Join us for tales from a shared life of friendship, Buddhism and the Arts!

In this latest episode of the Buddhist Voices podcast, we follow the personal journeys of Sarvananda and Satyadaka, two lifelong friends and dedicated Dharma practitioners who have lived together in various contexts for over twenty years. It's a rare opportunity to listen into stories from such a close companionship, making this conversation a true delight to share with you.

This episode covers a wide array of topics, including our friends' individual private ordinations, the evolution of their Dharma practices over time, and their profound connections with the Arts as a key aspect of spiritual life. 

Both Sarvananda and Satyadaka became involved in the Triratna Buddhist Community during their early twenties. Their journey began at Vajraloka Retreat Center in Wales, and they later relocated to Norwich where they found like-minded Order members who shared their passion for Buddhism and the life of the artist. Sarvananda has been a devoted writer throughout his life within the Order, while Satyadaka has nurtured a strong musical practice. 

Interview originally conducted by Satyalila for the Fifty Years, Fifty Voices project in 2018, our online project to document 50+ years of people’s commitment and practice within the Triratna Buddhist Order around the world.

Visit the dedicated site for Fifty Years, Fifty Voices

Read more about Season Two of Fifty Years, Fifty Voices

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In this episode of the Buddhist Voices podcast, we explore the personal journey and reflections of Dharmacharini Maitripala, a member of the Triratna Buddhist Order as well as a private and public preceptor, based in Brunswick, Australia. 

Initially leading a seemingly idyllic life, Maitripala's quest for 'more' was sparked by a serene moment of beauty as she noticed the glistening morning dew delicately resting on the cobwebs on her laundry line. Such a potent image seems to have gradually awakened something within her. But it would be some time before she would find herself in a shrine room remembering that same image.

She came across the Dharma in 1991 when attending a weekend course led by Buddhadasa and Guhyavajra in Melbourne. Both Buddhadasa and Dayamegha were her first main dharma teachers. During this time she was bringing up her three daughters in the lovely forest town of Emerald about an hour and half from Melbourne.

Throughout the episode, Maitripala reflects on the evolution of her spiritual practice, with a particular emphasis on her deep appreciation for the Metta Bhavana practice, or the cultivation of loving-kindness. Describing it as an insight practice and encouraging fellow practitioners not to give up on the practice if they’ve found it difficult in the past. The Metta Bhavana has been a cornerstone of her life and goes some way in describing why she was named, "Maitripala," which translates as "Guardian of Love and Kindness." She shares how her name serves as a living testament to her commitment to the Bodhisattva path and her mission to promote love and kindness in the world.

Maitripala's journey deepens further when she is asked to become a public preceptor, a substantial responsibility within the Triratna Buddhist Order. She recounts the moment she received this request and how it instigated a profound shift in her perspective. This transition has brought about new challenges and opportunities for personal growth, allowing her to serve the Order in a more profound capacity.

The conversation also touches on the common pitfalls newcomers to the Dharma face and the importance of patience and spiritual friendship on the path. Another important thread within this interview is the evolving relationship she’s had with her family and being a mother of three. Join us in this episode as we follow Maitripala's inspiring journey, underscoring the transformative power of practice, commitment, and the embrace of the Bodhisattva path.

From an interview conducted for the Fifty Years, Fifty Voices project, our online project to document 50+ years of people’s commitment and practice within the Triratna Buddhist Order around the world.

Listen on The Buddhist Centre Online

Visit the dedicated site for Fifty Years, Fifty Voices

Read more about Season Two of Fifty Years, Fifty Voices

***

Subscribe to our Buddhist Voices Podcast: 
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In this episode of the Buddhist Voices podcast, we delve into the life of Dharmachari Jyotipala. Ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order in the late 1970s, Jyotipala's spiritual journey has taken in many different contexts within the Order, including a spell living in India wearing formal Buddhist robes. However, his spiritual life started much earlier than that. Raised a catholic he became inspired by Thomas Merton and joined a then new monastery in Utah, ‘Our Lady of the Holy Trinity’, with the intention of becoming a Trappist monk.

In this insightful interview conducted by Satyalila in 2018, Jyotipala's remarkable level of honesty and humility shines through. His path in the Order has taken a number of unforeseen twists, and he candidly discusses his own challenges and shortcomings with a charm that's deeply endearing. His conversation exudes an unmistakable sense of contentment, coupled with a strongly resonant faith. Indeed, he describes himself simply with the Indian term 'japawolla', someone who finds solace in the chanting of mantras.

In 2002, after distancing himself from the Order, Jyotipala's life took another turn as he made plans to relocate to New Zealand with his then second wife. Amid these shifts he resigned from the Order, leading him into what he refers to as a phase ‘in the wilderness’. He sought refuge at Throssel Hole, a Buddhist Abbey and retreat center nestled in Northumberland, England, a place that felt like home and offered what he describes as a simpler practice of ‘just sitting’.

