From Havana to the Holy Life: Sudassi’s Path to Monastic Training

A small gathering of dedicated practitioners gathered outside the small apartment, waiting. It was my first visit to La Habana, Cuba as a bhikkhunī. It was 45 years since my last visit to Cuba when it was still a recognizable remnant of what once was, before a revolution. I was late. As they waited, they snapped a selfie.

Group Selfie

(From front to back and left to right: Adán, Lucien (our youngest member) Lucien’s mother Maricela (now our co-director and treasurer), Karla (in blue, recently graduated with a Master’s in chemical engineering), Laura (now in Brazil under an engineering scholarship and still an active member), Dr. Douglas Calvo Gainza (writer ,director and producer of the documentary “Albores del budismo en Cuba” – “The dawning of Buddhism in Cuba) and Lázaro (in white).

Lázaro and I made an immediate connection. My first impression of Lazaro was written in an email to my Pavattini, the Venerable Ayyā Tathālokā, Maha Theri afterward : “ Lázaro, in white, had a profound impact on me. I’m calling him my Dhamma son. He is starting a 6 month retreat in their brand new casa with Mārajinā as guiding teacher.”

That first visit, Lázaro asked for the eight precepts and arranged his life and work schedule to prioritize meditation. He and a friend, Nelson, were offered a humble monthly budget to rent a small apartment for their practice and what was planned to be a gathering place for the group. While the Dhamma space collapsed shortly after, Lázaro continued to meditate and check in with me weekly. He didn’t ask a lot of pointless questions and was satisfied to be told “You’re doing well, continue.”

The second visit coincided with Vesak 2024. Lázaro and Mariela provided dāna every day. In an unforeseen turn of events, someone shared the address of our rental house online and an intoxicated man showed up at the house when I was alone. Lázaro showed up at the same exact moment, in fact when I saw them together at the gate, I thought they knew each other. Lázaro spoke kindly to the person, shared his phone number and escorted him out after a brief conversation. Thereafter and on subsequent visits, Lázaro slept outside on the porch- or inside, when an eight-precept woman was also present as is usually the case on these visits.

It was during the third visit in November 2024, that Lázaro mentioned he wanted to explore options to live the Holy Life as a bhikkhu. I gave him the name Sudassi. We emailed a couple of Spanish -speaking bhikkhus; there are very few in the world. Sudassi’s English was poor, but he was willing to practice and we began texting in English. Unfortunately, the bhikkhus we contacted weren’t able to offer assistance. Sudassi wrote to other monasteries. The curt replies made me wonder if there wasn’t the thought that he was trying to escape Cuba. Fair enough. There has been a mass exodus of Cubans from Cuba totaling over two million emigrants in the past couple of years.

There was a formidable obstacle for the realization of an opportunity to visit a monastery: cost. The traditional Theravada view is that while a person is still in lay life, expenses are their responsibility. This would not work in Cuba where the average salary is $10 a month. Sudassi worked as an assistant chef in La Habana Vieja, a tourist destination. He earned a little more than an average salary with tips but saving for the flight alone on his earnings would take many years. While the intention and reason for this guideline is understandable and, in many cases, warranted, it obviously privileged a certain class of westerners. I didn’t see it as applicable or fair in Cuba. An aspiration for the Holy Life is precious and should be cared for. This third visit, a light arose in the generosity of a Cuban- born American citizen who happened to hear of our Cuba mission. Alejandro stepped in, supported my visit and promised to help with the cost of Sudassi’s eventual travel.

The rest of this story is possible through the generosity of Alejandro, my own family and the generosity of several donors.

In December, 2024, I wrote to Venerable Mihita in Canada, the bhikkhu who had put me in contact with the original group and upon forwarding the question, he received two suggestions from bhikkhus, one of which was Wat Pah Nanachat in Thailand.

I wrote to one of the monasteries. We waited for a reply of acceptance which would take three months. On the fourth visit to Cuba, he received news that he was accepted to visit. In the photo Sudassi is sharing the good news with Caro, his eight-precept peer, and Caro’s mother Jaky visiting Theravada Cuba for the first time. Due to several peripheral details, none of which had to do with the quality of the training, I asked Sudassi to write to Wat Pah Nanachat also.

Meanwhile Alejandro and I looked at potential travel dates and the cost of flights. We had to learn the process of visa extensions once in Thailand. Having no precedent to base our research on, this was all new territory. The purchase of supplies was initiated. He would need an alarm clock, razors, mosquito repellant, toiletries, a flashlight. White clothes had already been taken to him in March. He’d take only one carry-on.

When the reply came from Wat Pah Nanachat that he was accepted to visit, the search for plane tickets intensified. Alejandro had received a few smaller donations but the cost was considerably more than had been received. We kept looking for affordable flights while learning how Sudassi would be able, as a Cuban citizen traveling to Thailand for a preliminary 60 days with no need for a visa, to extend his visa without having to return to Cuba. Another flight to Thailand was entirely out of our possibilities, even the first flight was quite an undertaking. Testimony to his sila and samadhi, these difficulties resolved for Sudassi. Testimony to Alejandro’s generosity, he paid for over half of the flight cost from La Habana to Bangkok. The trip was taking shape. The ticket was purchased for a travel date of June 12. Alejandro, Caro and I planned the fifth visit to Cuba for June 7 – 15.

