Order Convening

ARYAJAYA

International Order Convenor

The framework of the three duties of an Order member, from ‘What is the Order?’ by Subhuti, has guided me this year in my work. The three duties are: to work on our own practice; to maintain and promote harmony within the Order; and to create the context for others to Go for Refuge.

As regards the first duty, to our own spiritual practice, I’ve been looking back on the Sikkha Project Order Survey as affirmation that, as an Order, we are engaged in this effectively. It’s such a positive piece of work that I feel may have been overlooked in the pandemic – so I have been sharing it recently in Order contexts.

The second duty of maintaining and promoting harmony in the Order, has seen expression this year in the Order Harmony Online consultation. This has been a major piece of work and has taken time as we have tried to listen deeply and give care to what the Order has told us in the survey and forums. We are moving now to the next stage of implementation and testing of new spaces, which will take place in the new year. I hope it will be a ‘reset’ for us in our online communication, and that it will highlight the fact that communicating with each other online in a way that maintains real harmony – which does not exclude disagreement – may require more awareness.

A question that was asked often in the survey was, ‘What do you mean by harmony?’ So we are picking up on this theme, and will be offering an online forum on the 16th March, 2024 to explore how we practice harmony in the Order. In ‘Looking Ahead a Little Way’, Bhante says that resolving conflicts should be our absolute priority. There is much that is being learned through the reviews of serious ethical issues that have arisen over the last six years, and sharing that with the Order more widely will be a priority for 2024. The learning and recommendations from the reviews will hopefully contribute to addressing ethical issues in the Order with increasing confidence and clarity.

A Sadhana for the Order, written by Vessantara in 1986, has been another inspiration for me this year. The practice evokes our private and public ordination, giving emphasis to this enormous gift of our individual and collective Going for Refuge. I particularly like the reflection on one’s name and the Dharmic qualities that we are bringing to the service of the Order. This perhaps touches into the third duty of an Order member – helping to create the conditions for as many people as possible to Go for Refuge. On that note, I’d like to extend a big welcome to all the new Order members and rejoice in the wonderful Dharmic qualities your names bring to the Order. Not only do you strengthen this collective effort but you also enrich it with your unique qualities. Sadhu!

2023 began for me in India, with 450 Order members on the Indian Area Convention held at Nagaloka. I’m reminded as I write this of the huge, gold walking Buddha of Nagaloka and the statue of Dr Ambedkar. Both statues are of figures walking, and the symbolism of this, I understand, points to the Dharma in action, the Dharma being alive in our world, as we actively practise and communicate it. I see this principle alive in our Order, and I’m grateful to have participated in many Order events this year, where I’ve seen kalyana mitrata and deep Dharma practice flourishing. Just a few of those events were the Indian Area convention, the Lineages retreat and the UK & Ireland Combined Order weekend at Adhisthana, the Pan-American convention in Mexico and, right towards the end of the year, the Central European Order Forum in Germany.

As the year comes to an end I’m very glad to have Vajrapriya on board, sharing International Order Convening responsibilities with me. 2024 will begin for me with a visit to Australia and New Zealand, Aotearoa, and connecting with the Order there.

VAJRAPRIYA

International Order Convenor

I became an International Order Convenor (IOC) in August this year. If you’re interested in a more personal account of my process, you can read my Shabda reports from April onwards. As I am living at home (with my wife, Vajradevi) it is an experiment for an IOC not to live in a central community like Adhisthana. So I’ve been travelling up and down to Adhisthana for meetings, spending time learning from my colleague Aryajaya.

One project I was pleased to continue from before my appointment (being still the chair of the Triratna Trust) has been the celebration of Shabda’s 50th birthday. There were over four times the usual number of contributions to that edition, with a huge upwelling of appreciation for Shabda (and its compiler), which I have found very encouraging. Shabda is still the channel with the greatest reach into the Order, with over 1600 Order members reading it.

In October, Aryajaya, Subhadassi and I attended the Pan American convention in Mexico. So many impressions! It was particularly uplifting to see at first-hand the vitality of the Mexican Sangha. With 21 ordinations in the last 3 years, the Mexican Order has grown by 50% over that period, the fruits of a strong sense of dedication among the different teams running their centres and ordination process. Although a bout of covid limited my plans, Aryajaya and myself enjoyed some time in Toluca with Bodhikamala and Ruchiramati who run a thriving Centre there. They are notable for starting Dharma teaching – together with their friend Sanghadhara – when they were 18 years old. We were also fortunate to be present for the Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations, to witness its distinctive, colourful cultural expressions. Many thanks to the Area Order convenors who organised the convention so effectively.