For eight years, he found peace in this phase of his life, until receiving an unexpected phone call and card from an old friend, Padmavajra… Join us as we explore Jyotipala's heartfelt story of challenge and faith, and witness something of the serenity he carries within him.

Extracts from this interview were used in the Fifty Years, Fifty Voices project.

Visit Fifty Years, Fifty Voices on The Buddhist Centre Online

Join Satyalila for another episode of the Buddhist Voices podcast as she engages in a heartfelt conversation with Suryaka about their journey of discovering and embracing Buddhism. This interview was originally conducted for the Fifty Years, Fifty Voices project. Suryaka's name is pronounced as "Su-ree-a-ka," meaning "Like the Sun."

Suryaka’s initial attraction to yoga and meditation retreats was that they seemed cheap and like a nice holiday! Having avoided any kind of religious practice throughout their life due to a fear of being confined and squished by religious institutions, she experienced a pivotal moment on retreat at Dhanakosa Retreat Centre in Scotland. Sitting by a stream she realized that Buddhism could perhaps provide the means she’d been looking for to channel their energy. This led them to the Manchester Buddhist Centre, where she found a genuine sense of community, shared work and authentic teachers who deeply resonated with their experience.

This journey was not without its challenges. Suryaka discusses openly the difficulties she encountered in forming a personal connection with a specific Buddha figure. She also touch upon difficulties experienced in training for ordination, especially mixed feelings encountered during the ordination retreat itself; as well as the strain it placed on their relationship with their family.

This moving episode offers an honest exploration of the Dharma life, navigating challenging emotions and the complexities of familial life, while trying to grapple with exactly what the Dharma truly entails. Suryaka's story exemplifies the strength that emerges from finding and following one's calling, even in teh face of adversity.

In this podcast episode, we have the pleasure of hearing from Rijumayi, currently based in Melbourne, Australia, as she shares her spiritual journey as part of the Fifty Years, Fifty Voices project. Rijumayi takes us back to her formative years, recalling her initial encounters with Buddhism during her teenage years. Her interest in the teachings was ignited whilst in high school, she attended a lecture by the Dalai Lama in the city. The reverence and respect that people had for him would leave a lasting impression on her. As well as delving into her evolving experience with meditation and the Dharma, Rijumayi remarks that in her search for meaning, she really found the framework for transformation that she was looking for at the Melbourne Buddhist Centre, which lead to her eventual ordination into the Triratna Buddhist Order.

Throughout the discussion, Rijumayi stresses the importance of seizing this precious opportunity to practice, encouraging listeners not to postpone their spiritual journeys and to cultivate meaningful spiritual friendships. She generously shares insights into her daily routine, revealing how it supports her steadfast commitment to going for refuge in the three jewels.

As part of the Fifty Years, Fifty Voices project, celebrating 50 years of the Triratna Buddhist Order; In this episode of the Buddhist Voices podcast, we hear from Manjuvajra, a member of the Order for over 45 years, who shares their experience of reassessing their relationship with the order after withdrawing from their previous institutional roles. Manjuvajra notes that the order they joined many years ago was very different from the current manifestation, making it harder to identify with the practicalities of the order.

Reflecting over many decades of practice, Manjuvajra describes an ever-deepening confidence in the existence of the Buddha, which illuminates both the Dharma and Sangha jewels. They also reflect on the development of spiritually supportive friendships that provide intimacy without emotional bondage. Manjuvajra has found a deepening of their connection to the three jewels through long retreats and expresses a desire to create a culture of long retreats within the community, where individuals can develop their own particular strand of practice with the support of a small group.

Overall, this conversation initiated by Dharmacharini Satyalila is honest and intimate, not shying away from the challenges of practising within a spiritual community and the importance of deepening one's confidence in the teachings.

In 2018, Satyalila had the pleasure of sitting down with Akasasuri at the Adhisthana Library for an interview as part of the Fifty Years Fifty Voices project. Extracts from this interview were used in the project, and now we are gradually releasing the full interviews to provide a deeper dive into the lives of various members of the Triratna Buddhist Order across the globe.

In this far-reaching conversation, Satyalila and Akasasuri touch on many aspects of her life in the order. They begin by discussing where it all began as well as the events that led to Akasasuri joining the then "Friends of the Western Buddhist Order" and her experiences with other teachers who influenced her journey. Her journey began with training as a Gestalt therapist and psychosynthesis in Holland.

Like many conversations in the 50 Voices project, Akasasuri emphasizes the importance of friendships within the Triratna Buddhist community. She speaks warmly of Dharmacharini Vajrayogini, who she regards as a formidable woman and a great Dharma teacher. Despite their age difference, they established a deep friendship, and Akasasuri regards her as her first teacher.

Later, they discuss Akasasuri's experiences of working for the movement, which spanned several different Triratna contexts, including various Buddhist centres and her work as a van driver for Windhorse Trading. Throughout the conversation, the importance of Going for Refuge to the three jewels in Buddhism is highlighted, and they discuss how it can be put into action through kindness and service.

