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

The Preceptors’ College is recruiting…

We are looking for an Order Member to join us some time between December – February to replace Akasajoti who has been the College Assistant for the last five years. This first role we are recruiting is full-time and will hold primary responsibility for the Preceptors’ College and play a supporting role with the International Council. 

We’re also keen to hear from anyone who might be interested in joining the team in the future. We intend to recruit a second executive assistant with primary responsibility for the International Council at the end of this year, to take up the post early 2025 when Arthavadin will step down.

If you’re interested in one of these roles, or contributing to this team into the future then you can read a bit more about the context below and get in touch with Akasajoti at triratnapreceptorscollege@gmail.com to start a conversation. Please express any interest in the role of Executive Assistant to the Preceptors College before 17 October.

…for an Executive Assistant…

The role of executive assistant involves a very enjoyable interplay of service and initiative: this requires a high-level of receptivity and listening to the vision, thought and leadership of the College and IC Members, combined with a capacity to intuitively and intelligently digest and synthesise the information. This informs the strategic visioning of agenda-forming and programme planning, includes the secretarial support of scheduling and minute-taking, and carries forward into the creative work of communications, reporting, proposal-writing, and other outputs. We’re envisioning that each of these Executive Assistants will take primary responsibility for one project, and play a supporting role in the other.

It could be a possibility for either or both of them to live at Adhisthana, which we would encourage, as they will benefit from the supportive conditions of a shared project and more immediate contact with each other, as well as other key responsibility holders with whom their work overlaps. This would be a boon to these internationally-oriented roles where so much of the work is conducted remotely. 

Each member of the team will be financially supported to live simply and give themselves fully to the altruistic project of serving our spiritual community and making the Dharma available in the world. This will also include eight weeks of annual leave and a retreat allowance, as well as national insurance, pension contributions, and order dana.

…creating a team of vital importance to Triratna. 

In 2024 after 10 years of existing within the charity structure of Adhisthana, a new charitable organisation (CIO) has been established for the Preceptors’ College and the International Council, recognising that Adhisthana has evolved to the point where it makes sense for these projects to function as independent entities. The Preceptors’ College and International Council will continue to hold their key meetings at Adhisthana and we will maintain a close and mutually supportive relationship.

The intention for the new CIO is to create a clear organisational structure for the Preceptors’ College and the International Council in order that they are able to fulfil their distinctive but related purposes in effective and harmonious relationship with one another.

The Chair of the Preceptors’ College is also the Chair of the International Council and its Steering Group, though has historically delegated this role to a Convenor. We’re moving to integrate the staff of both bodies in order to create a team who can share resources, information and expertise and work more efficiently and effectively to fulfil their common purpose.

The structure of this new team reflects more accurately the flow of responsibility, replacing the roles of College Secretary and International Council Convenor with a pair of full-time Executive Assistants, who will support the membership of the Preceptors’ College and International Council, and their core and ancillary meetings - including fulfilling the role of convening the International Council, delegated by the College Chair. These roles carry much more responsibility, creativity and influence than standard secretarial support and we hope the change in structure will reflect this. They will be further supported by an administrator and book-keeper (part-time), and work closely with Mahamati as incoming College Chair, his Deputies, and the other members of the International Council Steering Group.

It is of vital importance to Triratna that we have a well-resourced team serving these central institutions enabling them to offer leadership and support unity across our international Sangha. Over the next five years we would love to be able to take more creative initiative and be of greater benefit in responding efficiently to the needs of our Order and community and the wider world. If you are an Order Member or training for Ordination and can imagine contributing your skills to our shared project – in the areas of communications, facilitation, fundraising, governance, database and systems development, and more… – on a short-term or long-term basis, voluntarily or otherwise, please be in touch.

Hi everyone,

the attached pdf shows the current membership of the International Council which I will endeavour to keep up to date - please let me know if you see an error.

Aparajita: assistant@internationalcouncil.online

• 0.6 role (3 days per week) - 3 years of funding agreed
• working from home, with some in-person meetings in the UK and elsewhere as necessary
• remuneration per annum: with retreat allowance and pension £13,639-£14,983 (location dependent) / €15,457-€16,981 (approx., location dependent) / $16,616 -$18,253 (approx, location dependent)
• closing date for applications: April 30th 2023. Interview dates from May 15th
• start date: as soon as possible, ideally by June 1st 2023

General notes

This role has been created, and will be managed, by the International Council’s Communications Working Group. Joining the International Council Staff, they will work collaboratively with the Working Group and other stakeholders to implement, articulate, and develop Triratna’s Communication Strategy, which aims to promote a harmonious, united, and proactive approach to how Triratna engages with its presence online and with the media. 

