Venerable Clear Grace Dayanda

Venerable Clear Grace Dayananda (they/them), a Black queer Buddhist monk, is the founder and Spiritual Director of Sangha House NOLA, a Buddhist temple and community care center in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Venerable Clear Grace received novice ordination under Zen Master Thich Nhât Hanh in the Plum Village Vietnamese Zen tradition, and later attained higher ordination (upasampādā) within the Embracing Simplicity Contemplative Order, conferred by Ashin U Pannadipa Thero and Dr. Pannavati Karuna. They were transmitted the Dharma name Dayananda — One Whose Delight is Mercy.

A pilgrim and community servant of remarkable range, they were honored for their two-year journey known as “The Great Aspiration,” undertaken as The Traveling Nunk, and received the 2024 Outstanding Women of Buddhism Award.