Visit the Fifty Years, Fifty Voices on The Buddhist Centre Online

In the latest episode of the Buddhist Voices podcast, we are privileged to hear from Dharmachari Manidhamma. It was during a big procession celebrating Buddha Jayanti (the Buddha's 'Awakening' or 'Enlightenment'), where a life-sized bronze statue of Dr Ambedkar was installed, and slogans of 'Jai Bhim' and 'Victory to the Great Buddha' could be heard. 

As a young boy, Manidhamma fondly remembers making friends and playing while also going to the Buddhist temple and taking part in Pali chanting. However, he was born into a family of bonded labourers in a society rife with caste-based discrimination and exclusion. Growing up, he was not even allowed to walk on the main streets of his village. It was his father who, inspired by Dr B. R. Ambedkar's speech at Pulgaon, decided to move their family to a small town called 'Aarni,' where life was expected to improve. 

Manidhamma went on to learn about Buddhism and meditation while studying to become a pilot. However, the impact of Bhante Sangharakshita's visit was so great that he gave up his pilot's career and took a year-long training course to become an Order member in Pune. He also joined a residential community and began working in team-based 'Right Livelihood' social projects run by the Bahujan Hitay trust. Manidhamma's enthusiasm and intensity for the Dharma during those early days is contagious. Later, he was ordained with three Americans, one Australian, and eleven Indian brothers at Saddhamma Pradeep Bhaja retreat centre as part of the first International Ordinations in India in November 1994. This event highlights just how international the Order and movement are. 

After his ordination, he spent the next five years spreading the Dhamma and running a home for destitute children in Andhra Pradesh. He also founded The Jambudvipa Trust in Pune and worked for the sangha during challenging times. Manidhamma doesn’t shy away from showing his vulnerability when remembering times post-ordination that was not so easy, working with his temper, internal pressures and conflicts. This episode is a testament to the transformative power of the Dharma and the resilience of the human spirit.

Extracts from this interview were used for the Fifty Years, Fifty Voices project:

Visit the Fifty Years, Fifty Voices on The Buddhist Centre Online

In this podcast episode, Amritavani shares her journey towards the Dharma, starting from her childhood fascination with something bigger calling her. She talks about her exploration of different spiritual paths, including yoga, Christianity, and the divine feminine, before finally finding her way to the Dharma through a meditation class in Croydon. It was at the Croydon Buddhist Centre that she met two inspiring order members who left a lasting impression on her, Vijayasri and Sucimani, who made her feel accepted and heard, which eventually led her to deepen her exploration of the spiritual life within the context of the Triratna Buddhist Order.

Amritavani also speaks movingly about her experience of being a mother and how it informs her practice. With limited retreat time. Working with guilt when she goes away from her young children whilst having limited energy for formal practice because she loves them dearly and needs to take care of them. However, despite these limitations, she often finds herself inspired by her name, which translates to have the word "limitless" in it, challenging any perceived limitations she might have within the moment.  

Finally, White Tara's warm embrace echoes throughout the interview. Her warm embrace offers the guidance and support needed to deal with the challenges that motherhood and Dharma practice can face. 

Extracts from this interview were used for the Fifty Years, Fifty Voices project:

Visit the Fifty Years, Fifty Voices on The Buddhist Centre Online

Recorded in Cambridge with Simone Moore in 2018.

In this latest episode of the Buddhist Voices podcast, Parami and Sraddhavajri engage in a conversation for the Fifty Years, Fifty Voices project. They share their early encounters with the Dharma and its transformative impact on their lives. In particular, Sraddhavajri reminisces about her childhood in Modinagar, India, where her parents were involved with Buddhism and the teachings of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar's. She fondly remembers Dharmachari Amoghabhadra, who taught her Karate as a young girl, and how the kindness and friendship of the Sangha were instrumental in keeping her committed to her practice through good and hard times, a theme that frequently emerges in the conversations for the fifty voices project.

An interesting topic that the pair discuss is their experience as women. Parami recalls her initial visit to the Centre in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1977, where the majority of participants were men, with very few women involved at that time. Despite this, she was deeply impressed by the teachings of Sangharakshita and soon moved to London to join a women's community, and in 1980 she was ordained.

Extracts from this talk were used for the Fifty Years, Fifty Voices project:
Visit the Fifty Years, Fifty Voices on The Buddhist Centre Online

Aloka’s Annals:

My name is Dharmachari Aloka (long first ‘a’) – born 31 March 1948, London.

In 1968 I was in Maidstone (Kent) in my penultimate year at my third and final Art School, in the midst of my love affair with hallucinogens and narcotics. I spent all of the 60s in various Art Schools starting at the age of 13.

In 1978 I completed six years doing part-time Art teaching - I contacted the movement in 1974 (Wesak) and was Ordained by Bhante in April 1976 along with Atula & Punya during the first Sukhavati community retreat (1 week long). I lived at Sukhavati as a technical assistant to Chintamani helping build his Buddha figures for the LBC shrines. I moved to Norwich at the beginning of 1977 after the first Padmaloka Winter retreat to help Devamitra start a men’s community (Vajrakula) By 1978 I was working in a team-based vegetarian restaurant which I did for 4 years before leaving Norwich.