Key skills and perspectives: 

• an experienced Order member with a strong understanding of Order culture, and experience of working harmoniously across institutions, holding a collective vision emerging from diverse Order experience
• passionate about good communication and a champion for the International Council’s Communications Strategy, helping it unfold and manifest clearly and effectively
• highly proficient writing skills
• able to communicate skillfully and diplomatically, recognising nuanced personal perspectives and institutional complexity
• able to hold opposing views on strongly felt Communications-related issues, helping clarify and reconcile divergent views

Over the duration of an initial three-year contract, the successful applicant will: 

help set up conditions for effective and well-co-ordinated communications:

• co-ordinate the Communications Working Group which oversees the implementation and further development and implementation of Triratna’s Communications Strategy
• co-ordinate the Triratna International Communications Kula (TICK), which helps bring the strategy to life via practical, collaborative work across the major institutions of our Order and Movement
• participate in central conversations around Communications with other key stakeholders. And help the Communications Working Group provide support and perspective to relevant bodies, including Sikkha, Triratna Safeguarding teams, and FutureDharma Fund
• be an internal Communications conduit - helping facilitate the flow of Communications-related news and discussion within and across Triratna’s different Areas, Regions, Strands, and other structures
• initiate communications initiatives that further the strategic priorities of the International Council and the interests of Triratna more widely
• work to ensure that diversity and internationality are appropriately reflected in Triratna’s Communications policy and work, and in our online presence
• work with the Triratna Safeguarding team, Ethics Kula, Ahimsa Kula, and others to ensure Triratna’s online presentation in relation to ethical issues in our community’s history is accurate, consistent and confident
• attend national and international meetings as required as part of the International Council Staff Team

Help create and promote positive Triratna media and Dharma journalism:

• help develop and maintain the good name of Triratna online, and generate content that promotes a positive reputation when accessed by external media organisations
• act as an initial ‘go to’ person when any structure within Triratna is approached by external media sources
• explore how, as a community, we might further liaise and develop positive relations with mainstream media
• facilitate and help develop positive Dharma content and news stories for existing and new Triratna communication channels, internally and externally, including the Buddhist Centre Online
• contribute to editorial and content conversations at The Buddhist Centre Online, working with teams at Dharmachakra, the Order Office, and the International Council

The successful applicant will need to be experienced around fundamental aspects of Order and Triratna life online, as well as highly competent and confident with digital communication and social media. They will be capable of self-managing their work and able to engage creatively and harmoniously with various established institutions, working groups, and individuals holding responsibility in and around Communications in our sangha.

Apply by email to: assistant@internationalcouncil.online saying what inspires you about this role and why you are a good person for it. We welcome applications from outside the UK.

The keynote talk at the 2022 International Council, held at Adhisthana, in which Nagapriya explores the path of responsibility in the context of the Bodhisattva Ideal.

If you prefer, here's an audio version

All this week and next we're live at the International Council! Order members from all around the globe meeting at Adhisthana to engage with the future of Triratna and of the Dharma manifesting in the world. It's an inspiring, quietly radical gathering at the last home of our founder, Urgyen Sangharakshita. Come for Dharma stories, talks, magic.

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From The Abhayaratna Trust, FutureDharma Fund / India Dhamma Trust and The Karuna Trust

The Abhayaratna Trust, Karuna Trust and FutureDharma / India Dhamma Trust (IDT) are meeting every week during this crisis. They are collaborating with Triratna partners in India to coordinate relief to people and projects affected by this devastating wave of COVID. The situation is getting worse and worse and experts believe the official numbers of people dying in India, which has one of the world's poorest-funded healthcare systems, are hugely underestimated.

This latest update summarises the work each charity is doing. We’ve had some questions about which of these projects to support and what we are doing. Putting it very simply:

Karuna: provides large scale emergency response to 45 organisations across India, Nepal and Bangladesh | both Triratna and non-Triratna organisations with beneficiaries from Dalit/Tribal communities

Abhayaratna Trust: provides emergency funding to individual Order members in urgent need | Triratna only

FutureDharma/IDT: provides funding to Indian Ordination Team and senior leadership to support, counsel and guide the movement through the crisis and beyond | Triratna only

Watch A Coordinated Triratna Fundraising Response
 

Karuna: update from Padmadaka, CEO
Karuna has large networks to distribute emergency aid, support and advice and we are currently reaching tens of thousands of people from the poorest and most marginalised communities every day.

