This month’s letter comes from Parami, one of the Deputy Chair’s of the College: Parami first met Triratna in Glasgow, Scotland in 1977 after seeing a Change your Life! Poster. After moving into a community in London, Parami went on to be ordained by Sangharakshita in 1980. She has lived her life serving Triratna, which included moving to Spain in 1992 and becoming chair of the Valencia Buddhist Centre. Since then she has become both a private and public preceptor, served as international order convenor for 10 years, and is currently chair of the Glasgow Buddhist Centre. She has publicly ordained women from Spain, Mexico, the UK, the USA and New Zealand.

+++

Dear companions in the good life,

Yesterday morning I watched the demolition of three high rise flats in the housing estate where I live in Glasgow. It was very dramatic and lasted only seconds. I remember when those buildings first opened.  They were constructed in the late 1950s and this area is not far from where I grew up.  I had aunties who moved into those blocks and I remember visiting and being fascinated by the height of the buildings and the lift that took you up to the 20th floor where one of them lived.  Yesterday I found myself wondering, in the almost 70 years since then, how many families had lived in those 600 units. How many children grew up there? What dreams and plans were hatched there? And in less than a minute, they’re gone. Impermanence in a very graphic example.

Straight after, I helped lead an afternoon for the Glasgow Sangha in the new premises we have bought. Over 50 people attended and, as well as giving practical information, we performed rituals to the cardinal directions, using the Ratna Sutta and acknowledging the past of the property. Part of a rather elegant crescent of listed buildings, it was originally part of a family estate owned by a couple of rich Glaswegian families whose money came from enslaved labour in the Caribbean where they had tobacco and sugar plantations. I acknowledged this in a talk at the beginning of the afternoon and ended by promising that, from such painful beginnings, a Pure Land can grow.  Conditionality in a very graphic example - from the past, grows the present and now, from the present, we promise a future based on kindness.

So that is my home situation but this is a letter from a deputy chair of the college so I’ll move onto more national and international events.

Mahamati wrote last month of the International Council meeting (ICM) at Nagaloka, Nagpur.  Mahamati gave a good explanation of the aims of the ICM and gave a flavour of our meeting. I won’t repeat that but I do want to tell you about our very inspiring day out. After breakfast one morning we all piled onto a bus to be taken, first, to a piece of land that has been very generously donated by Dharmachari Nagabhadra to the Women’s Ordination team.  It was very inspiring to see him, accompanied by members of his family, ritually hand over the land deeds to the Ordination team. I felt a strong sense of the importance of this moment - a field of possibilities opening up in a field of chana (chick peas). I was invited, along with Kulanandi, to plant a wee Bodhi tree, again a symbol of conditionality and of promise.  It holds the past of the Buddha’s Enlightenment, the present magic of this moment and the future promise of more and more women enjoying a safe space to practice, to Go For Refuge to the Three Jewels and to enter our Order.

After that we visited Sudarshanabhumi, a beautiful retreat centre where, as well as enjoying a delicious lunch, we participated in a ritual programme.  In the afternoon we visited the Deekshabhumi, where Dr. Ambedkar and approximately 400,000 followers converted to Buddhism on October 14, 1956. ( You can learn more here in the Complete Works volume 9  Dr Ambedkar and the Revival of Buddhism) For many it was their first visit to this historic site, a place of great importance in the revival of Buddhism in India and I enjoyed seeing their responses. It is also part of our own history and I sat and reflected on how different our community would be, had Sangharakshita not met Dr Ambedkar.  I am so grateful that he did, not only because we have such a thriving Indian Order and community but also because of the lessons on social action that we can learn from the life and teachings of Dr Ambedkar. How to change society by changing hearts and minds with the Dharma at the centre of a peaceful revolution.

Back home to Scotland and then, a few weeks later, to Adhisthana for the spring College meeting of the UK / EU kulas. Since this is not an International meeting, discussions of anything beyond the local business of the kulas is informative rather than decisive.  Any changes to college procedures, or to ordination training needs to be taken by the whole college at our International meeting in November.  I’m asked sometimes about the slowness of changes coming from the College.  It is not surprising given that we strive to work by consensus in a meeting of over 40 people from a range of different cultural settings. And we meet face to face only once a year.  So, change is slow but it is thoughtful and thorough.

As well as meeting in our separate kulas for specific topics, we met all together for some discussions and we had study together. We also had some lovely evenings together.  I sometimes reflect that, for me, those evenings are the highlight of the meeting. They are usually an opportunity for personal sharing and getting to know each other. I have been in the college over 20 years and, in that time, most of the members who were there when I joined have retired. Of the 12 of us who joined in 2004, only four of us remain.  So, it is important to hear life stories and personal reflections as we expand.

Since this year, 2025, is the centenary of the birth of Sangharakshita (Bhante), he featured strongly in the meeting, particularly in some of the evening sessions and in the study. The study was led by Vajratara and she had compiled a collection of quotes from Bhante gathered around the four Myths as they have been called at times. In other words, the four approaches to the spiritual life: the developmental model; the model of surrender; of self-discovery and of emergence. For each of these, Vajratara had put together extracts from talks, from Bhante’s autobiographical writings and from his poetry. It was delightful to explore these and it was interesting to see that all of these approaches can be found in his writings.

Bhante was also evoked in an interesting conversation where Subhadramati asked Padmavajra about his early memories of Bhante. Padmavajra, as always, spoke with candour and passion and it was delightful to have glimpses into early days of our Order, including Bhante’s visit to India where Padmavajra, as a young order member,  served and supported him.  After the conversation, Padmavajra led us in a practice of the Kalyana Mitra yoga meditation. On another evening of recalling Bhante, Punyamala, Satyaraja and Dayanandi spoke of their relationship with Bhante.  All three were ordained by Bhante and spoke movingly of different encounters with him that had changed their lives.

Evening events at college meetings often include farewells and rejoicings. This meeting was no different and, in a bittersweet session, we thanked and said goodbye to Akasajoti who has served as college assistant for the last period, working very closely with Ratnadharini during her time as college chair and helping facilitate the transition to the new team, headed by Mahamati as chair. Akasajoti is exceptional and that was reflected in the expressions of love, gratitude and rejoicing from members of the college. We wish her well in this next phase and, although she will be missed, she has set up the conditions well for the next assistant(s) to take the reins.  Jayadhi attended parts of the meeting and will be taking on some of the aspects of Akasajoti’s work. It was lovely to be able to welcome her. 

As in the November meeting Mahamati and those deputies who were there (Vajrashura, Vajratara and myself) met each evening with Akasajoti to plan the programme and to talk about things that had come up in the different kulas. I enjoy those meetings, there’s a lot of laughter as well as looking at serious issues.  Last November Ratnavyuha, who was a deputy with Ratnadharini and continues in that function now, commented that he felt like he is now the most introverted where he had previously felt like the most extrovert. I know Mahamati well - we worked together as International Order convenors for around 8 years but we go way back before that.  I’m enjoying getting to know the others better and look forward to that deepening over the next 5 years. Not only with the ones based in this part of the world but with Amrutdeep (who I also worked with closely when I was Order convenor) and with Ratnavyuha. 

So, that is a flavour from me of the recent International Council Meeting in India and of the spring UK / EU college meeting at Adhisthana.  It’s not an official recording of the meetings, rather some vignettes of my experience. Now I am in Glasgow and enjoying the fact that spring is here in the northern hemisphere.  There are daffodils everywhere, a riot of colour.  I started this with a description of demolition, I leave you with that image of renewal and an extract from a poem of Bhante’s I only discovered recently. It’s called The Root Speaks and it is a poem of renewal, evoking the rose growing from the darkness to the light.

Mock me not, O Rose, that I am hidden

Here in the black soil. The sap descends

In Autumn with the long tale of thy Summer beauty

And I know all thy ways. Oh mock me not

That my roots are hidden in the earth, that I love the earth

…

I am out of your sight. Why should you mock me?

But tell me, Whence comes the sap that invigorates your veins,

And the beauty that blushes in every petal?

Does it not come with the ascending sap in Spring?

Comes it not through these roots, from this dank black soil,

From these rotting leaves, this decayedness, this uncleanness –

Out of urine and ordure? So mock me not,

O Rose, nor be ashamed of your father the Root

Before the faces of your friends, the Stars.

I hope that you are all well, whether it is spring for you, or autumn. 

Parami

This month’s letter comes from Parami, one of the Deputy Chair’s of the College: Parami first met Triratna in Glasgow, Scotland in 1977 after seeing a Change your Life! Poster. After moving into a community in London, Parami went on to be ordained by Sangharakshita in 1980. She has lived her life serving Triratna, which included moving to Spain in 1992 and becoming chair of the Valencia Buddhist Centre. Since then she has become both a private and public preceptor, served as international order convenor for 10 years, and is currently chair of the Glasgow Buddhist Centre. She has publicly ordained women from Spain, Mexico, the UK, the USA and New Zealand.

+++

Dear companions in the good life,

Yesterday morning I watched the demolition of three high rise flats in the housing estate where I live in Glasgow. It was very dramatic and lasted only seconds. I remember when those buildings first opened.  They were constructed in the late 1950s and this area is not far from where I grew up.  I had aunties who moved into those blocks and I remember visiting and being fascinated by the height of the buildings and the lift that took you up to the 20th floor where one of them lived.  Yesterday I found myself wondering, in the almost 70 years since then, how many families had lived in those 600 units. How many children grew up there? What dreams and plans were hatched there? And in less than a minute, they’re gone. Impermanence in a very graphic example.

Straight after, I helped lead an afternoon for the Glasgow Sangha in the new premises we have bought. Over 50 people attended and, as well as giving practical information, we performed rituals to the cardinal directions, using the Ratna Sutta and acknowledging the past of the property. Part of a rather elegant crescent of listed buildings, it was originally part of a family estate owned by a couple of rich Glaswegian families whose money came from enslaved labour in the Caribbean where they had tobacco and sugar plantations. I acknowledged this in a talk at the beginning of the afternoon and ended by promising that, from such painful beginnings, a Pure Land can grow.  Conditionality in a very graphic example - from the past, grows the present and now, from the present, we promise a future based on kindness.

So that is my home situation but this is a letter from a deputy chair of the college so I’ll move onto more national and international events.