In 1988 I was living in the Norfolk countryside operating as the 'Order Coordinator' to help Bhante be in contact with all Chapter Convenors worldwide. I would send out topics that he wanted to discuss and collate all the replies, plus start Order Convenor retreats and meetings of the Convenors at Order gatherings. In 1988 Subhuti asked me to help out on what became 'The Going for Refuge Retreats' to help men understand what was entailed in being part of creating an effective Sangha.

In 1998 I moved back to Norwich with Padmajyoti who'd returned from living back in Mallorca for a time(I'd first met her in 1982). I needed a more stable base for my artwork. I was still working at Padmaloka up until November of 1999 when ill health made it impossible for me to continue. I was eventually diagnosed with Hepatitis C which I had picked up 30 years earlier. After a year-long treatment which left me with chronic health issues, I concentrated on my Artwork plus producing images for Order members and the movement as it better accommodated my unpredictable stamina.

In 2008 I moved to my current base in Norwich at the beginning of 2002 - thanks primarily to the generosity of two Dharmacharis - where I concentrated on my own work plus making images for the Order's 'visualisation' practices.  In 2007 Samudradaka started the Padmaloka Shrine Room Project, asking for two large panels a year until the room would literally be panelled with Buddhist iconography.

In 2018 I'm still at the same base with Padmajyoti and continuing with the Shrine Project even though at a greatly reduced work rate. Most of the main panels have been completed but there is still a way to go until all the walls are totally covered.

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Surata Annals:

In 1968 I was aged 20, living with my parents and younger brother in Harold Wood, Essex. I’m from the last remnants of an East London working class ‘extended family’ background. I was in my 4th year of a 5-year Maintenance Fitting and Turning Apprenticeship in a rubber factory. I was doing a block-release OND [Ordinary National Diploma) in Electro-Mechanical Engineering. Learning to drive. Member of a Cycling club – racing and touring. I was gormless, naïve, emotionally blocked and very confused.

In 1978 I was living and working in what would become the LBC.  (I’d lost my virginity in 1970 and then given up sex as meaningless. I was still very confused! I’d met Subhuti and Buddhism in 1973 – that was ‘love at first sight’. Ordained at Padmaloka in 1976. I’d been to India with Lokamitra in 1977 to contact some of Bhante’s old friends and visit Mr Iyengar in Puna. I experienced massive culture shock both going to and coming back from India and fell violently and painfully ‘in love’).
I was trying to decide whether to leave Sukhavati and follow ‘the woman’ (the Brighton connection) and train to be an Iyengar Yoga teacher.

In 1988 I was working at the Brighton Buddhist Centre.
(I spent 7 months from August ’79 in France trying to sort out my attitude toward women. I’d been to Tuscany in ’82 on the retreat team and subsequently experienced ‘difficulties’ with some of the local Order Members in Brighton. They disapproved of my then relationship. In 1984 – 86 I did a 2-year Post Graduate Counselling Course.).

I was Men’s and Women’s Mitra Convenor and Men’s and Women’s Mitra study leader and taught Regulars classes and Yoga at the Brighton Centre. I joined the team for my first Guhyaloka 4-month Ordination course and moved to Padmaloka to join the Ordination team in October 1988.

In 1998 I was living and working at Padmaloka on the Ordination team. (I had a mini-breakdown/went ‘haywire’ in 1991, then was on the team for the Guhyaloka 4-month course, then again in ’93. Did a 3-month Solitary in ’93 – ’94 in Guhyaloka. Told I was a Private preceptor and performed my first 3 Private ordinations in ‘95. The 4-month course again in ‘97 & yet more Private ordinations.)
Became interested in Scaravelli Inspired Yoga.

In 2008 I was still living and working at Padmaloka on the Ordination team. (Went on Guhyaloka 2000 4-month course. I was asked to join the College of Public Preceptors and then became 1/8 head of the order in August 2000. Performed my first Public ordination's in 2001 at Guhyaloka. Many Public and Private ordinations followed! In 2007 I visited my Parents now living in Sydney Australia, and travelling for 2 weeks in Japan.) Began training in Scaravelli Inspired Yoga in London.

In 2018 I am still living and working at Padmaloka and working on the Men’s Ordination team. After decades I’m still trying to adapt to the digital age, e-mails and being a Member of the Preceptors’ College Council, (meetings and administration have never been my forte). I love my work with men who have asked for Ordination and the ever-changing life in an active and vibrant Men’s community.

On a cold winter's evening towards the end of 1969, at number 14 Monmouth Street, a small shop named Sakura, accessed via a side entrance through an alleyway, then down a narrow set of stairs into a basement, a meditation class was being held. Seated at the back of the room was Sangharakshita, dressed in robes, with a western pullover underneath, wearing an abundance of rings and long hair. Buddhadasa recalls this first encounter with a clarity as if it had happened only last year. “May I join you?” He asks. As it turns out, for him, these were prophetic words.

