his young age. He has taken part at a first meditation retreat as a sixteen years old boy and since then he has joined various meditation courses and retreats. Beginning with the Osho and Zen meditations, through courses of extended consciousness, to Taoism and several oriental forms of spiritual healing.
In the first year of the third millenium, Venerable Sati Santikaro has met a Malaysian Buddhist monk Bhante Sujiva and partaken several vipassana (insight) meditation retreats under his guidance in Europe within three years.
Afterwards, he left for Malaysia and participated at a meditation retreat leaded by famous Burmese meditation teacher Sayadaw U Pandita. Right after the retreat, Venerable Sati Santikaro decided to ordain as a samanera (a Buddhist novice) at Lunas Buddhist Hermitage (on 12th November 2004). At the Lunas Hermitage, he also received the higher ordination (upasampada for a bhikkhu, the fully ordained Theravada Buddhist monk) with respected Burmese teachers Sayadaw U Candima and Sayadaw Dr. Sunanda (on 14th December 2007).
After two years of strugling with a difficult Malaysian (moslim) visa policy, Venerable Sati Santikaro decided to move to Thailand and continue his monastic training and meditation in this Buddhist countury. In order to get the long-term non-immigrant visa, it was offered to him to receive the higher ordination in Thai monastic order as well. The ceremony in forest tradition (Dhammayut) had happened on the Songkran day, 13th April 2009 at Wat Thung Pho in Buriram province, with the preceptor Venerable Luang Phor Art (Phra Ratchphisansuthi Avuddhapañño), a very respected dean of Buriram province.
After two years of strugling with a difficult Malaysian (moslim) visa policy, Venerable Sati Santikaro decided to move to Thailand and continue his monastic training and meditation in this Buddhist countury. In order to get the long-term non-immigrant visa, it was offered to him to receive the higher ordination in Thai monastic order as well. The ceremony in forest tradition (Dhammayut) had happened on the Songkran day, 13th April 2009 at Wat Thung Pho in Buriram province, with the preceptor Venerable Luang Phor Art (Phra Ratchphisansuthi Avuddhapañño), a very respected dean of Buriram province.
Since Venerable Sati Santikaro did not renounce his Burmese ordination prior to the Thai ordination (i.e. he has not disrobed from Burmese tradition) and he still holds both higher ordinations, he also uses both monastic names given by his preceptors: Satindriyo ("The One with the faculty of mindfulness") and Santikaro ("The One who is spreading the peace"). And as a Theravada Buddhist monk with more than ten years of experience (with more than 10 vassa), he is also entitled to the title of Thera (Elder).
During his wanderings and various missions, Venerable Sati Santikaro visits most of the Southeast Asian countries, mainly Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and India.
After 15 years of serious training in the monastic order and traveling around the countries of Southeast Asia, Venerable Sati Santikaro decided to return to his homeland where he established Santikaram Association Slovakia and Santikaram Forest Temple.
Except for the meditation, east religions and philosophy, Venerable Sati Santikaro has also been attracted to the literature, especially to the poetry. His first poems were published in the literary magazine Dotyky in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999. His short poems have gained the Honorable mention in the national literary competition named "Cena Albína Vrteľa" in 2001, and the Premium award in the same competition in the very next year 2002.
Since his ordination for a Buddhist monk, Venerable Sati Santikaro does not join any literary competitions. However, he keeps writing short poems in a style of Japanese short poems called haiku, which are posted on this blog - The memoirs of a wandering monk, as well as on his Facebook profile.