Mahamati wrote last month of the International Council meeting (ICM) at Nagaloka, Nagpur.  Mahamati gave a good explanation of the aims of the ICM and gave a flavour of our meeting. I won’t repeat that but I do want to tell you about our very inspiring day out. After breakfast one morning we all piled onto a bus to be taken, first, to a piece of land that has been very generously donated by Dharmachari Nagabhadra to the Women’s Ordination team.  It was very inspiring to see him, accompanied by members of his family, ritually hand over the land deeds to the Ordination team. I felt a strong sense of the importance of this moment - a field of possibilities opening up in a field of chana (chick peas). I was invited, along with Kulanandi, to plant a wee Bodhi tree, again a symbol of conditionality and of promise.  It holds the past of the Buddha’s Enlightenment, the present magic of this moment and the future promise of more and more women enjoying a safe space to practice, to Go For Refuge to the Three Jewels and to enter our Order.

After that we visited Sudarshanabhumi, a beautiful retreat centre where, as well as enjoying a delicious lunch, we participated in a ritual programme.  In the afternoon we visited the Deekshabhumi, where Dr. Ambedkar and approximately 400,000 followers converted to Buddhism on October 14, 1956. ( You can learn more here in the Complete Works volume 9  Dr Ambedkar and the Revival of Buddhism) For many it was their first visit to this historic site, a place of great importance in the revival of Buddhism in India and I enjoyed seeing their responses. It is also part of our own history and I sat and reflected on how different our community would be, had Sangharakshita not met Dr Ambedkar.  I am so grateful that he did, not only because we have such a thriving Indian Order and community but also because of the lessons on social action that we can learn from the life and teachings of Dr Ambedkar. How to change society by changing hearts and minds with the Dharma at the centre of a peaceful revolution.

Back home to Scotland and then, a few weeks later, to Adhisthana for the spring College meeting of the UK / EU kulas. Since this is not an International meeting, discussions of anything beyond the local business of the kulas is informative rather than decisive.  Any changes to college procedures, or to ordination training needs to be taken by the whole college at our International meeting in November.  I’m asked sometimes about the slowness of changes coming from the College.  It is not surprising given that we strive to work by consensus in a meeting of over 40 people from a range of different cultural settings. And we meet face to face only once a year.  So, change is slow but it is thoughtful and thorough.

As well as meeting in our separate kulas for specific topics, we met all together for some discussions and we had study together. We also had some lovely evenings together.  I sometimes reflect that, for me, those evenings are the highlight of the meeting. They are usually an opportunity for personal sharing and getting to know each other. I have been in the college over 20 years and, in that time, most of the members who were there when I joined have retired. Of the 12 of us who joined in 2004, only four of us remain.  So, it is important to hear life stories and personal reflections as we expand.

Since this year, 2025, is the centenary of the birth of Sangharakshita (Bhante), he featured strongly in the meeting, particularly in some of the evening sessions and in the study. The study was led by Vajratara and she had compiled a collection of quotes from Bhante gathered around the four Myths as they have been called at times. In other words, the four approaches to the spiritual life: the developmental model; the model of surrender; of self-discovery and of emergence. For each of these, Vajratara had put together extracts from talks, from Bhante’s autobiographical writings and from his poetry. It was delightful to explore these and it was interesting to see that all of these approaches can be found in his writings.

Bhante was also evoked in an interesting conversation where Subhadramati asked Padmavajra about his early memories of Bhante. Padmavajra, as always, spoke with candour and passion and it was delightful to have glimpses into early days of our Order, including Bhante’s visit to India where Padmavajra, as a young order member,  served and supported him.  After the conversation, Mahamati led us in a practice of the Kalyana Mitra yoga meditation. On another evening of recalling Bhante, Punyamala, Satyaraja and Dayanandi spoke of their relationship with Bhante.  All three were ordained by Bhante and spoke movingly of different encounters with him that had changed their lives.

Evening events at college meetings often include farewells and rejoicings. This meeting was no different and, in a bittersweet session, we thanked and said goodbye to Akasajoti who has served as college assistant for the last period, working very closely with Ratnadharini during her time as college chair and helping facilitate the transition to the new team, headed by Mahamati as chair. Akasajoti is exceptional and that was reflected in the expressions of love, gratitude and rejoicing from members of the college. We wish her well in this next phase and, although she will be missed, she has set up the conditions well for the next assistant(s) to take the reins.  Jayadhi attended parts of the meeting and will be taking on some of the aspects of Akasajoti’s work. It was lovely to be able to welcome her. 

As in the November meeting Mahamati and those deputies who were there (Vajrashura, Vajratara and myself) met each evening with Akasajoti to plan the programme and to talk about things that had come up in the different kulas. I enjoy those meetings, there’s a lot of laughter as well as looking at serious issues.  Last November Ratnavyuha, who was a deputy with Ratnadharini and continues in that function now, commented that he felt like he is now the most introverted where he had previously felt like the most extrovert. I know Mahamati well - we worked together as International Order convenors for around 8 years but we go way back before that.  I’m enjoying getting to know the others better and look forward to that deepening over the next 5 years. Not only with the ones based in this part of the world but with Amrutdeep (who I also worked with closely when I was Order convenor) and with Ratnavyuha. 

So, that is a flavour from me of the recent International Council Meeting in India and of the spring UK / EU college meeting at Adhisthana.  It’s not an official recording of the meetings, rather some vignettes of my experience. Now I am in Glasgow and enjoying the fact that spring is here in the northern hemisphere.  There are daffodils everywhere, a riot of colour.  I started this with a description of demolition, I leave you with that image of renewal and an extract from a poem of Bhante’s I only discovered recently. It’s called The Root Speaks and it is a poem of renewal, evoking the rose growing from the darkness to the light.

Mock me not, O Rose, that I am hidden

Here in the black soil. The sap descends

In Autumn with the long tale of thy Summer beauty

And I know all thy ways. Oh mock me not

That my roots are hidden in the earth, that I love the earth

…

I am out of your sight. Why should you mock me?

But tell me, Whence comes the sap that invigorates your veins,

And the beauty that blushes in every petal?

Does it not come with the ascending sap in Spring?

Comes it not through these roots, from this dank black soil,

From these rotting leaves, this decayedness, this uncleanness –

Out of urine and ordure? So mock me not,

O Rose, nor be ashamed of your father the Root

Before the faces of your friends, the Stars.

I hope that you are all well, whether it is spring for you, or autumn. 

Parami

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Dear Order members and friends,

Formerly one needed courage to attack institutions. Now one needs courage to defend them – and still more courage to create them.

This aphorism of Sangharakshita first appeared in print in 1998 in A Stream of Stars: Reflections and Aphorisms. However, as with many of his published aphorisms, we have no information about the context in which it was first said or written -  it is quite possible that Bhante had jotted this down much earlier. Like any good aphorism this one invites us to reflect, indeed challenges us to do so. What does Sangharakshita mean by this? What caused him to have this reflection? More immediately, how does it relate to our own experience? In our life, have we attacked institutions? Which institutions, and why? Did that take courage? And have we defended them, created them, maybe are still doing so, and has this required courage?

Last time I wrote I was at Bodhgaya on our Order Convention, soon on my way to Nagpur for an International Council (IC) meeting at Nagaloka. Over that week, we began each  day with a short presentation based on one of Bhante’s aphorisms, followed by discussion in small groups. This one was presented by Jnanadhara, our International Movement Co-ordinator. He drew to our attention that courage is “the ability to do something that frightens one”. He said that fearlessness is a quality of the Buddhas, it is something to aspire to. However before Enlightenment we definitely need courage, this is an indispensable quality that is needed to face whatever fears will inevitably arise, at least from time to time, in order to develop in a Dharma life. Appropriately, as we were at Nagaloka, Jnanadhara reflected on the courage of Dr. Ambedkar, saying that “it is really quite astonishing how incredibly trailblazing he was, to say what he thought in the face of opposition”. You can watch Jnanadhara’s talk here - and he showed courage in giving the talk, as he had been laid low the previous few days with a high fever, only re-emerging that morning and still not feeling well.

Religion cannot be taught it can only be caught.

Abhayadana, one of the women College members in India whose name means “She who gives fearlessness”, spoke on this subject. In this case the origin of the aphorism is a talk given in India in 1982 to College students at Siddharth College in Bombay. Abhayadana said that she had found the talk published in Marathi in a copy of an early issue of the magazine Buddhayan in her possession. (It is published in English in Complete Works volume 9 with the title Buddhism and Education). Bhante’s main theme was kalyana mitrata: “You have to catch the spirit of religion and you do this through the influence of other people.” Abhayadana’s talk connected with Jnanadhara’s when she spoke quite personally about how Dr. Ambedkar’s fearlessness had on many occasions in her life “given her inspiration to move forwards” and how for her “these are not just words but this is Babasaheb for me”. You can watch Abhayadana’s talk here - she also showed courage, giving a talk in English which she is not accustomed to do.

On the International Council the institutions we want to look after, defend where necessary, and explore creating, are of course Triratna’s institutions. The Council itself is made up of members from our primary institutions: the College of Public Preceptors, the Order (Order Convenors), and Chairs from some of our Centres. In addition a few Mitra Convenors are invited.

The IC brings together Area Councils from the six areas of our Triratna World, that is India, Oceania, Latin America, North America, Mainland Europe, and the UK & Ireland. Each Council has six members: two College members, two Order Convenors, and two from the Movement. In addition the IC has a ‘steering group’, comprising the international Order convenors, the international movement coordinator, someone else from the movement, and three College members - one of whom is the Chair of the College - with the Chair of the College being ex-officio the Chair of the IC. The IC meets in person approximately every eighteen months, and a couple of times a year for a day or two online. Area Councils also have their local meetings regularly.

The International Council’s aims are:

Effective consultation, decision-making and coordination – to facilitate strategy, effective decision-making, collaboration and coordination based on a high degree of consultation within and across the three key Strands and six geographical areas of Triratna.

Commonality, unity and harmony – to promote commonality, unity and harmony within the Triratna Community so that everyone can have confidence that they are participating in the same Movement.

Spiritual standards – to offer guidance and support so that all aspects of the Triratna Community, especially new developments, are rooted in our core spiritual values, which derive from Urgyen Sangharakshita’s presentation of the Dharma.

Ethical standards – to offer guidance and support so that all aspects of the Triratna Community exemplify high ethical standards in alignment with the precepts.

Guidance and support – to give those in a position of responsibility access to guidance and support from peers and more experienced Order Members.

This sounds like a lot of work, and in a way it is, but at the same time our meeting was marked by a strong sense of friendship, enjoyment in being together, and vision, very much supported by our venue at Nagaloka: one of the most impressive and inspiring institutions in our Triratna world.