It often seems hard to believe that the Triratna Buddhist Community we encounter today had such humble origins. It wasn’t long after this potent encounter that Buddhadasa decided to dedicate all his time to supporting Sangharakshita’s efforts to establish a new Buddhist movement, leaving behind a career in architecture and becoming the Chair/Secretary/Treasurer of the then Friends of The Western Buddhist Order, all at same time. Over 50 Years later, Buddhadasa has done just that–dedicating his whole life to the development and spread of the Dharma.

In this full interview recorded for the Fifty Years Fifty Voices project, we hear reflections on his 50+ years of involvement with the Triratna Buddhist Order: from the very earliest days in London to further adventures helping establish the Dharma in New Zealand and Australia.

It’s very difficult to practice without Sangha. Because you can understand things, but you need to transform emotionally. So if you want to transform emotionally, you need to share with your friends and colleagues.

Karmavajra Annals:

In 1968 when Bhante Urgyen Sangharakshita started our movement, I was not aware of it.

In 1978 I was three years old. I was born in 1975 to a Buddhist family near Nagpur, where the mass conversion took place in 1956 by Dr. Ambedkar. I was living in a combined family with my three older brothers and sisters. I was the youngest in my family.

In 1988 was the first time I saw Bhante in Wardha where he came to inaugurate the hostel building there. At that time I was not very aware of Sangharakshita and our movement. I came to know about our movement through social work. My two middle school teachers became order members.

In 1998 I was preparing to shift to Nagpur (in 1999) for my post-graduation and computer study. There I got to interact with people in the community and I decided to live the community lifestyle and gradually I committed myself to Buddhist life and became a Mitra and started work for a team-based right livelihood project called Triratna Pustakalaya.

In 2008 I was an order member and living in the Bhaja retreat centre community. In early 2008 I decided to get married. A few months later I came to Mahavihar Pune and after a few years started working for the Order Office.

In 2018 I will have been ordained for 12 years, still working for the Order Office. It was a great experience for me to organise a big order gathering at Bodhgaya [the 2018 International Order Convention].

"Every day I need to communicate, every day get into communication with people… Within that, holding lightly to my own views and sometimes just letting it go and ‘not taking myself so seriously. So that’s an area of explicit practice for me."

Sanghadhara’s Annals:

In 1968 I was... still in Deva reals of my previous life

In 1978 I was... fading away from lower devalokas

In 1988 I was... born in this human body that year on the 25th of March, right in the centre of Mexico City. I must have had some choice of my birth parents. At that time, they were into the I Ching, doing Tai Chi and they must have been doing some sort of meditation I remember leading through a meditation to a classmate when I was about 5 years old (haha). Around year 6 or 7, I had some very existential dreams that hunted me for decades to come and fuelled my spiritual inquisitiveness. A different fun fact, I was a child actor, I did TV adverts, and a music video and was cast into the Latin American version of Sesame Street. But my TV career was interrupted as my mum moved us out of the city. But I continued doing theatre and that's how I first met Bodhikamala, she was 7, and I was 8, I think.

In 1998 I was... I was ten years old, around the first time I read Siddhartha by Herman Hesse; this was perhaps the first time I encountered the Buddha and the idea of awakening. Also, with Bodhikamala, we were doing Meditations to align my chakras so I could heal with energy and read auras.

Being in fairly alternative education, I was exposed to classic literature and philosophers from a young age. And after being busy being a rebel and reading Harry Potter, I go interested in awakening and spiritual Truth. Aged 15 I decided to re-read Siddhartha and a year later, Bodhikama and I would encounter the FWBO, I asked my dad to take me to the Centre in Mexico City, and she was taken to a yoga retreat by her grandma. I think that was 2004. On my first retreat, I decided I'd move to the UK for a few years to explore the moment and join the Order. After 2-3 years of coming to the Buddhist centre, I started sharing what I learned in meditation and Buddhism with classmates and eventually a weekly meditation group.

In 2008 I was… Facilitating a meditation and Buddhism group with Bodhikhamala in Toluca as we've been doing for a couple of years while I was saving money to learn English so I could go to Windhorse:Evolution in Cambridge. That year my first visa application was refused so I applied to go to university to study Dramatic Literate and Theatre. I also remember fondly starting a project at the Buddhist Centre called "Lotus Azules", aimed to explore the place of the Arts in our system of practice. I was passionate about the place of the Arts as a way to communicate the Dharma through the Arts with my friend Pablo Sierra.

2009 I moved to Cambridge, UK to join Windhorse:Evolution, where I spent 6 years. A lot of it was a bit frustrating in the warehouse and much more frustrating in the ordination process, but I enjoyed community life and the creative projects I managed to get involved in. Street meditations, Buddhist pantomimes, sangha picnics, festivals and shrine decorations.

