Celebrating our 50th year, Triratna Buddhist Community is a truly international Sangha. Zoe Lim is the only mitra training for Ordination in Singapore.  Liz Bassett, from FutureDharma Fund, caught up with her friend to talk about her life and why she loves The Buddhist Centre Online -  one of the many projects to receive funding from FutureDharmaFund this year. 

Zoe found Triratna at the Nottingham centre when she was a student, and since moving back to Singapore has returned to the UK to attend retreats at Tiratanaloka,
and travelled to India for the International Buddhist Youth Convention.

 "In four years, since returning to Singapore from the UK, I’ve had three jobs and moved house five times. Change is part of life. Everyone tries to escape from a highly stressful city life, where living costs are amongst the highest and work hours one of the longest in the world. But of course there is no escape, so we end up having high turnovers at work. The dukkha just transfers to the next situation.

I use The Buddhist Centre Online to keep up with Triratna News, and Free Buddhist Audio to listen to talks in my room or on the bus or underground on my way to work. It’s my lifeline. I listen whenever I can. I look for new talks as well as re-listen to older ones, especially Bhante’s. I don’t have a Triratna Sangha here. Even though I have friends here who are Buddhist, we don’t quite speak the same language. When there is a need to connect I search for key words that relate to the situation I’m in; for instance integration, loneliness, doubt, death, emptiness, and so on.

I am part of an online study group run by Vidyatara in Melbourne, Australia. We are women from all over the world: the UK, Turkey, Poland and me in Singapore. It’s early in the morning for some people. We often have people arriving with a cup of tea! Without this group I don’t think I could live in Singapore … when I do the study group I am different; it pulls me back to the anchor of my life, refocusing me on what is important. I really feel supported… I feel like I’m not alone; I have friends…it’s an amazing group of women walking this path together in very different contexts."

The Buddhist Centre Online is part funded by FutureDharma Fund. By giving to FutureDharma Fund you are helping us all connect and build Sangha together. Inspired to give? The world needs what you’ve been given. Pass it on.