Our IC Convenor Arthavadin is preparing a report which will be available soon and published on the Buddhist Centre Online as well as on our IC website. The theme of the meeting was Vision and Transformation, and topics covered included, amongst others, the New Society, wealth creation and Triratna Communications. Arthavadin will soon be handing on his responsibility after four years in his role, and at the end of our meeting we expressed our considerable appreciation for his convening of the IC over these years.

I would also like to express my appreciation to Aryajaya, who as many of you know stepped down as one of the International Order Convenors (IOCs) this month. One of her final tasks, after more than seven years in this post, was to work with her fellow IOC, Vajrapriya, and Ratnashila, one of the Indian Order Convenors, to organise the recent convention at Bodhgaya. Sadly, at the last moment she was not able to be present at Bodhgaya - however in a virtual sense she was, when, on the last afternoon of the Convention, speaking from the Adhisthana shrine-room and appearing on a huge screen, as well as hearing herself well rejoiced in, she reflected beautifully and with great depth about her time as IOC. This is available for Order Members, here. I would also like to give a shout-out here to Dayaketu and Candradasa from Dharmachakra for managing the technological challenges of this broadcast, which I gather were considerable.

Going back to Jnanadhara’s talk, he says that some people’s instinct is to attack any institution they come across, and that for him that was particularly the case at the age of twenty, when he first came into contact with Triratna in Wellington, New Zealand. At that time he strongly disliked institutions, resisting and attacking them, and he could also find fault with Triratna. But, he says, “there was something about it which resisted my ability to attack and criticise”. I think he puts it well, while acknowledging that no institution can be perfect, at the same time in Triratna “it is possible to find something which is perfect which shines through”. I think one could speak of the possibility of the transcendent shining through institutions in Triratna which on the face of it are merely mundane. This relates to something that Sangharakshita said in his 2009 interview “What is the Western Buddhist Order?”

Everyone will need to take care of that rather mysterious, indefinable spirit that gives the movement life and energy. Everyone must play their part in keeping the Order and movement alive, especially in terms of that indefinable element.

This could also remind us of the aphorism that Abhayadana spoke about: Religion cannot be taught it can only be caught, as no doubt we cannot really teach this indefinable element, it can only be caught.

Wishing all readers the best of months in this changing, rather unsettling world. Indeed Bon Courage! According to an online French/English dictionary, the closest meaning in English is "Hang in there!” or "You can do it!” or "Be strong!”

Mahamati

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Dear Friends,

We are delighted to announce that the ordinations of the following people took place at Chintamani, Mexico, on 5th January 2025. 

With metta, Virasiddhi

Public Preceptor Virasiddhi:

Abelardo Mancinas becomes Gambhīradāsa
Registered spelling: Gambhiradasa

A Sanskrit name meaning 'He who serves the profound; Él que sirve a lo profundo'

Private preceptor: Nagapriya 

Adolfo Echeverría becomes Dharmaratna
Registered spelling: Dharmaratna

A Sanskrit name meaning 'Jewel of the Dharma; La joya del Dharma'

Private preceptor: Nagapriya

Raul Chimil becomes Ākāśamati
Registered spelling: Akashamati

A Sanskrit name meaning 'The mind that is open like space; La mente abierta como el espacio'

Private preceptor: Viryakirti 

Jorge Carmona becomes Nāgaruci
Registered spelling: Nagaruchi 

A Sanskrit name meaning 'He who has the brilliance of the nagas; Él que tiene el resplandor de los nagas'

Private preceptor: Samamati 

Eduardo Cifuentes becomes Paramakīrti
Registered spelling: Paramakirti 

A Sanskrit name meaning 'Supreme Glory; La gloria suprema'

Private preceptor: Nagapriya

Claudio Herrera becomes Rucirasiddhi
Registered spelling: Ruchirasiddhi

A Sanskrit name meaning 'Brilliant Success; Éxito brillante'

Private preceptor: Nagapriya

Dear Order members and friends,

In 1949, when visiting Bodhgaya for the first time, Sangharakshita wrote a poem called ‘The Birthplace of Compassion’. Now, seventy-five years later, on the centenary of his birth, I send this letter from this very place, where around 800 members of the Order that Sangharakshita went on to found, are gathered for an International Order Convention.

Here, where the Goatherd’s banyan-tree
O’ershadowed, was, to world forlorn,
The first child of Enlightenment,
Compassion, born.

Seeing men bloom like lotus flowers
With petals closed, or half apart,
Her pulses fluttered underneath
The Buddha-Heart.

And when that high and holy hour
With stars shone down upon her birth,
There opened wide a way to peace
For all on earth.

Watch Sangharakshita reading the poem (Aryaloka, 1993)

Compared to 1949, and compared to my own first visit around thirty years ago, the town of Bodhgaya is considerably busier, and in many ways this is not a peaceful place! However, once inside the precincts of the Mahabodhi Temple, gathering in the morning for meditation, and in the evening for Puja, the sense of 'a way to peace for all on earth’ is not at all difficult to discern.

I was honoured on the first evening of the convention to be welcomed as the new Chair of the College. I took the opportunity to recite again before the assembly, and with the added significance of being in Bodhgaya, the acceptance verses which I mentioned in my last letter. 

I then reflected that I hold this responsibility with my fellow College members, and that in the last ten or fifteen years the College has become increasingly international. There are now 47 active members of the College, also 23 who have retired and remain active in the Order, and 6 who have died and are much missed. From these 47 active College members, 15 live in England. The second largest body of College members in one country is in India, with ten. I mentioned this, and mention it again in this letter, because perhaps not all Order members will have caught up with how international the College has become in recent years.

I said that one simple way to explain the responsibility of the College is to keep alive and ensure the faithful passing on of our ordination lineage and our particular tradition. The College does not and cannot hold this responsibility alone for keeping alive and faithfully passing on our tradition. This is held by all Order members. We have in common the same ordination, the same Refuges and Ten Precepts, and the same Acceptance Verses (sometimes known as the Four Vows.).

For the convention I suggested that we adapt the acceptance verses:

With loyalty to our teachers, we come together for this convention.
In harmony with friends and companions, we come  together for this convention.
For the attainment of Enlightenment, we come together for this convention.
For the benefit of all beings, we come together for this convention.

Having said a few words about these verses, which you can watch and listen to here, I lead us in our Triratna Dedication Ceremony written by Bhante for the dedication of the very first Triratna Centre on 6 April 1967.

I entreat you, O Buddha Shakyamuni, revealer of the Dharma,
And you, Urgyen Sangharakshita, who have given me the gift of the Dharma,
Please witness my Going for Refuge to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha,
And grant me your blessings.

As part of our programme for this Convention, I was very pleased to lead the Order’s Kalyanamitra Yoga practice, which includes recitation of these verses a number of times, as we open ourselves to the blessings of the Three Jewels, received from the Buddha through Sangharakshita and our preceptors. We practised this together at the Three Jewels Centre, Triratna’s own Centre at Bodhgaya, a thirty minute walk from the Mahabodhi Temple. It was named by Sangharakshita at the time of our first International Convention here in 2009. Though permanent facilities are limited so far, the organising team had done a great job preparing for us. No doubt many Order members and Mitras have been involved in preparing and organising, but here I will particularly single out for appreciation the two international order convenors, Vajrapriya and Aryajaya, and Ratnashila, one of the overall Indian Order Convenors. 

It seems to me that on this convention something very special has been happening: our Order meeting in large numbers, dwelling in different ways on our own tradition - talks, discussion, rituals; experiencing Triratna as one of the multitude of different streams and rivers of teachings and inspiration that come from that moment so many centuries ago, just down the road from here, where, beneath the ‘Goatherd’s banyan tree’, on the fifth week after Shakyamuni’s Enlightenment, Compassion was born.

This six day convention concludes on 31 January, and by the time this letter goes out I will be staying on our Nagaloka Campus in Nagpur, Central India, for a nine day meeting of Triratna’s International Council (IC). It strikes me that the journey from Bodhgaya to Nagpur has a mythic significance - Nagpur being the place of the modern day revival of Buddhism, a revival of the flame lit by Shakyamuni at Bodhgaya, but that for close on one thousand years had all but gone out in India, the land of its birth.

In the coming week we will visit the Dikshabhumi, the place of the first conversions, and we will also get down to work with the wish to make Triratna worldwide more and more effective in offering a “way of peace” to a world desperately in need of it. And it does require work, co-ordination and planning if the inspiration that we have enjoyed on the Convention is to translate into effective action for the benefit of others. Which might remind us again of that fifth week after the Buddha’s Enlightenment, under the Banyan Tree, when the Buddha moved from contemplation to action, or one might say that the Compassion inherent in his Wisdom, fully manifested.

When the IC was set up in 2011 it was decided that the Chair of the College would also be the Chair of the International Council, so I find myself stepping into two responsibilities, Chair of both the College and the International Council. I look forward to working with the International Council, and no doubt I shall have something to say about our coming meeting when I write to you next month. 

Meanwhile I shall conclude with a young 25 year old Sangharakshita’s paean (song of praise) to Bodhgaya, after that first visit of his in 1949:

Bodh Gaya! Bodh Gaya! How many people have come to you in the course of ages! How many pilgrim feet have trodden the dust of your groves, how many pairs of hands been joined in silent adoration beneath the wide-spreading boughs of the Tree of Enlightenment, how many heads touched in profound thanksgiving the edge of the diamond throne! Bodh Gaya! Bodh Gaya! How beautiful you are in the morning, with the sunlight streaming on the renovated façade of your great temple as it rises four-square against the cloudless blue sky! How beautiful in the evening, when in the shadowy depths of the deserted temple courtyard a thousand votive lamps glitter like reflections of the stars! Bodh Gaya, I shall always remember how beautiful you were the first time I saw you, when my heart was young, and you made me your own! 

– The Rainbow Road from Tooting Broadway to Kalimpong, Complete Works of Sangharakshita, vol. 20, pp 453-4

With best wishes from Bodhgaya,
Mahamati

Dear friends of Triratna worldwide,

I am happy to write to you all at the start of the Birth Centenary Year of our precious teacher Urgyen Sangharakshita. 

This is not only about looking back, so as to better understand and appreciate our founder and teacher, important though this is; it is also a special opportunity to look forward and put in place the best conditions for the unfolding of Bhante’s presentation of the Dharma in the century to come.

An international Triratna 100 Birth Anniversary Kula is co-ordinating a programme to run throughout this year with events across Triratna honouring Bhante’s remarkable life and work. I am very happy to tell you about just some of the events coming up this year.