After the closing of Windhorse:Evolution in 2015 I moved up north, Manchester, and joined Clear Vision. After 9 years in the ordination process, I was given my name by Keturaja. I'm so grateful to my friends in this process, I'm sure I wasn't the only one that found it frustrating at times. Without my preceptor and Kalyana Mitras Suvajra and Arthapriya, I just would've left the country and distanced myself from the Ordination process. Thanks too to Dharmashalin and Bodhiketu.

2016 I set up a new residential community (Gosinga), reclaiming the flat above the Manchester Buddhist Centre, still very much passionate about the creation and development of spaces conducive to practice, friendship and beauty.

In 2018… Directing Clear Vision Trust, based in Manchester, living in Gosinga. Involved in the documentation and communication of our Order and Movement, I feel passionate about the diversity of our internationality and shared and emerging culture. It's richness, depth and breadth, successes and challenges.

In 2020 we decided to close Clear Vision Trust before we were forced to by a pandemic recession and an underfunded Movement. So I'm training as a Graphic Designer while working at Dharmachakra. I'm still interested in learning new skills and adding tools to my tool kit to keep building this ambitious and amazing Triratna project creatively.

"The Heart Sutra was my moment of conversion, when I was 17 years old."
 

Amala’s Annals:

In 1968 I was 14 years old, attending a Quaker High School in Washington, D.C., USA. I was very aware of the Civil Rights movement and the unrest all around me due to race issues. I was also aware of the growing peace movement(s) and started to be active in anti-Vietnam marches in Washington.

In 1978 I had graduated from university two years before with a degree in Religious Studies and Anthropology. I had studied Buddhism extensively while in school and considered myself a Buddhist, though had not chosen to participate with either the Zen community nor the Chogyam Trungpa group – the two main Buddhist groups active in the US at the time. To be Buddhist was a private practice and sensibility for me. I was living in a rural arts/crafts community in New Jersey, eastern USA, and working as a weaver’s apprentice.

In 1988 I was married and living in a small town in New Hampshire, USA, working in my own weaving studio with 3 people working under me. I had heard back in 1985 of the new Buddhist Center in Newmarket, NH – Aryaloka, but had not yet gone there.

In 1997 I was very active in the sangha at Aryaloka Buddhist Center. I had asked for ordination some years before. I was fully occupied as a stay-at-home mom, living in a rural setting and practicing Dharma.

In 2008 I’d been ordained for 8 years. My daughter was away at college and my son was away at a boarding school. I was working full-time for Aryaloka Buddhist Center as Program Director, teaching a great deal, and supporting the ordination process for women. I was divorced from my husband during this year – a friendly, mutual decision.

In 2018 I continue to be involved at Aryaloka, now as Chair of the Spiritual Vitality Council, still teaching, still supporting women in the ordination process. I am also an Order Convener for the US/Canada. My children are both in their twenties, doing well, one married with a baby. After 20 years of not working in my weaving studio I have revived that part of me and am happily weaving and creating a business with my daughter.  Every year I travel to Ecodharma in Spain to lead a month-long meditation retreat for the community there, to support them as a friend to the community.

"I think it's about 18 years we've lived together, in one form or another."
 

Satyadaka's Annals:

In 1968 I was eight years old. I was into swimming, had just realised I didn’t like mathematics and loved the Narnia books by C.S.Lewis even more than the Alice books by Lewis Carroll.

In 1978 I was taking my A-Levels but was more interested in the life that seemed to be passing me by. I associated life with the Arts in general and with music, writing and acting in particular.

In 1988 I was a Mitra who’d asked for ordination and had been a Buddhist for four years. I lived in ‘the evening team’ community in Clapham and worked in Hockney’s Vegetarian Restaurant, associated with the Croydon Buddhist Centre. This year there were big changes at the CBC and, also, Subhuti moved with his team to Padmaloka to re-launch the ordination process for men. I was very positively affected by both these developments. At the end of the year I attended my first Performing Arts retreat at Water Hall, meeting, amongst others, Sarvananda and Bodhivajra.

In 1998 I became Chairman of the Norwich Buddhist Centre, having moved to Norwich to be with Sarvananda and Bodhivajra and ‘to pursue the Arts’.

In 2008 I had been living with Sarvananda in a terraced house in Norwich for about a year having decided ‘to pursue the arts’ more effectively, even if it was all a bit late. Began ‘going out with’ Satyagita, though mainly we stayed in.

In 2018 I am still in pursuit, still living with Sarvananda and Satyagita (though she lives in a different house), playing the saxophone, translating Rilke (and some other German poets) and have self-published my autobiography, ‘Everything That Arises’. I’m involved with ‘Wolf At The Door’, a writing Sangha within Triratna.

***

Sarvananda’s Annals:

In 1968 I was ten years old and at Netherlee Primary School in Glasgow. A good boy and top of my class but reading lots of books about ‘bad’ boys – William Brown and Jennings…

In 1978 I was at university studying literature and drama. Reading a lot, writing plays – but looking for meaning and not finding it. Not wanting a conventional job.

