Sayalay Susīlā was born in 1963 in Pahang, Malaysia. Sayalay began developing her keen interest in insight meditation while at the University of Science Malaysia, where she obtained a degree in mass communications in 1987.

After graduation, Sayalay worked as a high school teacher for a year and a half. Being increasingly disenchanted with worldly matters and desiring to be dedicated to the practice more than ever, she resigned her post to take up meditation full time for three years continuously. After her ordination, in 1991, she practiced under the guidance of the well-known Venerable Sayadaw U Pandita in Panditarama Monastery, Myanmar.

In 1994, wishing to cultivate concentration meditation, Sayalay moved to Pa Auk Forest Monastery in Myanmar. She placed herself under the guidance of the renowned monk Venerable Pa-Auk Tawya Sayadaw, and remained in the forest for 14 years. In addition to an assiduous program of meditation, she also learned the Abhidhamma, ancient discourses, and the Pāli language from Pa-Auk Sayadaw. Meanwhile, she became his English-to-Chinese interpreter in Myanmar and abroad.

Beginning in 2000, with the encouragement of her teacher Pa Auk Sayadaw, Sayalay Susila began to teach the Abhidhamma in Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Australia. Since 2002, when she conducted a 10-day Abhidhamma course in Toronto, Sayalay Susila has traveled extensively in the U.S. and Canada, teaching Abhidhamma and Meditation. Sister Susila’s dhamma talks, which have been widely praised as lucid and precise, have been given at North American Buddhist centres such as Spirit Rock (California) and the Barre Centre for Buddhist Studies (Massachusetts).

In July 2009, she conducted a 10-day meditation course, Concentration and Insight, at Bhavana Society monastery in West Virginia. She has published the books Unravelling the Mysteries of Mind and Body Through Abhidhamma in English and The Nine Attributes of the Buddha in Chinese.

In order to deepen her own understanding of the Dhamma, Sayalay also practiced different meditation methods during her stay in Myanmar, including those taught by Shwe Oo Min Sayadaw, Mogok Sayadaw, Sayagyi U Ba Khin and Goenka. As a result of both her breadth of exposure and depth of practice of various meditation methods, Sayalay has become an unusually accomplished teacher—one who is able to present the subtleties of the Buddha’s teachings in a simple and direct way. In particular, she presents the most profound division of the teaching, the Abhidhamma, in a lucid manner grounded not in pedantic philosophy, but in actual meditation experience.

Sayalay has travelled extensively as a meditation and Abhidhamma teacher, presenting the Abhidhamma and Sutta expositions in formal lectures and talks, and has conducted meditation retreats throughout the United States, Canada, Eastern Europe, Russia, Australia, India, China, Indonesia, Singapore and in her home country of Malaysia. In 2015, Sayalay led the first International Novitiate Program with Venerable Sanghasena in Ladakh, the region of the Himalayas of northern India.

Sayalay Susīlā has a unique gift to teach and present Buddha’s teachings with profound depth, vividness, directness, precision, and clarity. Her teaching is very much appreciated by her students globally. As an effectively bilingual speaker in both English and Chinese, Sayalay is uniquely able to expound the Dhamma and teach to a wide global audience. Additionally, Sayalay is also fluent in Burmese, Hokkien, and Malay.

After leaving Myanmar, Sayalay studied and practiced according to the Suttas, putting an emphasis on teaching and practicing the Satipaṭṭhāna, the Discourse on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.
Venerable Sayalay Susīlā is the founder and current Abbess of the Appamāda Viharī Meditation Center (AVMC), in Penang, Malaysia, since 2014.

Sayalay is the author of many books published in both English and Chinese. Her most well-known English book is Unravelling the Mysteries of Mind and Body through Abhidhamma (Second Edition)《揭开身心之奥秘》(第二版).

Other books published in English include:
The Path to Happiness
Contemplation of Feeling
Dhamma Essence Series
Inner Exploration
The Nine Attributes of the Buddha
Mindfulness of Breathing
Moment-to-Moment Practice
Mindfulness, Wise Attention, and Wisdom Training

Her Chinese publications include:
From this Shore to Far Shore 《从此岸到彼岸》
The Practical Manual of Abhidhamma 《阿毗达摩实用手册-完整版》
Turning the Wheel of the Dhamma 《正法初现》
The Nine Attributes of the Buddha 《佛陀的九种德行》
Contemplation of the Mind《洞见心之真相: 念处经之心念处》
The Path to Happiness 《朝向快乐之道》
The Essence of Dhamma 《佛法精粹》
Lovingkindness Meditation 《慈爱禅》
Patthana 《二十四缘发趣论》
Mangala Sutta《吉祥人生》
The Development of the Faculties (Indriyabhāvanā Sutta)《根修习经: 通向心灵的安宁、寂静与自由》
Moment-to-Moment Practice《刹那刹那的修行》
Kaccānagotta suttaṃ 世界是实有, 还是虚无《迦旃延氏经》讲记
谁在感受
正念，如理作意与智慧之修行
Karaṇīya Mettā Sutta 慈爱满心田《应作慈爱经》

Source: sayalaysusila.net