I’m writing this just after having returned from this fifth visit. The week was carefully planned to spend as much time with the three (pictured above) and to spend time with Sudassi to prepare him as much as possible for what it would be like at a training monastery. I’d like to reiterate what a special connection we had. Sudassi was a careful and kind attendant. He is a good practitioner, a good meditator but he had never been inside a Theravada temple. I tried as best I could, within my own limited experience, to describe what he might perceive and give to thinking his first week.

From left to right: Akiñcano, Sudassi, and Caro, the first three monastic life aspirants, and eight precepters, of Theravada Cuba.

I tried as best I could to emphasize the supportive base of having trained with one teacher for 15 months and how possibly few of the trainees he would meet would have had that dedicated attention. I told him not to measure himself with anyone else’s yardstick or strive for another identity.

For Sudassi, a Thai forest monastery with mosquitoes, one uncertain meal a day, a thin mat for sleep, early rising, work periods and solitary meditation time with no further responsibilities would be an upgrade to his life and practice in Cuba.

His departure would leave a hole in the group. He had been for everyone, a steadfast and supportive friend. A ready helper in the group. The first to volunteer. But without a departure there could be no return. The first Cuban monastic life aspirant had to leave Cuba first.

Sudassi’s mother offered dāna on Tuesday and she stayed for a Dhamma talk, speaking with me privately offering whole-hearted support for her son’s chosen life even if it meant additional hardship for her and her aging mother.

June 12th arrived. We traveled in a van, those of us with a heart connection to Sudassi, including his mother, Alejandro, our co-directora, and his eight-precept peers.

Dressed in white would be appropriate in Thailand but in Cuba it is indicative of a Santeria practice which involves animal sacrifice. We placed a burgundy strip of cloth in his pocket.

Sudassi began his travel under the Poson full moon.

Then in typical Māra fashion, the challenges began.

His flight was delayed three hours. No problem, we thought, there was a seven-hour layover in Istanbul, Turkey. Then his flight was delayed another hour in Venezuela. We still had some flex time.

Sudassi texted us (Alejandro, Akiñcano, Caro and me) when he arrived in Istanbul. He sent photos and shared his good fortune to have been sitting next to a Cuban couple on the flight to Istanbul who were also traveling to Bangkok. Otherwise, he texted, he might have gotten lost in the Istanbul airport.

The flight from Istanbul to Bangkok was also delayed by an hour. He now only had one hour to clear customs in Bangkok and reach the gate for the final leg of the journey to Ubon Ratchathani. His arrival at Wat Pah Nanachat was expected in the morning before 9 am.

It was a dark and stormy night, in Vedado, La Habana. At 8:58 pm in the middle of a blackout we received his text. He’d been held up at customs. He didn’t make the flight. The ticket which was purchased to be changeable had restrictions attached that voided the change if it was due to missing the flight. The airline wanted $150 to put him on the next flight to Ubon Ratchathani. That was more than half of what Sudassi was carrying to meet with his visa extension obligations. The text ended with: “soon I’ll lose Internet access.”

Without electricity there is no wifi and mobile reception is spotty. Three of us brought out mobile phones and waited for a signal to appear. I said let’s all find another airline ticket to Ubon, whoever gets to the checkout first, alerts the others. Akiñcano, Alejandro and I waded into the slow waves of a Google search in the darkness with mobile phone lights on our faces, searching for a flight from Bangkok to Ubon Ratchathani not knowing if we might find one or how to let Sudassi know we had found one. Akiñcano and Alejandro advanced quicker. They both found the same flight and were slowly getting through the process. I had Sudassi’s passport and personal information saved and gave it out to each as they made their way through the booking process. Finally Alejandro landed on the purchase page first and clicked the payment button. It was a noticeable and collective relief.

Two hours later Sudassi sends a text that he was able to purchase data for his mobile phone. At 11:17 pm he sends a photo with two Thai monks at the airport. We text him the information for the flight which lands exactly 4 pm Thai time, the same time the Wat Pah Nanachat website gives as the time the gates are closed and no one is accepted into the monastery until the following morning. Sudassi says he will sleep at the gate. The electricity returns. Now we are looking for hostels in the area.

“Sudassi, you are in Thailand as a visitor. You could be arrested for sleeping on the street.”

“I’ll meditate all night.”

Again, we bring out the phones, this time to search for a hostel. Searching addresses and maps. It’s past 1 am in La Habana. I write an email to the guest monk at WPN, alerting him to the situation. Unknown to me Sudassi also writes to them explaining he was delayed. I go to my room to get some rest. What will be, will be. A few hours later Sudassi arrives at Wat Pah Nanachat. He is allowed in, 30 minutes or so after 4 pm Thai time. He writes: “I’m inside the Wat. Everyone here is friendly and helpful. In a few minutes we go to the chanting sala”.

Later he writes, “I’m very tired now (about 51 hours after dropping him off at Jose Martí International airport in La Habana). This may be my last text. Tomorrow I should turn in this phone. … It seems the devas here chant with us… When I arrived I was so warmly welcomed. Everyone here seemed to know I was the one who was coming from Cuba. This place is beautiful.”

I wrote what would be a final inspirational text as his teacher. He would be another teacher’s student now.

“I carry your words in my heart Ayyā.”

And so this chapter ends but the work is still in the writing. Sudassi was my first student. I had only begun to teach the month before I met him. I wish him much more than words would be able to convey. The highest happiness. The greatest peace. May he reach that goal for which we go forth from the home life.