In 1988 I was in Norwich – having moved down there after I was ordained in 1987. Finding my feet as an Order Member. Helping lead arts retreats with Kovida, Chintamani and Bodhivajra.

In 1998 I was Mitra Convenor in Norwich. After years of writer’s block, beginning to write again. Living in a Buddhist community. Working a lot for the Movement.

In 2008 I was living with Satyadaka still in Norwich. Working for Norwich Centre but spending most of my time writing – and earning my living as a playwright.

In 2018 I am still living with Satyadaka, working at the Buddhist Centre and earning a crust writing, and getting very interested in William Blake.

Growing up in Chorley, Lancashire, in the northwest of England, Abhaya (1936-2022) recalls his early life as the youngest of four siblings, raised by parents who were run off their feet. With Dad away at the war, mum managed a small chip shop in which he and his brothers used to help out. Following in the footsteps of his older brother Jack, Abhaya would later spend several years at a Catholic Seminary, a period he jokingly characterizes as being like 12 years imprisonment. Christianity plays a strong conditioning factor in the early part of Abhaya’s life, the northwest being “rife with Catholicism” and his older brother going on to become a priest. Yet Abhaya’s path would stray off that given course, and in the 1960s he travelled to Thailand where his life would well and truly change, meeting his future wife and encountering the counter-culture of the ’60s and ’70s. Returning to England he would then come into contact with Urgyen Sangharakshita and the very beginnings of the Western Buddhist Movement.

Satyalila had the pleasure of interviewing Abhaya back in 2018 and this conversation is the sequel to another Buddhist Voices podcast episode, Abhaya On Beauty and The Imagination as Ways to Liberation, which came out shortly after that meeting. Satyalila enjoyed their conversation so much that she felt it warranted another! This previously unreleased recording takes us through Abhaya’s life in chronological order and in more detail, covering ground not touched on before.

As someone who was there from the very early days of the Triratna Buddhist Order and community, Abhaya’s depth of experience and wisdom shines through, often in the most unassuming manner. This is a poignant and honest account of what happens when working out the needs of our spiritual life involves a sense of conflict, and requires some deeper resolution. 

Listen now, and enjoy two friends talking through a life lived with meaning and purpose.

Extracts from this talk were used for the Fifty Years, Fifty Voices project:

Visit the Fifty Years, Fifty Voices on The Buddhist Centre Online

Recorded in Bristol, 2018. 

"We used to do rituals in the basement of the shop, invoking Padmasambhava while we made egg sandwiches"

Khemajoti’s Annals:

In 1968 I was living in my birthplace, Swindon UK, with my parents and younger brother in the house we'd moved into in 1960. I was finishing primary school where I'd been a bright, happy child (top of the class) and moving to secondary school where I met children who were more of a match for me. I was moving into the awkwardness of adolescence.

In 1978 I was finishing 3 years at a small teacher training college in Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire. It was a time of big education cuts and it was hard to get a primary school job outside of the big cities. It was the year I went to Canada with my then boyfriend to visit a couple we'd met whilst hostelling in Scotland. Due to the lack of teaching jobs, I ended up living back with my parents, working in a warehouse, ending the relationship with the boyfriend and feeling miserable.

In 1988 I was living and working in London as an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher after 7 years living abroad. I found being back in the UK strange and hard to adjust to. I'd returned to the UK looking for a Buddhist group to teach me to meditate and during the Easter holidays I went to a lunchtime class at the Croydon Centre. I knew I'd found what I was looking for (in spite of the strange atmosphere) and went regularly to classes and got to know Manjunatha. In the autumn I went to Tarragona in Spain for an EFL job. Whilst there I kept up yoga and meditation, read a few Dharma books I had, wrote long letters full of Dharma questions to Manjunatha and at the end of the year went on a group retreat at Osel Ling instead of the holiday I'd planned with a friend. Being at Osel Ling (and reading Subhuti's 'Buddhist Vision' from their library) convinced me that I wanted to practice with the FWBO. I also learnt that Moksananda was in Valencia trying to start a Centre and I contacted him early the following year.

In 1998 I was in Croydon working in the wholefood shop, the women's Team-Based Right-Livelihood Business (TBRL). I had been ordained the previous year in June at Tiratanaloka. I was living in a community with 3 of the women from the shop (2 of whom are now Satyalila and Ksantika). In the spring I went (with no money!) on a mad, impulsive 3 week trip to Mexico City to visit the sangha. There were no Dharmacharinis there (possibly I was the first to have visited??) and only 2 Dharmacharis – Upekshamati and Samamati. I was generously hosted by 2 Mitras (now Jnanadakini and now ex OM Kovindu). We went on a weekend retreat where I gave (with a lot of help from Kovindu) a short talk in Spanish.  From Mexico I flew to San Francisco to visit Viveka who I'd been ordained with. There we went as retreatants on a weekend retreat with Kamalashila who was visiting.