The Unseen Sangharakshita: Treasures from the Triratna Video Archive
a never-before-seen talk by Bhante on the first of every month throughout 2025

The first is released today: 'The Ten Ornaments of the Buddhist’. On 19 January 1992 Bhante gave what he described as his last message to the people of Nagpur and India. Using the metaphor of jewellery he explored ten practices and qualities of the Buddhist that would ensure true spiritual beauty.

At Adhisthana
In August, following a large Order Weekend, Adhisthana will host an International Sanghas Retreat: Invoking Padmasambhava (24 – 31 August). On the birth anniversary during the retreat, Tuesday 26 August, Adhisthana invites day visitors for a special Festival Day celebration (details to follow, places limited).

Work a Day for the Dharma
This exciting initiative from FutureDharma will be launched in February. It will be a chance for anyone in our movement, whatever their circumstances, to work for the good of the Dharma. Everyone will be invited to donate a day's income each month to the Triratna charities that we care about. It is FutureDharma's offering to help protect Bhante's legacy for generations to come. Look out for this in February!

Dharmachakra (Free Buddhist Audio and The Buddhist Centre Online)
The Dharmachakra team has been recording and distributing Sangharakshita's core Dharma lectures since 1967. To mark the Centenary they will begin remastering all of Bhante’s talks on Free Buddhist Audio for future generations using new digital technology: 🎧 listen to a sample

Dharmachakra's team also produces and curates The Buddhist Centre Online, which now has a dedicated space for the Centenary. Watch this space for more events throughout the year.

+ Follow Sangharakshita 100

Finally, eight hundred Order members will be gathering at Bodhgaya later this month for our International Order Convention, when we will be in a very special place to celebrate the Centenary.

As we enter 2025 I wish that we can make this anniversary year an inspiration and impetus to strengthen and deepen our Going for Refuge to the Three Jewels, and that together we can help make Triratna a more and more potent force for good in this suffering world.

Mahamati
Chair of the College of Public Preceptors

𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒍𝒐𝒚𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔…
𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔…
𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒏𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕…
𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔…

As a part of the Chair’s handover ceremony, Mahamati recited a variation on the 'four lines of acceptance', which form a part of our Public Ordination, and then reflected on accepting the responsibility of College Chair in this spirit. You can hear his full talk here, which is excerpted in the video of the Chair's Handover.

During the annual international meeting of the College of Public Preceptors at Adhisthana, Ratnadharini ritually concluded her term as College Chair and Mahamati took up the responsibility. Many people participated in the evening: current and retired members of the College (including all the previous Chairs), the Adhisthana communities, the seven Mitras from the current young men’s Dharma Life Course and local Order members.

In the context of a Threefold Puja, the previous Chair places the ‘initiation vase’ that Bhante himself used for public ordinations onto the shrine. The new Chair then stands up, approaches the shrine, and picks up the vase. This represents taking up the responsibility as new College Chair.

Whilst holding the vase, Mahamati recited a variation on the 'four lines of acceptance', which form a part of our Public Ordination, and then reflected on accepting the responsibility of College Chair in this spirit. You can hear his full talk here, which is excerpted in this video of the Chair's Handover.

Dear Order members and friends,

A year ago at the College’s annual international meeting I was surprised when my fellow College members asked me to take over from Ratnadharini, in a year’s time, as the next College Chair. However, I quite quickly adjusted and have spent much of the last year reflecting on what this responsibility requires of me, and preparing to take it on. I am grateful to Ratnadharini for her support in this handover - I admired her chairing of the College, and when last year we had our initial round of nominations for the next Chair, I nominated her for a second term! On the first full day of this year’s College meeting we all enjoyed rejoicing in Ratnadharini and in her four deputy Chairs: Punyamala, Jnanavaca, Amrutdeep and Ratnavyuha.

During the handover ceremony, in the context of a Threefold Puja, the previous Chair places the ‘initiation vase’ that Bhante himself used for public ordinations onto the shrine. The new Chair then stands up, approaches the shrine, and, after saluting the Three Jewels and our precious teacher Urgyen Sangharakshita, picks up the vase. This represents taking up the responsibility as new College Chair.

I had decided that after taking up the vase, I would recite the four acceptance verses from our public ordinations, although in this case instead of “accepting this ordination” it would be “accepting this responsibility”. These were my words:

With loyalty to my teachers, I accept this responsibility
In harmony with friends and companions, I accept this responsibility 
For the attainment of Enlightenment, I accept this responsibility
For the benefit of all beings, I accept this responsibility

After reciting these verses, I spoke for a short while, and if you wish you can view that part of the ceremony here. There is also an edited video of the whole ceremony, including introductory words from Subhuti, the first Chair of the College. Many people participated in the evening: current and retired members of the College (including all the previous Chairs), the Adhisthana communities, the seven Mitras from the current young men’s Dharma Life Course and local Order members.

The Working Arrangements of the College allow the Chair to nominate Deputy Chairs – for agreement by the College – and I had approached five fellow College members earlier this year, so that we could start working as a team well in advance of the handover. Between the six of us we are quite well connected with Triratna worldwide.

The five Deputies are Parami (who lives in Glasgow, Scotland but for a long time has visited Latin America), Amrutdeep (who lives in Nagpur, India, though unfortunately he was not present at Adhisthana due to an illness), Ratnavyuha (an American who lives in Auckland, New Zealand), Vajratara (currently living in Wales at Tiratanaloka but property purchase willing, will be moving to the new Tiratanaloka 'Unlimited' in 2025), and Vajrashura (who lives in Dublin, Ireland). As part of the handover ceremony, the new Deputy Chairs did as I had done – holding their initiation vases, they too recited the acceptance verses. When the last mantra died away, a new chapter in our lives and the life of the whole College had begun.

During the College meeting the Deputies and I met each evening, planning and reviewing each day’s programme and also considering issues that we need to address. We will continue meeting regularly online, until we can again have the pleasure of all being together in the same room.

College meetings usually include a couple of days of study. This year Subhuti took us through a close reading of Bhante’s talk from FWBO Day April 1991, The Five Pillars of the FWBO (Triratna). How many of us, both Order members and those training for ordination, could say what these Five Pillars are? I’ll list them here: they are the Pillars of Ideas, Practices, Institutions, Experiment and Imagination. You may like to listen to the lecture here or read the transcript here.

A highlight of our meeting was an evening celebrating the Complete Works of Sangharakshita. This immense project has been undertaken with the skill, generosity, faith and commitment of so many people, and it was wonderful to be joined during our meeting by many of those who have made this ten-year project possible. After hearing short talks by three of the major figures from the project, and a roll call of honour for many others, we concluded with a ritual, placing the volumes one by one onto the Manjushri shrine in the library atrium and then processing out to the burial mound, chanting the Manjushri mantra and finally reciting the transference of merits under the night sky.

The next evening we were at the burial mound again, this time to lay memorial stones around its outer perimeter. Beneath each stone there is either a portion of ashes, or a relic. We had laid the first stone a year before, that of Sudarshan from India, the first public preceptor to die, back in 2009. The thinking behind the stones is to represent our lineage of ordination, at least as it manifests through the Public Preceptors. So with Urgyen Sangharakshita at the centre, as each Public Preceptor dies, a stone will be placed with a simple inscription marking the year that they joined the College of Public Preceptors, and the year that they died. One or two of my friends in the College say that they have walked around the perimeter wondering exactly where their stone will be placed – but of course none of us can know! On this occasion we laid stones for Vajragita, Ratnasuri, Mallika, and Abhaya.

On that evening Satyaraja rejoiced in another Public Preceptor, Kamalashila. However, given how recently he had died there was no time to prepare a stone for him. A week later I was pleased to attend Kamalashila’s Memorial at the North London Buddhist Centre. About eighty of us filled the shrine-room, and I understand close to 300 joined online. In last month’s Chair’s letter we read rejoicings in Kamalashila from four current or previous members of the College. Here I particularly want to mention Ratnadeva’s eulogy in London. He talked about how ‘just sitting in nature’ was for a long time a mainstay of Kamalashila’s Dharma practice. How he had an animistic sensibility, a felt sense of the aliveness of things, reflected for example in his love of Buddhafield and his eighteen month solitary retreat in Tipi Valley in Wales in the early 2000s. The aliveness of the so-called material world was also fundamental for Sangharakshita who said “I would go so far as to say that a universe conceived of as dead cannot be a universe in which one stands any chance of attaining Enlightenment.” (Living with Awareness, Complete Works, vol. 15, pp. 138-139). In the next sentence he goes on to say: “Whether you stand any chance in a living universe is of course up to you.”

In a few weeks time we start the centenary year of Urgyen Sangharakshita’s birth. When he entered his nineties I recall him saying to me more than once that he did not wish to live until he was a hundred – he didn’t of course. But his life and teachings are as present as ever and I am looking forward to many opportunities to celebrate next year. I will be at Bodhgaya towards the end of January, where we are expecting approximately 600 Indian Order members and 200 of us who will have travelled internationally, for a week’s International Convention. 

There will be no Chair’s letter in January, and when my second Chair’s letter goes out on 1 February, I will be at Nagaloka in Maharashtra and in the first day of an International Council meeting. I will say more about the International Council, as well as our Order Convention at Bodhgaya, in my next letter.

In the meantime, I wish you all well, and in particular a wish that together we can help make Triratna a more and more potent force for good in this suffering world.

Mahamati

Are you inspired to work at the heart of Triratna?

There are various groupings of senior Order members who have overlapping responsibilities that, between them, cover the whole Order and Movement [...]. There needs to be some liaison between them all so they are not each just going their separate ways or coming into some sort of conflict… We definitely need such a structure if we are to be effective… 

Sangharakshita, What is the Western Buddhist Order? 2009

This is your chance to make a real difference. 

We seek an Order member to join a new team as the Executive Assistant to the International Council (which replaces and expands the current International Council Convenor role).

Working directly with Mahamati (Chair of the College and International Council) and Vajrashura (Deputy Chair of the College), your responsibilities will overlap with those of the Executive Assistant to the College of Public Preceptors.

Inspired by Bhante’s vision, you'll play a pivotal role in connecting and uniting Triratna across continents and its key structures, fostering discussion and collaboration so that our efforts resonate as one powerful influence for the Dharma in the world.

Here's what you'll bring:

• a deep understanding and appreciation of Triratna's culture and core institutions
• a confident and proactive attitude
• exceptional oral/written communication, facilitation, planning, and organisational skills
• the ability to collaborate easily and effectively with diverse individuals
• the ability to engage constructively with complex issues

Being located at (or near) Adhisthana would be an advantage but isn’t essential. 

