AN AUSTRALIAN Buddhist nun who has been travelling the world with her teachings is set to give a special talk in Crewkerne.

Venerable Robina Courtin has been practising and teaching internationally for almost 40 years.

Having recently visited Finland and Latvia, she is currently completing a tour of England, which will see her visit Crewkerne on March 22.

Born in Melbourne, Australia in 1944, Venerable Robina is one of seven children and was raised as a Catholic.

During the 1960s and 1970s she trained as a classical singer and became involved in the feminist movement and prisoners’ rights.

In 1974 she began studying martial arts and in 1978 she was ordained as a Buddhist nun.

A major part of her work was with death row inmates in the USA, which lead to the Liberation Prison Project which she ran until 2009.

The LPP offers spiritual advice and teachings, as well as books and materials, to people in prison interested in exploring, studying and practicing Buddhism. Since 1996 the project has supported the Buddhist practice of more than 20,000 prisoners.

In 2001, Venerable Robina created Chasing Buddha Pilgrimage, which leads pilgrimages to Buddhist holy sites in India, Nepal, and Tibet to raise money for the Liberation Prison Project.

Julia Callow, of the Saraswati Buddhist Group based in South Petherton, said: “Venerable Robina is a highly regarded international speaker and teacher of immense experience. Her approach is robust, accessible and very down to earth and appeals to a wide range of Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike.

“She has contributed enormously to the transmission of Buddhism in the west and in particular that of the Tibetan Gelugpa tradition.

“She will be teaching at the Henhayes Centre, Crewkerne on March 22 from 7.30pm to 9.30pm.

“The topic of her talk is ‘the workshop is in the mind’.

“From the perspective of Buddhist psychology the key to success is to learn to distinguish between the positive and negative emotions and to eliminate those that break our hearts and to develop those that bring happiness to ourselves and others.”

For more information about the talk or Saraswati Buddhist Group, a member of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, contact info @saraswati.org.uk.