On the plane home I had a strong wish to use my Spanish more, to be with more experienced Dharmacharinis and to have more time with my preceptor Sanghadevi. When I got home I received a card from Dhammadinna asking if I could go to the first Tuscany retreat that autumn as translator for a Spanish speaking Mitra who spoke no English. At that time there were only 3 Spanish speaking Dharmacharinis in the world (!), myself being one. I had no idea if I was up to the task but said yes and so Saddhakara joined the Order. I had a very intense 6 week retreat and my wishes from the plane were fulfilled!

In 2008 I was still living in Bristol and working in the Windhorse:Evolution shop at the beginning of the year. I then had 2 months of working as an Evolution shop visitor in London, Brighton, Norwich and Cambridge. During and after this time I was homeless for 5 or 6 months, staying with friends, my Mum, house sitting and going on retreats. A wide variety of retreats – Pure Awareness at Vajrakuta, study at Dharmapala College (Madhyamaloka), Breathworks at Taraloka and 2 retreats at Vajrasana – an Evolution retreat and a families’ retreat. I had the idea that I would like to move to Bath but realized this was impractical and in the autumn rented a v cheap (!) room with friends with the idea of not working for a while and just seeing what unfolded. I focused quite a lot on meditation and also helped Kulamitra run a Dharma course in Bath one eve a week.

In 2018 I sold the family house, attended the inauguration of Suryagupta as chair of the LBC, and was unexpectedly invited (at a few weeks' notice) to help lead the ordination course at Akashavana. In the autumn Bhante died – I was fortunate to attend a day of the vigil, the funeral and the first retreat at Adhisthana afterwards. I'm still living in Bristol, working at the Buddhist Centre and running a couple of Mitra groups.

"You have to balance or hold the bearer of the archetype with the ordinary human being, that’s very important. Because there’s no way you’re going to reconcile them."

Abhaya Annals:

In 1968 I was living in Cornwall with my family, sharing in a kind of family community experiment. I had met Bhante and the seedling movement a year before at his first summer retreat at Haslemere, Surrey.

In 1978 I was working as a carpenter at Sukhavati in Bethnal Green, which soon came to be called the London Buddhist Centre, with Atula as the overall foreman of the building project. Most of us were employed as part of a government sponsored programme called the Manpower Services Commission.

In 1988 I was in Norwich, sharing a house with Vajrananda, having spent 5 years as chairman of the Norwich Buddhist Centre. I was then engaged in another government scheme which allowed me to work as part time teacher, part time writer. I was writing short stories as well as my life story and I was teaching part time at a local language school. It was at this time that I experienced a strong spiritual crisis which led me to opt out of all responsibilities to do with the FWBO and to going to teach EFL in Japan for four years.

In 1998 I had re-engaged with movement activities and was working at the Cambridge Buddhist Centre office as well as acting as a part time official Kalyana Mitra for the men at Windhorse Trading. In 1999 I went to teach at the men’s study centre, Vajrakuta, in Wales.

In 2008 I was living in Birmingham, in one of the men’s communities in Moseley and contributed a little to the Dharmadhuta course which Subhuti had organised. A very important and transforming spiritual experience during this period was a three month solitary retreat at Sudarshanaloka in New Zealand. It was also during the late '90s and early 2000s that I became a private preceptor to 3 men and subsequently a public preceptor. I ordained 2 men publicly.

In 2018 I am living in Brighton in a sheltered housing flat. I have little to do with the Brighton Buddhist Centre apart from attending sangha events and giving occasional talks. My small chapter here has dwindled to two. I have a small circle of friends here in the Order and we get together either regularly or periodically. I spend a lot of time doing art work.

Many people in the Triratna Buddhist Community know Amoghasiddhi for his kind and welcoming smile, as well as his tireless Dharma work for our sangha in Nagpur, India. Now part of the ordination team in India, as well as a member of Indian Public Preceptors Kula, Amoghasiddhi has been ordained for over 30 years. 

In this moving interview with Candradasa, originally recorded back in 2018 for the Fifty Years, Fifty Voices Project, the pair cover a lot of ground, including Amoghasiddhi's love of poetry and a visit Bhante Urgyen Sangharakshita made to Nagpur in 1992. Amoghasiddhi describes the sight of 70,000 people attending the speech Sangharakshita gave at the same place where, in 1956, he had addressed a grief stricken crowd of over 250,000 followers of Dr Ambedkar, after the latter's unexpected death.

When Sangharakshita gave that speech in 1992, there were just four Order members in Nagpur. As Amoghasiddhi happily recalls:  "Bhante said, 'Nagpur needs 100 Order members…' Well we are very glad to tell you there are now over a 100 Order Members, and four main [Triratna Buddhist] Centres..."

A lovely conversation, with a lovely, inspiring man.

Extracts from this talk were used for the Fifty Years, Fifty Voices project:
Visit the Fifty Years, Fifty Voices on The Buddhist Centre Online