In Nagpur, Aryaketu is working with Triratna and Ambedkarite Buddhists. With Karuna emergency funding, they’re providing a free ambulance service to some of the poorest people in Nagpur's slums. The oxygen on board helps keep people alive while they wait in the long queues to get into hospital in 40C heat. They’re saving lives every day.

Karuna is making life saving emergency grants like these every week and we have just sent new relief funds to: 

Nagpur: funding to coordinate a team of 200 medical doctors to work with hundreds of COVID-19 patients and their families in the slums of Nagpur 

Orissa: Livelihoods support (cash for work) to 3,000 families  

Bihar: Food supplies and hygiene kits for 4,000 families

West Bengal: Food supplies and hygiene kits for 1,470 families

Pune: Emergency food supplies and health awareness camps for 350 Tribal families 

Mumbai: Food and hygiene kits, rent and utilities for 40 alumni girls (Girl rescue project)

We want to fund more projects like this and we need your active support. Please do these three things so that we can make sure the most vulnerable families survive this crisis:

• Make a secure donation on Karuna’s website – make a donation to Karuna's coronavirus crisis appeal
• Promote our appeal with your family, friends and networks
• Come to one of our regular webinars hosted by Sanghanath and hear firsthand experiences and updates from our Indian partners. Next event 28 May - Register for webinar with Sanghanath

Abhayaratna Trust: update from Mahasraddha, Director
In the past two months, we have lost 16 Order members in India to COVID-19; each death is felt in the Order as we unite in deep solidarity with our Indian brothers and sisters and the grief of their families.  

We are hearing poignant and heart breaking stories from India about desperate need, as I am sure you have been witnessing too, either through news broadcasts or from direct contact with friends in India. Many Indian Order members have lost their jobs so have no income coming into their family which is extremely distressing on top of everything else. 

Thanks to the incredible generosity of the Triratna Order and Movement, we have raised over £180,000 to give to individual Order members who are in desperate need in India. Money raised in the Appeal is being distributed to Indian Order members by Karmavajra and a Team of very energetic and committed Indian Order Convenors; they have a very well established and extensive network across India to identify Order members in need and to get money to where it is needed quickly, which in life or death situations is vital.

Karmavajra and the Team have managed to get tangible support to hundreds of Order members from the Abhayaratna Trust Appeal funds. Many of those we are helping are now recovering. Our Appeal funds are being put to very effective use by providing money for medical and hospital costs, food, rent and oxygen. 

We are monitoring the situation in India very carefully via weekly Zoom meetings with Indian Order Convenors. They estimate that the impacts of the second wave will continue for at least a year, and we are working with them to put in place short, medium and long term plans so that we can continue to effectively support Indian Order members in need.

Our Appeal will remain live and active for as long as is necessary, and please click here if you are able to give. Thank you. I know that our Indian brothers and sisters are very grateful for our support and show of solidarity, and I think Bhante would have been very pleased to see the vision of care in the Order he expounded in A Case of Dysentery coming so vividly alive. 

Future Dharma & India Dhamma Trust: Update from Nandavajra, Director
In these challenging, distressing and fearful times for many in India, the Buddha’s teachings, the experience of Sangha, and wise counsel and reassurance are vitally important. The Indian Ordination Teams, and Public Preceptors Kula, are supporting the Corona Relief Work, and providing inspiration, encouragement, and counsel to the Order and Dhamma mitras. Our dedicated Indian Youth Coordinators are providing online support and Dharma teaching for hundreds of young people. This crucial work is made possible by the generosity of FutureDharma and India Dhamma Trust supporters and these teams will be a vital resource in our Indian Sangha's recovery in months to come.

Amrutasiddhi, the India Movement Coordinator, is a key member of the tireless Coronavirus Relief Work Team and he is also instrumental in helping Centres provide Dharma activities online – a source of much needed inspiration and support for hundreds, if not thousands, of sangha members. Again, your gifts make this possible.

Our sangha in India will need ways of coming together and rebuilding their communities when the devastation of the coronavirus eventually subsides. Our emergency funding of the Bhaja and Bordharan retreat centres means they are safe from the threat of closure due to loss of income. We are in communication with the Indian Area Council and Public Preceptors kula and will provide emergency funding for other projects facing financial difficulty.