If you're ready to be at the heart of Triratna and make a positive difference, we want to hear from you!

You will be financially supported to live simply and give yourself fully to the role. This will include eight weeks annual leave, a retreat allowance, national insurance and pension contributions, and order dana.

Would you like an informal chat to find out more?  Contact Arthavadin at convenor@internationalcouncil.online

Express your interest by December 31st, 2024. 

Learn more about the International Council: internationalcouncil.online

Dear Friends in the Order,

We are happy to announce the public ordination of Andy McEleny at the Sheffield Buddhist Centre in the UK on Monday 18th November.

Andy McEleny becomes Amalaghosha  - He whose speech is stainless.

Public Preceptor Padmavajra

Private Preceptor Jayagupta

With metta,

Jayagupta

Dear Friends in the Order,
 

We are very happy to announce the public ordinations of the following men at Sudarshanbhumi Retreat Centre, Jakhegaon, Nagpur on 11th October 2024.


Public preceptor: Amoghasiddhi

Dhammapal Maitrikar becomes Ksantinaga
Meaning: Naga of patient acceptance
Private Preceptor: Nagaketu

Nitesh Meshram becomes Amrutkumar
Meaning: Prince of the Deathless (Nirvana)
Private preceptor: Nagaketu

Kailas Humane becomes Nitibhushan
Meaning: He who is adorned with ethical conduct
Private preceptor: Nagaketu

Vijay Tayde becomes Kalyanapriya
Meaning: He who is devoted to the good
Private preceptor: Lokanath

Subhash Gajbhiye becomes Nipunveer
Meaning: Skilful hero/astute hero
Private preceptor: Ratnasiddhi

Vikas Maitrikar becomes Samathabodhi
Meaning: He whose awakening comes from calmness of mind. 
Private preceptor: Ratnasiddhi

Atul Khobragade becomes Prakasaratna
Meaning: Bright and shining jewel.
Private preceptor: Ratnasiddhi

Pravin Meshram becomes Sucimuni
Meaning:  Radient sage, sage of purity
Private preceptor: Jnanaratna
 

Public preceptor: Nagaketu

Charandas Gajbhiye becomes Sraddhaditya
Meaning: Sun of faith
Private Preceptor: Lokanath

Arun Brahmne becomes Kusalasattva
Meaning: He whose nature is skilful
Private Preceptor: Lokanath

Rahul Bagde becomes Tejodipta
Meaning: He who blazes with incandescent light
Private Preceptor: Ratnasiddhi

With metta,

Amoghasiddhi, Amrutdeep & Nagaketu

Dear Friends,

The following public ordinations which took place at Tiratanaloka on Tuesday 1st October:

Public Preceptor: Sucimani 

Liz Kiff becomes Viryadaya (long first “i” and last “a")
Registered spelling: Viryadaya
Meaning: She who has energy and kindness
Private Preceptor: Saddhanandi

Claire Easingwood becomes Hrdayadhi (dot under the “r”, long “i")
Registered spelling: Hridayadhi
Meaning: She whose wisdom comes from the heart
Private Preceptor: Sridakini

Sheila Puri becomes Padmaprajna (tilda over the “n”, long last “a")
Registered spelling: Padmaprajna
Meaning: She whose wisdom is of the lotus
Private Preceptor: Viryadevi


Public Preceptor: Santavajri

Julie Bailey becomes Tarajaya (long first, second and last “a")
Registered spelling: Tarajaya
Meaning: She who has the victory of Tara
Private Preceptor: Satyajyoti

Carolyn Lee becomes Padmasiri (long last “i”)
Registered spelling: Padmasiri
Meaning: She who has the radiance of the lotus
Private Preceptor: Suchitta

Rachel Floater becomes Abhayasakhi (long last “i”)
Registered spelling: Abhayasakhi
Meaning: She who is a fearless friend
Private Preceptor: Vanaraji

Tina Belton becomes Manjusuri (tilda over the “n”, accent on the “s”, long second “u” and long “i")
Registered spelling: Manjushuri
Meaning: Gentle heroine
Private Preceptor: Suryamati

Annie Gogarty becomes Moksayogini (dot under the “s”, long last “i")
Registered spelling: Mokshayogini
Meaning: She who practises for liberation
Private Preceptor: Sugati

SADHU! SADHU! SADHU!

Sucimani and Santavajri

Kamalashila was one of the earliest public preceptors, one of three Order members whom Sangharakshita asked to carry out ordinations on his behalf in India in 1985. In all, he became a preceptor to 38 Order members. In the 1990s he lived at Madhyamaloka as part of the Preceptors' College Council, and subsequently was active in the Preceptors’ College.

Below, four Public Preceptors – Sanghadevi, Satyaraja, Ashokashri and Nagabodhi – rejoice in, and share memories of, Kamalashila. On Sunday November 17th, you can join an online live stream of a memorial service and practice day for Kamalashila, held by Yashobodhi and friends from the North London Buddhist Centre. Find out more here.

Portrait of Kamalashila (Viramati); other portraits (Dhammarati)

+++

Sanghadevi

I was with Kamalashila in meetings of the College and College Council since about 1995. Back then we used to spend two one month periods a year together at Madhyamaloka; the smaller body of initially 5 Public Preceptors with the larger body of the Council comprising Public Preceptors and Centre Presidents. In time most of the Presidents became Public Preceptors, Kamalashila being one of them. However Kamalashila had in fact already conducted Public Ordinations; of twenty men mitras in India on Bhante's behalf back in Dec 1985. [Subhuti and Suvajra accompanied him as private preceptors]. In his book Bringing Buddhism to the West Subhuti observes that ; 'the ceremonies were conducted with complete success, no-one doubted the validity of the ordinations, in fact everyone rejoiced that the spiritual vitality of the Movement had been expressed in this way.' 

Kamalashila was a very generous person. Over the years I've observed his responsiveness, his generosity manifesting in various ways. A couple of memories specifically from those early days at Madhyamaloka; we didn't always have a cook available to support our one month at home periods at Madhyamaloka. Kamalashila had both a willingness and real flair for knocking up simple tasty dinners for all of us very quickly after lengthy daily meetings, both morning and afternoon which he and the rest of us had all participated in. He was grounded, relaxed and focused in the kitchen and just got on with the meal prep very efficiently.

Another memory was at the end of one of our retreat periods; Subhuti had been leading and asked that we bring along to the final puja a gift from amongst our personal possessions for each person on the retreat. I was really struck by the gifts Kamalashila gave. Two I particularly recall were a beautiful mandala set he gave to Subhuti and a mala he gave to me. He had made the mala from amber beads he had brought home from Estonia. It is very light to handle, warm to the touch and a lovely yellow orange colour. As a Manjughosha practitioner I still treasure this mala.

Kamalashila loved meditating and led lots of meditation retreats over the years; in the UK and further afield; in retreat centres and under canvas. He was also the first person in the Order to write a book on meditation. It was Kamalashila who began the process of sorting out all the different meditation practices Bhante had received from his teachers. They were housed in the so called 'Sadhana Box' which Bhante handed over to him whilst at Madhyamaloka. The fruit of his, and later others', work is now available on the private and public preceptors' webpages.

In the course of his years as a College member Kamalashila would raise topics and feed in thoughts, reflections and observations pertaining to meditation in our community. For example, in our November 2016 meeting he presented a paper entitled 'Guardianship of deep practice'. And in December 2019 Kamalashila facilitated a retreat at Maes Gwyn; a concrete offering by him to support deep practice in the Order which I had the good fortune to join for a month. Here I saw Kamalashila in his natural element; in wild nature, in a meditative context. He led the retreat; 'holding the space' for the rest of us to get on with our meditation undisturbed. The deal was that we lived together largely in silence. During the day, and for some of the evening sessions too, we followed our own threads of interest and inspiration with no teaching input. However on several evenings each week he fed in enriching and stimulating material principally through the medium of sadhana-like pujas or puja-like sadhanas where with drum and cymbal his sense of rhythm and play ensured that our mantra recitation took off instead of fading out fast. He also introduced teachings from Milarepa, sharing his reflections on them with us. There were readings from other sources too on topics such as preparation for death. Then there were bi-weekly meditation reviews and a weekly get together for an hour after supper of the whole retreat to share with each other and him how we were getting on. He was earthed, relaxed, spontaneous and interested in how we were all doing on the retreat, and his manner of teaching was inviting, inquiring, empowering, which I appreciated. He printed off copies of everything he introduced, including full colour images to accompany several of the pujas we did. All done on his little printer. I thought this very generous of him... goodness knows how many ink cartridges he went through over the course of those two months!

About a month after this retreat ended in late February 2020, the UK Covid lockdown struck, and our retreat centres and public centres had to shut their doors. Kamalashila was one of the first people in our community to adapt swiftly to this new situation. He shifted onto an online teaching platform and was soon attracting a lot of Order members to his retreats; 6 Elements; The Bardo; The Lineage of the Wisdom Goddess Prajnaparamita, to name just a few from 2020 which 'culminated' in a 3 month home retreat running from 21st Nov 2020 to 20 Feb 2021. Then more online week long retreats throughout 2021 culminating in another 3 month retreat Dec 21- late Feb 22. In this way he continued offering regular retreats as well as some weekly classes right up until his health no longer allowed him to engage with us in this way.

Four plus years of an incredible outpouring of generosity and creativity which brought together Order members from across the world in a virtual community that really worked; new friendships were forged; old friends from across the world got to share being on retreat together; those who for various reasons were rarely able to go on a physical retreat due to conditions such as poor health, limited finances, or living in a very remote setting suddenly found they were able to avail themselves of high calibre Order retreats from home, all given on a dana basis. I went on several of these retreats. They were wonderful. Kamalashila was so utterly himself; relaxed, open, down to earth and very much sharing himself and his practice with us. On the longer winter retreats it became clear that we were very much practising alongside him; yes, he was undoubtedly guiding us/the retreat, yet what he was guiding us into exploring was what he himself was still very much exploring, so everything felt very fresh and open.

His death is a tremendous loss to the Order. However we are fortunate Kamalashila had the presence of mind to ensure that all he offered over those years online was recorded and that as soon as he became aware of how seriously ill he was a team of volunteers emerged who will hopefully help to ensure all these resources will remain accessible into the future. Please do watch out for any notices about the Kamalashila Legacy Fund and how to contribute to it as it will need some funding to maintain an ongoing web presence.

With deep gratitude to you Kamalashila.

