About Yasomati

My Birth name is Jacqueline. I was born and grew up in Perth, Western Australia. I taught for 20 years as a primary teacher in mainly country locations, before re-training in the field of Building Design and Drafting and I now design Supermarkets. The stressful nature of teaching had encouraged me to look for ways to control my stressed thoughts and relax so I attended meditation classes in Mandurah with a visiting Monk. I wanted to follow up on this but for many years found no Buddhist activities in the Mandurah area. I was initially drawn towards the Tibetan tradition in 1994 as I had found the Tibetan book of living and dying very helpful during the dying process of my father, but found the culturally specific language off putting. In 2009 I read an ad for the Mandurah Buddhist Centre in the local paper and began attending the Dharma and Meditation classes regularly. I found there a straight forward way to understand the Buddha’s teachings in relation to my life, free of the cultural trappings and religious overtones that Buddhism had previously held for me. Engaging with the Dharma within a Western context has given me the skills necessary to follow a path towards a happier and more peaceful life. I formalized that commitment with the Dharmadatu Sangha on the 16th May 2011.

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