FutureDharma works in partnership with the India Dhamma Trust. We are extremely grateful for the continuing generosity of our supporters and are committed to ensuring funding for India.  We encourage you to please give to FutureDharma as you will be giving the precious gift of the Dharma to people who are suffering right now. By giving today you will help them build a future in which our Sangha in India prospers and reaches out to more people in need.

https://futuredharma.org/

Act now
Please do give generously, and if you are confused about who to give to, please give to all three Charities.

From all of us, thank you for supporting all of these appeals and for standing in solidarity with our movement and everyone in need in India during this crisis.

Padmadaka, CEO: Karuna Trust. Mahasraddha, Director: The Abhayaratna Trust. Nandavajra, Director: FutureDharma / India Dhamma Trust. 

Read more about India Covid-19 Emergency: A Co-ordinated Triratna Fundraising Response

Dhammarati has worked as the convenor of the International Council for the last decade, establishing a structure for communication and collaboration between the College, Order and Movement from every geographical area, to support the unity of our spiritual community across the world. 

In March, he handed over to Arthavadin who will work with the International Council Steering Group and Area Councils, to support and develop the work of the International Council in its next phase.

+++

Arthavadin.

Since resigning as chair of the Manchester Buddhist Centre (MBC) in 2018 I’ve been working as a freelance organisational development consultant and leadership coach - mainly for the police in the UK. This has been socially worthwhile work and it’s kept me financially afloat but, to be frank, it hasn’t made my heart sing! I have certainly appreciated an 18 months’ sabbatical from ‘full-on’ engagement in Triratna institutions, but I’ve also missed the inspiration, intimacy and intensity of working with order friends who share a common vision. 

When I heard about the opportunity of working for the International Council I didn’t have to ponder too long before deciding to apply. Over the past two years I’ve co-facilitated the IC and this has given me a sense of its value and enormous potential.  Sadly, I don’t think this is (yet) fully appreciated by the order and movement so I look forward to working alongside the IC Steering Group to change that!

I shall start the convening role in early spring but, as you might expect, my mind is already turning towards it. Over the coming months I want to ‘get up to speed’ about the IC and that’s going to require a lot of listening and learning. If you have thoughts or ideas regarding the IC that you’d like to share with me, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch. I’ll be pleased to hear from you.

Follow this link for a report on the recent International Council Online, sharing some highlights and resources, as well as a meeting summary.

As the Area Councils met separately according to their own time-zones for the meeting sessions, it’s not possible to provide a comprehensive minute, but within the summary you can see how it unfolded with an overview of each day and summaries of key outcomes, as well as view some of the resources. Click here to see the online document, or here to download a pdf version.

A series of talks given for the Triratna International Council 2020 Online exploring different aspects of the Bodhicitta Practice.

Talks included:

1. Entering the Mandala by Lokeshvara 
2. The Blue Sky Nagapriya
3. The Refuge by Maitripala 
4. Bodhichitta + Compassion by Jnanadhara 
5. The Vow by Parami

Themes:

• The Blue Sky as the context for the practice
• Connection with the Refuge
• The development of Bodhicitta and Compassion
• The expression of the Bodhisattva Vow

As well as meeting together and addressing live topics and priorities across Triratna, International Councils are also a context for members to gather and build community. This year's Dharma theme was the arising of the Bodhicitta.

Watch more from the International Council 2020

At the end of a beautifully intense International Council Online, the Steering Group (AKA. the people who make it all happen at the IC) are here to take us home.

The spirit of community, infused with gratitude and a deep sense of kinship through all challenge, pervades. What comes next will be grounded in the local as well as the global, and call forth a renewal of all the work that's still unfolding from a long week. But most of all, it will be held by amazing beings all around the world... Cosmic!

Join us for ICin5 - all you need to know from the International Council to stay in touch with inspiration and the heart of practice.

Watch all the episodes |  More from International Council 2020

We're in Europe – in the Nordic region, as it happens – for day five of the International Council Online.

What is a Strand?, we hear you ask. Watch on for a perfect definition + a window into the delights and challenges of joining in with a global context from a remote town in Sweden and from Helsinki, capital of Finland. 

- Language issues for non-English speakers in Triratna.
- Highlights of the week.
- Forming strong connections based in good work.

Join us daily for ICin5 - all you need to know to stay in touch with global inspiration and the heart of practice.