Sanghadevi, October 2024

+++

Satyaraja

Honouring Kamalashila. This is a very personal account. I first met Kamalashila as a fairly new mitra, when I went to Vajraloka for the first time in 1980 and straightaway he became a significant figure for me. I already had a great love for meditation. We kept up contact during the intervening years until I moved to Vajraloka and lived there from 1989 – 1995. For me, right from the start, he embodied something more clearly than any Order member I knew, apart from Bhante. That is, a particular type of depth, which I can only describe as the lokuttara. We used to meet up regularly, every week, and he became a good friend and meditation mentor. It was not always easy and sometimes our communication was blocked, awkward or irritable and because of this on one occasion I asked if he thought we should continue to meet. He replied that 'of course we should continue to meet!' This did not always change the communication, but importantly, it meant we could both relax, knowing that we were both committed to the friendship.

Before I moved to Sweden in 1995, I decided to ask Kamalashila and Padmavajra to be my KMs. I feel very fortunate to have had such excellent, though very different but complementary KMs. We continued to meet when I visited and later I went to stay with him and Yashobodhi at Trevince House, Eco Dharma and Hampstead. Usually what we did was very simple; we would study a meditation text and then meditate together. Then a few years ago Kamalashila and Yashobodhi moved to Suffolk, just twenty miles from Padmaloka and I would regularly go over for the day to study and meditate together for the two or three years he lived there. That was one of the highlights of my life at that time and I am so glad that we had that time. My life would have been immeasurably poorer without it.

Among many qualities, what stood out for me was Kamalashila's dedication to the Dharma. His life was completely lived for the Dharma and the exploration of Truth. Everything occurred within that context. Then he was also a very loyal and warm friend to many people and could be a lot of fun to be with, quite playful. He was very independent and determined in his life and practice and went his own way. He had great courage in the way he lived and how he faced his own death.

I felt that in the last few years, starting with lockdown and teaching online, he really found his means of communication. In his last years his creativity was pouring out of him, always coming from the depth of his own experience, insights and explorations. And he was able to reach so many people, including Order members who could not get on a residential retreat, through age or sickness. 

There is a passage in one of the Milarepa seminars, where Rechungpa is leaving for India and Milarepa is sad, weeping because he is old and knows that he is going to die and he realises that he will never see Rechungpa again. Bhante comments that when two individuals come into contact, certain possibilities open up and Milarepa realises that that  has come to an end. I have no concerns about Kamalashila's welfare, my strong sense is that he is fine and that he has moved on. But I do feel certain possibilities in communication have come abruptly to an end and I valued that so much and I miss him.

Satyaraja, October 2024

+++

Ashokashri

I’ve known Kamalashila forever. He led several meditation retreats for women in the early days of Vajraloka. I followed his pursuit of full time meditation practice and maybe if I was a man I might well have joined him. He spoke to the yogi in me but I was called in other directions. In many ways he stood alone pursuing what he needed to penetrate the truth of things.

We reconnected when I joined the College, I was so pleased to do so. He seemed to be able to carry the importance of the College and to hold it lightly; he added greatly to the College’s exploration of topics, always being willing to question and look at things from an open-minded perspective. And at that time he was living in West London and I worked in that area so occasionally called in to see Yashobodhi and of course him too. Discussions with him were thought provoking.

More recently I have taken part in a few online retreats with him, most appreciated was an exploration of Kurukulle.  I didn’t attend many, but I did really appreciate his weekly sessions on Anapanasati and Sadhana after he took ill. On those he seemed to be getting right to the core of things, what was essential in practice – it spoke directly. He knew what the stakes were and anything unnecessary fell away.

Since his return to London, we met several times to go to art exhibitions, I enjoyed these immensely and expected them to go on regularly, and perhaps that’s what I’ll miss most. His response to art was always original, he looked closely and brought to my attention things that I hadn’t seen. Whilst looking at the El Anatsui works in the Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, his eyes were drawn to the very topmost of the back side of the work. Who would have known that would have held something important? He did. 

I recently called him a maverick. These days that word can carry negative connotations in some areas, but not to me in relation to Kamalashila. He was unorthodox, he thought independently; this was a delight. Being with Kamalashila, one didn’t know what to expect, you didn’t know how he would respond. He had a freedom of mind, which invariably challenged what one was already thinking, what one had already absorbed from others. I liked that.

I hear so many people say how much he has transformed their meditation practice into something that is effective and joyful, after years of struggle. He will be sorely missed by so many, thank goodness he’s left a whole archive of meditation and puja practices for Dharma practitioners to benefit from, for generations to come. 

Ashokashri, October 2024

+++

Nagabodhi

As a friend put it, 'This is one of the big ones!'  Yes, a foundational member of our sangha, and for many of us a long-time friend.

He seemed to appear one day at Pundarika, our centre in North London. He sat in the front row holding a perfectly upright lotus posture for all 90 minutes of Bhante's talk, an extravagant bush of hair dominating his aspect and a mini tape-recorder resting on the carpet beside his knee, Some years later he guided me to a field near Vajraloka, where we picked enough horse mushrooms to feed the retreat. At times, between bouts of meditation, the sound of his typewriter filled the valley as he externalised the fruits of his work on the cushion: an essay, an article for one of our magazines, a book on meditation. A year or so before that, Vajradaka claimed he'd seen Kamalashila's entire skeleton when, while converting an old building into the first West London Buddhist centre, he'd innocently stuck a screwdriver into a faulty fuse-box. There wasn't much Kamalashila wasn't prepared to try.

We inhabited neighbouring rooms at Madhyamaloka community in Birmingham. Somewhat reclusive, he would spend his days and nights hunched over a computer, writing for sure, but also taking boyish pleasure in mastering—and sharing—the little tweaks and keyboard shortcuts he discovered.

Meditator, writer, techie, recluse, and avid online communicator, he could be sunnily outward-going, curious, invitational and encouraging, and at other times waspishly opinionated and defiantly forthright, at least among close friends. While my mother was declining he'd ride a train out to Virginia Water for a catch-up. We'd spend the afternoon ambling around the lake near her care home, putting the world to rights. Never sure how others saw him or his ideas, he would be tempted to shut himself away. But, actually the evidence is clear that he never stopped finding ways of sharing and expressing himself, nor gave up striving to be his own kind of individual.

He'd get an invitation, or an itch, listen to the promptings of his opinions or spiritual ideals, and then do what  it took to honour them. He'd help to build a retreat centre, spend eighteen months alone in the seriously basic conditions of Tipi Valley, take on the life and robes of an anagarika, sit and learn with Shenpen Hookham, follow up a nagging Dharma point with Bhante, write a book or add another comment to a Facebook thread, offer himself as a private then public preceptor, take on the presidency of the fledgling Buddhafield project, or teach the Dharma in Helsinki, Estonia and St Petersburg… Why not? His confidence and self-belief waxed gradually, over time, along with a kind of fearlessness in his words and in the way he lived his life.

Soon after his first diagnosis, when he thought he had maybe three months to live, I spent a day with him and Yashobodhi. He wasn't terribly comfortable, and had very little appetite, but he was not in any great pain. He seemed grounded, unfussy about his condition, stoic in a positive way. Deeply sensitive to Yashobodhi's experience of their situation, and receptive to her concern that he shouldn't overtax his resources, he nevertheless engaged wholeheartedly in conversation and was full of plans – for interviews, for getting more of his talks transcribed, and for getting more lectures and meditations onto the internet. He was also busy giving possessions away. 

He didn't want a fuss made of his death, and wanted his funeral event to be held at the West London Centre, the centre/sangha with which he felt most connected. When I suggested they'd need to hire a bigger room we joked, at the time and in subsequent emails, about his failure to recognise how much he meant to so many people. Finally he sent a one-line email: 'Do you think 400 might be about right?' I wrote back, 'That's stretching it, but you never know…'

Weeks later he was back, there had been a mistake, it looked like his condition was curable. He replied to my relieved email: 'Yes it's terrific news, I'm so happy to be alive again and what a strange feeling that is.' 

Well, we know what happened next. A strange and cruel twist. How hard it must have been for Kamalashila and above all for Yashobodhi. I put it that way because, for Kamalashila, there was something about him in the early days of his diagnosis that seemed to be sort of ready, or at least open. Of course he would have wanted to live longer, do more, write more, practice deeper, and enjoy the new life in London he was making with Yashobodhi, the woman he loved. Of course. And yet, from the hospice, his sister Zoe sent me a WhatsApp "…I did his final reading (tarot). and I drew the best card for him, 'The World'".

I'm told it's a card that represents 'completion'.

Nagabodhi, October 2024

Dear Order Members and Friends,

This is the last update that I’ll be writing as Chair of the College of Public Preceptors so I’ll begin by writing about this current month and then go on say something about the last five years more generally.

Last month I wrote about my three weeks in New Zealand which was the first half of my trip to the other side of the world; my three weeks in Australia began at the Vijayaloka Retreat Centre an hour from Sydney. The last time I was there was in 2006 for Amitashraddha’s ordination and I was sorry not to get to see her during this visit as she was in the US on family business. The retreat centre is set in bush that extends down over an escarpment to the Georges River which at this time of year (Spring) was in full flow and it was warm enough in the daytime to swim. I had vivid memories of the raucous Australian birdlife and was pleased to see sulphur-crested cockatoos, rosellas and rainbow lorikeets but not as many kookaburras as before. Megha took me for a walk and taught me to look down for snakes or bull ants as well as up in the (vain) hope of spotting a koala; she was nonchalant about the huntsman spider in our accommodation and late to a meeting after an encounter with an Echidna (anteater). I reacquainted myself with the aptly named ‘scribbly gums’ and what to me were exotic flowers and shrubs, and one morning was delighted to wake and find a wallaby staring in at me. 

This magical realm was punctuated by distant explosions from the training range on the opposite side of the river that served as a reminded of the state of the world, the positive atmosphere of our retreat encompassed some very tender accounts of the dukkha present in people’s lives, and Avalokitesvara seemed present. The initial gathering of 13 women preceptors explored Subhuti’s reflections on Sangharakshita’s paper ‘What is the Western Buddhist Order?’ (the Triratna Buddhist Order) which he gave to men preceptors at Adhisthana earlier this year and which are broadly on and around the topic of discipleship – especially in relation to precepting. We were then joined by five men preceptors for a couple of days’ study on sections of the Chapter on Ethics from Asanga’s Bodhisattvabhumi. This text describes the bodhisattva’s practice of ethics as encompassing the whole path with specific reference to the 10 precepts we take at ordination and an emphasis on cultivating the skilful as well as abstaining from the unskilful; it describes the qualities of a preceptor as well as extolling the benefits of hri (remorse) and apatrapya (respect for wise opinion); and it contains what is possibly the earliest account of a ceremony for taking the bodhisattva vow which has interesting parallels with our ordination ceremony.

