when she, by her own account (as given in a letter to Ñānavīra Thera), attained sotāpatti, or Stream-entry in late January 1962. The one who has "entered the stream" has ipso facto abandoned personality-view (sakkāya-ditthi), which is the self-view implicit in the experience of an ordinary worldling not free from ignorance, and understood the essential meaning of the Buddha's teaching on the Four Noble Truths. But the rapidity and intensity of the change of her views caused a kind of nervous breakdown and she disrobed, returning to Germany on 22 February 1962. Back in Germany Upon her return to Hamburg she ceased to have any contact with her former Buddhist friends. This, commented Ven. Nāṇavīra, was "a good sign, not a bad one- when one has got what one wants, one stops making a fuss about it and sits down quietly." After recovering from her breakdown she started to work for a textile machine factory, Artos, in Hamburg. She still held Ven. Nāṇavīra in high esteem. In 1986 Samanera Bodhesako had written to her from Ceylon to request permission to publish parts of her letters to Ven. Ñānavīra in the planned book Clearing the Path and she consented. Dr Hellmuth Hecker visited her in 1989, they had a two and half hours conversation and she stated that she was still a Buddhist. She died on 7 December 1991 in her room in Maschen. Published work The Letters of Sister Vajira - Correspondence between Nanavira Thera and Sister Vajira, Path Press Publications, 2010, Sakka’s Quest: Sakkapañha Sutta (DN 21) , Buddhist Publication Society, 1959 See also Path Press Buddhist Publication Society Notes References Ñāṇavīra Thera, Clearing the Path: Writings of Ñāṇavīra Thera (1960–1965), Path Press 1988, 2003 External links Ñāṇavīra Thera Dhamma Page - An archive of Ñāṇavīra Thera's writings. Path Press - Publishers of works by Ñāṇavīra Thera Full Biography—by Dr. Hellmuth Hecker. Sakka’s Quest: Sakkapañha Sutta, Introduction, Translation and Comments, Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, 1959. Last Days of the Buddha: The Mahāparinibbāna Sutta, Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, 1964. Translation from the Pali into English, revised by Francis Story and introduced by Nyanaponika Thera. Letters - An archive of Vajirā's letters. German Theravada Buddhists German Buddhists Buddhist writers Converts to Buddhism Buddhist nuns German scholars of Buddhism German women philosophers 20th-century German philosophers German Buddhist nuns 1928 births 1991 deaths 20th-century German women writers 20th-century German writers 20th-century Buddhist nuns