Watch all the episodes |  More from International Council 2020

A packed day four at IC2020 Online! Nothing is ever black and white really, and today's topics prove the point.  

Issues that could be contentious any time - past or future - present themselves directly. We hear from Jnanadhara and Subhadramati how that all went from the perspective of the UK & Ireland.

- Commonality, innovation and creative tension.
- Buddhist takes on conflict resolution.
- Facing the shadows of the past.

Join us daily for ICin5 - all you need to know to stay in touch with global inspiration and the heart of practice.

Watch all the episodes |  More from International Council 2020

Parami talking about the Vow aspect of the Bodhicitta practice, for the International Council 2020 Online.

As well as meeting together and addressing live topics and priorities across Triratna, the International Council meetings also are a context for members to meet together and build community, this year, taking as our Dharma theme the arising of the Bodhicitta, through study and meditation.

The series of talks explore different aspects of the Bodhicitta Practice: the Blue Sky as the context for the practice; Connection with the Refuge; the development of Bodhicitta and Compassion; and the expression of the Bodhisattva Vow.

Watch all the talks from IC2020  |  More from International Council 2020

We're in Australia and New Zealand for Day 3 of the International Council online! And today we hear about conversations around social engagement as Buddhists: the passion and the potential pitfalls, especially when we prize harmony as a deep value in community.

- Revisiting some working principles from last year from which to engage with issues: 
exemplification, renunciation, awareness, right effort, the precepts, right livelihood, spiritual friendship, ethical speech, conditionality, karma, active compassion.
- Discussing ways we can cultivate non-polarisation in discussion.
- Hearing a range of voices.

Join us daily for ICin5 - all you need to know to stay in touch with global inspiration and the heart of practice.

Watch all the episodes |  More from International Council 2020

Jnanadhara talking about Bodhicitta + Compassion in the Bodhicitta practice, for the International Council 2020 Online.

As well as meeting together and addressing live topics and priorities across Triratna, the International Council meetings also are a context for members to meet together and build community, this year, taking as our Dharma theme the arising of the Bodhicitta, through study and meditation.

The series of talks explore different aspects of the Bodhicitta Practice: the Blue Sky as the context for the practice; Connection with the Refuge; the development of Bodhicitta and Compassion; and the expression of the Bodhisattva Vow.

Watch all the talks from IC2020  |  More from International Council 2020

A full extra 90 seconds today to bring you the best of the day in Spanish as well as English!

¡Un total de 90 segundos extra hoy para ofrecerte lo mejor del día en español y en inglés!

The second full day of the 2020 online International Council and we're joined by Viryakirti and Parami from Latin America.

Framed by the deep, altruistic practice of empathy, today we were listening to stories and voices about the sometimes painful gap between our aspirations to diversity and the challenges in supporting it as a positive feature of Triratna life. Looking to respond together with a sense that we are part of the solution to building community where everyone is welcome.

Con traducción parcial al español. 

Join us daily for ICin5 - all you need to know to stay in touch with global inspiration and the heart of practice.

Watch all the episodes |  More from International Council 2020

Maitripala talking about the Refuge aspect of the Bodhicitta practice, for the International Council 2020 Online.

As well as meeting together and addressing live topics and priorities across Triratna, the International Council meetings also are a context for members to meet together and build community, this year, taking as our Dharma theme the arising of the Bodhicitta, through study and meditation.

The series of talks explore different aspects of the Bodhicitta Practice: the Blue Sky as the context for the practice; Connection with the Refuge; the development of Bodhicitta and Compassion; and the expression of the Bodhisattva Vow.

Watch all the talks from IC2020  |  More from International Council 2020

The International Council Meeting is divided into two timezone clusters who will be meeting separately during this online International Council meeting. Here we recorded a rather lovely clip of them waving to each another from their opening sessions. The first is New Zealand, Australia, India and Mainland Europe; and the second is the UK + Ireland, Latin America and North America.

The first full day of the online International Council. The blue sky is behind us and all around, and we're with Aryadrishti and Sravaniya from Canada and the USA. In some ways a sobering, if hopeful, take on what a Dharma community has to offer when faced with deep, systemic suffering.

- The Bodhichitta practice as the backdrop to sorrow.
- What Triratna can do to respond in hard times.
- IC priorities in the wake of Covid-19.

Join us daily for ICin5 - all you need to know to stay in touch with global inspiration and the heart of practice.

Watch all the episodes |  More from International Council 2020