After the retreat Prakashika dropped me off at Dharmaraja’s apartment, which is a conveniently short walk from the Sydney Buddhist Centre in the lively Newtown area. I’d briefly met Dharmaraja at Adhisthana and knew we shared a similar work background (albeit in my case a rather distant one) and I enjoyed our many chats. One afternoon I joined a meeting with the Mitras who are training for ordination, shared my life story from the perspective of kalyana mitrata (spiritual friendship) and was delighted to meet Cara – who is moving to join the Tiratanaloka team in the UK. The following day Ratnavyuha, Purna and I met with the Sydney Order Members and I again used Bhante’s formulation of three contexts of Going for Refuge (from ‘The History of My Going for Refuge') to emphasise the significance of the collective or sangha context before using the Codanā Sutta (AN 5.167) for a mini workshop on giving and receiving feedback. 

The next day I was unexpectedly free (my cousin and her partner had suddenly decided to get married and were on honeymoon) and so was able to spend the day in the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Botanical Gardens, and to walk around the headland to the Opera House, as well as meeting Dhammakumara (Sydney Chair) in the evening and Aryadharma the following morning. I was struck by Dhammakumara’s sense that the Sydney sangha has the potential to be very much bigger.

I had given myself a little longer in Melbourne as I lived there for six months in 1995/6 and there were many old friends to catch up with, especially Shantidevi and Dhiramani who I became preceptor to. Shantidevi kindly hosted me and treated me to a refreshing day’s walk in the bush; Dhiramani and I hung out in and around the National Gallery of Victoria’s Australian Collection. Other old friends were Buddhadasa (three-quarters of the way through writing his memoirs), Vimuttinandi, Carunetra, Varadhi, Rijumayi, Dhiracarita and Maitridharani; new acquaintances included Sanghapurna, Bodhinaya, Sraddhanaya and Maitrijata and it was inspiring to hear such a range of ways in which Dharma lives have taken shape. Once again I was glad to see a new Buddhist Centre in a great location, where I met with a group of (women) Order members, dropped in on the young people’s group and joined an Order/Mitra gathering.

The final couple of days of my trip were spent an hour outside Melbourne at SkyRock, the beautiful spot where Dantachitta, Apada, Padmasiddhi and Maitripala now live and where I was able to stay in the delightful solitary retreat house for two nights and watch kangaroos and a family of feral goats. The 62 acres includes woodland, a ravine, dams and a billabong (fed by springs) and is strewn with large granite boulders, and I appreciated being able to slow down and catch up with my friend Maitripala before flying home.

Back in the UK I discovered my mother had had a couple more unexplained falls and was a little more frail and my sister and I have been trying to work out how best to support a determinedly independent 95-year-old, so it’s fortunate that I will soon have more time and be able to respond more easily. Apart from that I’ve been catching up on emails, doing some mediation and preparing to hand over as College Chair to Mahamati, as well as scaring myself with whitewater kayaking – an excellent antidote to desk work.

Thinking back over my five years as College Chair I realise this particular responsibility has its roots for me back in 2001/2. When I conducted my first private ordinations in 2001 it was natural to call on Bhante and Green Tara for their blessings in the ordination kuti and when a year later Dhammadinna told me I’d been appointed as a Public Preceptor an image of the 1,000 armed Avalokitesvara was the first thing that came to mind and has been on my personal shrine ever since. Simply hearing that I’d been appointed, rather than being consulted, meant I had to rely on other people’s confidence in me and do my best to live up to that; I think there was a general sense among many of us that if something needed doing and we could do it, then we most likely would.

When Saddhaloka became College Chair in 2015 I became one of his Deputy Chairs, which wasn’t initially a huge job. However the growing awareness in society about the often inadequate understanding of and response to ethical issues in the past meant that Triratna, along with many other organisations of various kinds, needed to consider whether any further redress was advisable or even possible. The work of the Adhisthana Kula from 2017-2019 and of the Ethics Kula moved us into uncharted waters as we tried to negotiate the relatively recent concept of safeguarding while remaining true to our Dharmic understanding and values. It involved considerable time and energy and was often emotionally demanding. 

Shortly before the November 2018 College meeting Bhante died and his funeral took place during the meeting itself. The death of the founder of an organisation is a huge challenge and it was a tribute to Bhante’s succession planning that everything strangely continued as before. As well as the responsibility for ordinations Bhante had also handed on to the College collectively his remaining responsibilities as Head of the Order and although that appellation was subsequently dropped, the College – in consultation with other Order members – now held overall responsibility within Triratna. That same November I was asked by the rest of the College to take over from Saddhaloka as Chair the following year; so in November 2019 I became College Chair and not long afterwards we entered the Covid pandemic and everything changed…

The last couple of years have felt more settled and as well as getting to visit other parts of the Triratna world I was able to invite all the many Order members holding positions of responsibility to a special retreat at Adhisthana mirroring the very first retreat there ten years previously; we memorably took off our ‘hats’, cancelled meetings and celebrated our shared inspiration. I also enjoyed doing a 150 mile fundraising pilgrimage walk from Bhante’s birthplace in London to his final resting place at Adhisthana.

While I was in New Zealand and Australia several people commented that my relationship to Sangharakshita would be different to theirs as I’d known him in person. However although my first contact with the Dharma was at one of Bhante’s public talks on the Vimalakirti Nirdesa and I did meet with Bhante several times, mostly it was indirect contact through his taped lectures and books that built my appreciation of his presentation of the Dharma and changed my life and that I go back to again and again. As the remarkable project to publish Sangharakshita’s Complete Works draws to a successful conclusion I rejoice in all those involved in making this possible, especially Vidyadevi, Kalyanaprabha and Windhorse Publications. There will be a celebration of the project and all the many contributors during the College meeting.

Over the past five years the Triratna Buddhist Order and community has continued to establish its particular approach to Dharma practice and make that available and accessible to more and more people. The Order itself has grown from 2,194 to 2,751 members worldwide, 358 of whom are now preceptors. However as the first generation were relatively young the Order has also aged as it has grown and announcements of the death of an Order member have become more frequent (this month we heard of the deaths of Kamalashila – a Public Preceptor known to many in our community for his meditation teaching, Amodana, Dayasiddhi and Gunarashi).

The pandemic highlighted the fact that one of the responsibilities of Deputy Chairs would be to take over from the Chair if s/he were to be incapacitated, so for some time Amrutdeep (in India), Ratnavyuha (in New Zealand), Jnanavaca, Punyamala and I (in the UK) met weekly online in order to become a more effective team. Although in more recent years our meetings have become every three weeks or so, and despite a couple of us having serious health issues, the level of harmony and cooperation has been outstanding. I don’t think we’ve had a cross word or even innuendo in the whole of our five years together and I’ve valued their input and support highly. 

The idea of writing these monthly updates from the College came from Akasajoti and during my five years as Chair many people have let me know how much they’ve appreciated them. It has been a boon working with Akasajoti and I’m grateful she has continued as College Assistant throughout my tenure. She has many abilities including an instinct for design – whether webpage or meeting – and great skill in communication.

When I was appointed Chair I rather light-heartedly informed Dhammadinna and Subhuti that I would be regarding them as my kalyana mitras while I was in post; I have in fact often turned to each of them, they’ve always made themselves available and I’ve always appreciated their wise counsel. I’ve also greatly appreciated the support of two other dear friends in the College: Dhammarati and Padmasuri.

It’s been a privilege to serve the College and Order, as well as a challenge, and although I will continue with my College and presidential responsibilities while needed I am looking forward to a somewhat simpler life as I hand over to Mahamati. It was striking to witness Mahamati’s energy ignite as he responded to the call  a year ago and he’s been on fire ever since. Mahamati worked closely with Bhante over the years and his many previous responsibilities, which include being an International Order Convenor, and president of the Karuna Trust and several other European Buddhist Centres, mean that he’s well connected across the Triratna world and known for his ability to respond kindly and wisely. He is an excellent man for the job and I wish him well.

with metta,
Ratnadharini

On Saturday 9 November, during the international meeting of the Preceptors’ College at Adhisthana, we will be celebrating the completion of Sangharakshita’s Complete Works. 

With the publication of the final three volumes, including a remarkable concordance (which you can hear more about here in a beautiful talk, ‘Worlds within Worlds' by Vidyadevi, given at Adhisthana on the August Order weekend), we now have a collection of twenty-seven volumes of all of Sangharakshita's previously published work, as well as talks, seminars and writings published for the first time in book form, representing the definitive edition of his life’s work. 

This immense project has been undertaken with the skill, generosity, faith and commitment of so many people, and we want to rejoice in all of those who have contributed over the last decade and celebrate the culmination of this great work.

The Public Preceptors and the Adhisthana Communities will be joined at Adhisthana by 26 of the wider Complete Works team for a programme of short talks, expressions of gratitude, and a ritual dedicating the work to fulfilling Bhante’s Bodhisattva Vow and lifelong mission to spread the Dharma for the benefit of many.

Please join us online!

Meeting ID: 890 0431 2642
Passcode: 456671

Saturday 9 November 19.30 – 21.15 GMT [105m]

USA PST 11.30 | Mexico 13.30 | USA EST 14.30 | UK 19.30 | Central Europe 20.30 | India 01.00 (next day) | Australia AEDT 06.30 (next day) | New Zealand NZDT 08.30 (next day)

Dear friends,

I am delighted to announce the public ordination of Norman Powell at the Newcastle Buddhist Centre in the UK on Saturday 28th September 2024.

He becomes Jayapala
'Victorious Protector'
Public preceptor Padmavajra
Private preceptor Akuppa

Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!

With metta,

Padmavajra

Dear Friends,

I am delighted to announce the ordinations of the following ten men at Guhyaloka on Thursday 26th September 2024.

With metta,

Mahamati
(Public preceptor for all ten men)


Ron Chartier becomes Buddhagosha
'He who has the voice of the Buddha'
Private preceptor Shantinayaka

Hans Wijtman becomes Jayabandhu 
'He who is a friend of victory'
Private preceptor Arthamitra

Shaun Moran becomes Kusaladhi 
'He who has a wisdom which is skilled and wholesome' 
Private preceptor Khemaka

Stuart Lloyd becomes Chandrapriya
'He who loves the moon of wisdom'
Private preceptor Padmasimha

David Rey becomes Viryanatha
'He whose protector is energy'
Private preceptor Kshantivajra

Andy Madel becomes Bodhisetu
'He who is a bridge to awakening'
Private preceptor Dayasara

Otti Nuhaan becomes Priyabandhu
'He who is a beloved friend'
Private preceptor Arthamitra

Todd Johnson becomes Suryapala
'Guardian of the Buddha sun'
Private preceptor Ananta

Marc Buehner becomes Jnanadasa
'He who is a servant of knowledge'
Private preceptor Padmasimha

Matty Evans becomes Adityadasa
'He who serves the sun-like radiance of the Buddha'
Private preceptor Dharmashalin

Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!

Dear Friends,

We are delighted to announce the following public ordinations which took place at Akashavana on Friday 13th September.

Public Preceptor: Vajratara 

Hannah Phillips becomes Moksadharini (‘s’ as in ‘sh’, long second a, retroflex n)
Registered spelling: Mokshadharini
Meaning: (She who touches) the earth of liberation
Private Preceptor: Amaragita

Pretti Desai becomes Nagavajri (long first a, long i)
Registered spelling: Nagavajri
Meaning: She who is a vajra of the nagas or dragons
Private Preceptor: Srivati

Rebecca Glyn-Jones becomes Supaksini (second ‘s’ as in ‘sh, long second i)
Registered spelling: Supakshini
Meaning: She who is blessed with the wings of Awakening
Private Preceptor: Srivati

Clare Morley becomes Dayabodhini (long second a, long second i)
Registered spelling: Dayabodhini
Meaning: She who is awakening through compassion
Private Preceptor: Satyalila

Seden becomes Khemalila (long i, long second a)
Registered spelling: Khemalila
Meaning: She who dwells in tranquillity, security, and playfulness
Private Preceptor: Aryajaya

Sally Davies becomes Hrdayanita (trilled r, long i, long final a)
Registered spelling: Hridayanita
Meaning: She who is guided by the heart of the Buddha´s teachings
Private Preceptor: Dharmavasini

Karen Levine becomes Upayadevi (long first a, long i)
Registered spelling: Upayadevi
Meaning: Goddess or queen of skilful means
Private Preceptor: Suryaka

Jane Essex becomes Maitriyodhini (long second and final i)
Registered spelling: Maitriyodhini
Meaning: She who is a warrior of love
Private Preceptor: Karunagita

Anni Herbert becomes Jayamaitri (long final i)
Registered spelling: Jayamaitri
Meaning: She whose loving kindness is victorious
Private Preceptor: Kalyacitta

Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!

With metta,

Vajratara

Dear Order Members and Friends,

Back in July, as part of our search for new – larger – premises for Tiratanaloka, our retreat centre for women training for ordination, the team visited a Carmelite monastery about an hour north east of London, and thought it looked very promising. A couple of weeks ago we heard our offer had been accepted, so we’re very excited and hoping for a smooth transition. If you’d like to know more you can follow the process below in the 'Features'.

A neat bit of synchronicity meant that I was part of the team for a Going for Refuge retreat on the theme of ‘What is the Order?’ at the existing Tiratanaloka in July and then a few weeks later found myself on the same retreat and retreat theme on the other side of the planet. It was a pleasure spending time with some of the current generation training for ordination and to experience both GfR retreats as essentially the same. Both retreats – unusually for me – also included time spent lying on my bed and gazing out of the window. Admittedly both views were worth gazing at – the Welsh valley at Tiratanaloka was deeply familiar to me from having lived there for 15 years whereas the bush in the New Zealand valley was lush and completely unfamiliar – but I think it was also a matter of some of my responsibilities beginning to ease.

I had always intended to visit another area of Triratna during each year of my five year term of office as Chair of the College of Public Preceptors, but was thwarted by the Covid pandemic. My current visit to New Zealand and Australia is the last I’ll be making before I hand over as Chair to Mahamati in November and I’m on a tight schedule as I wanted to make the most of my six weeks here. It was also my first time in New Zealand and began with a flight from Christchurch to Nelson in a small propellor plane with a stunning view of the snow-covered Southern Alps. I spent a couple of days in Nelson catching up with Vidyavati and getting over the worst of jet lag before we both went our separate ways: Vidyavati to the UK with a suitcase full of copies of the book she has written about her great grandfather, for her extended clan; and me to Picton for the ferry from South Island to Wellington, North Island. Fortunately the rain had stopped and it was a smooth and picturesque crossing – and I left with a present of pounamu, or greenstone, so hope to return one day.

The Wellington Buddhist Centre was founded by Achala nearly 50 years ago and has recently moved to well-situated and spacious new premises with plans to develop a beautiful space. I spent my first morning there meeting with the local Order members and sharing our experience of practice from the perspective of the three contexts outlined by Sangharakshita in ‘The History of My Going for Refuge’: individual, collective and altruistic. This formulation is reflected elsewhere, sometimes including a fourth category relating to our particular tradition. For example in the duties of an Order member, the four ‘lines of acceptance’ of our ordination ceremony, and the motto of Dhardo Rimpoche, one of Sangharakshita’s teachers and friends ('cherish the doctrine, live united, radiate love'); all of which make the point that our spiritual practice needs to extend into all three arenas. 

One evening at the Centre we celebrated the 99th anniversary of Bhante Sangharakshita’s birth with a talk and puja – and cake (thanks to Carmel). Another evening Saradarshini and I had a shared meal and open discussion with some of the team of the young people’s group (one of whom is about to spend six months at Sudarshanaloka retreat centre). There is so much more Dharma teaching available to this generation compared to my own experience forty years ago and it will be interesting to see their process of making a commitment to a particular lineage and system of practice.

I appreciated getting to spend time with Mettadharini, who kindly put me up, and Saradarshini, my generous city guide, as well as meeting up with people I had known in the UK and making some new friends. Saradarshini and I walked into the central quay area where I got a glimpse of Maori culture at the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa. Then in order to see as much as possible of New Zealand land I took the Northern Explorer from Wellington to Auckland, an 11 hour train journey with a viewing platform and excellent (optional) audio information.

Akasasri kindly drove me and Malini from Auckland up to Sudarshanaloka retreat centre on the Coromandel peninsular. We arrived late at night and in the dark and so it wasn’t until the following morning that I started to take in the spectacular environment. The steep hillsides are relatively ‘young’ and unstable land cut through by cascades of clear water. They were mined and farmed in the past but are now covered in regenerating native bush most of which is evergreen and with a generous sprinkling of tree ferns; the few remaining pines are considered invasive weeds and are used to feed the new retreat centre boiler. High up at the end of the track winding up the valley is the dramatic white stupa containing relics from Dhardo Rimpoche and a highlight for me was when the retreat gathered there one crisp morning under a perfectly blue sky for a puja led by Malini, who is one of the earliest members of our Order. Later in the retreat we were also treated to Malini’s reflections on ‘the mysterious beginnings of the Order’.

Not far from the stupa is the tantalising large retreat centre building that was built in the 1990s and never finished, and dotted around in the bush at varying degrees of remoteness are several delightful solitary cabins suitable for any length of retreat. As there was no-one staying in the highest cabins at that point Dhiraprabha treated me to a circular walk through the bush and past each of them, which included jumping from rock to rock across a fast flowing stream – I slipped and fell in.

There were 20/21 of us on the Going for Refuge retreat and I appreciated the opportunity to spend 10 days offline and practising with everyone. In the evenings the retreat shrine room was lit entirely by candlelight and a magical moment for me was when delicate (presumably battery operated) fairy lights appeared on the shrine; I walked out under the night sky of glittering unfamiliar stars and then down along the track in darkness pierced by an array of glowworms. 

While there I was also able to drop in on Guhyavajra (and four-legged Jetsun) in his cabin. He and Dhiraprabha (as well as Karunajoti for the past three years) are heroically dedicated to living at Sudarshanaloka and maintaining it as a Triratna facility.

Following the retreat I had another three days in Auckland and was especially glad to be able to stay with Ratnavyuha and his partner Karina; I’ve enjoyed and appreciated working closely with Ratnavyuha for many years now and it was a pleasure to get to hang out together. Auckland too has a sizeable new Buddhist Centre in a prime location and with a lot of potential. I spent one evening there meeting local Order members, springing on them the Codanā Sutta (AN 5.167) about giving and receiving feedback – which they entered into in good spirit; another evening Suvarnadhi and I met with some of the younger sangha members for a wide ranging discussion about Triratna and ordination; and the third evening I made a contribution to the sangha evening series on different aspects of Awareness.

I was glad to be able to take the ferry one day to Waiheke island to visit Malini and Purna in their delightful spot looking out to sea over the garden, as they have been unable to get to the UK for College meetings for a few years and we had lots to catch up on. I was also glad another day to take the ferry across the bay to Devonport to visit Dharmanandi who has retired from the College and who also has spectacular views of the sea – although fortunately not too close to the cliff top that collapsed in a recent storm – and experience the novelty and fragrance of an expanse of freesias growing wild. I very much enjoyed spending time with Akshobini – who thoughtfully explained the waterfront layout of Auckland from the beach – and with Sujiva – who walked me up Maungawhau (Mount Eden) which is one of 53 volcanic cones still peppering the Auckland skyline, for a stunning 360 degree vista of the city. 

I also met up with Suvarnadhi, the Centre Chair just back from an International Course at Adhisthana, and stretched my legs one afternoon by walking from the ferry terminal to the Buddhist Centre via the Auckland Art Gallery, Toi o Tāmaki, to see a couple of exhibitions including the impressive collection donated by Julian and Josie Robertson last year. 

My last evening in New Zealand I had work to catch up on and decided it wasn’t worth going to bed only to get up at 4am for my early flight to Australia; Ratnavyuha kindly drove me to the airport before his early morning study group at the Centre. Arriving in Sydney I put my watch back two hours and got the train to Minto where I was picked up by Vikasini (jet lagged from having only just arrived from France) and driven out to Vijayaloka Retreat Centre for a Preceptors’ retreat – which is where I am now surrounded by the completely different Australian bush… but I’ll complete the story next month. 

The timing of my trip meant that I missed the combined Area Order Weekend at Adhisthana which celebrated the approaching culmination of the extraordinary project to publish Sangharakshita’s Complete Works with a talk from Vidyadevi, 'Worlds within Worlds', on her creation of the final Concordance volume. I heard of the standing ovation and look forward to hearing it myself.

With Metta,
Ratnadharini

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