On returning, I dropped into the UK & Ireland men’s Regional Order Convenors meeting, to hear about their plans to encourage deepening in chapters, and raise the profile of chapter convenors. These are subjects close to my heart. The strength of the chapter convenors’ network varies from country to country and I would love to see that strengthened where needed.

We were invited to some slots of the College meeting of Public Preceptors. They have a large international meeting each November, and this one was significant for the process to select the next Chair of the College (which I didn’t witness). I am very happy at the prospect of working with Mahamati as College Chair from November ’24, especially with his long experience of being an IOC himself. It was a delight simply to be among that grouping of people, with so much Order service behind them, and so many friendships between them.

I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to meet with so many different Order members, and so much of the time to witness the Order at its best. If you give Order dana, thanks for making that possible. I trust I can bring something of my own experience, commitment and diligence to the task.

SUBHADASSI

Ethics Order Convenor

I have been working in this role for almost three years now. Over the last year I have had a growing sense of understanding the role, which has given me confidence that my perspective is sufficiently well-informed as often to be useful.

The main areas of my work this last year have consisted of:

• engaging with serious ethical issues that arise
• supporting reviews of cases relating to serious ethical issues, so that we can learn how to improve how this work is undertaken
• looking at ways to clarify, develop and systematise approaches to serious ethical issues
• communicating about the Order Ethics Convenor role

In addition, I have also taken on leading the first part of the Order Harmony Online project, the outcomes of which will be new online spaces for Order members which we hope will fulfil their needs more satisfactorily.

In October, I had the opportunity to go to the Pan-American convention in Mexico. I welcomed having the opportunity to share the work of Order ethics convenor in person with Order members from the American continent. It was a pleasure to be there with Aryajaya, and Vajrapriya – the new International Order Convenor – among other colleagues and friends.

I continue to feel a lot of appreciation for the people I work with – I am very grateful for their kindness, their clarity, their encouragement, and their inspiring dedication and hard work. And I continue to feel a lot of appreciation for finding myself in a life where I am able to practise the Dharma, and to work in a context that is so aligned to my own personal values.

I am very happy to do work which supports the Order and movement, and a flourishing of the Dharma. At times I find some of the work I do very challenging. However, I’m always heartened in knowing that this work supports the Order and movement more broadly.

In the last year we have identified the need for more support in the area of safeguarding. We plan to recruit a suitable candidate to work in this area in 2024 to help our work become even more effective. I hope to be writing about this development in the next year’s report.

The International Order Office

A report on general activities by Utpaladhi

2023 was an exciting year for the International Order Office, where your Order dana has been instrumental in creating positive initiatives. Here’s a summary of what we have been working on:

• Order study | A six-week study course with Nagapriya on his book The Promise of a Sacred World. This was well attended, with excellent feedback from Order members in all six Areas.
• Order harmony online | Following the decision early in the year to pause ‘Threads’, we embarked on an Order Harmony Online consultation. In May we launched a survey on the topic: 600 Order members completed it, and quantitative results were released in September. We followed this with a forum in June, which was attended by Order members from around the world. During the autumn we held five focus groups to help us with the huge task of analysing the data, pulling together conclusions and beginning to think about next steps for 2024.
• Robes & kesas | Sadly, our previous robes manufacturer closed down during the pandemic, so during 2023 Vandika worked very hard to find and brief a new manufacturer and replenish our stock. We’re delighted that the new robes have now arrived, in plenty of time for the Ordination retreats in the spring. We continue to provide kesas for ordinations, and for those who need replacements.
• Order gatherings | In August we ran the UK & Ireland Combined Area Order Weekend in conjunction with Adhisthana, where the Teaching Community also led on the programme. It was a pleasure to work collaboratively on the event for which much positive feedback was received.
• The Order Office team | In 2023 we said goodbye to Amaradaya after his three years of diligent work. Following a reorganisation we then welcomed Prajnamanas into the new role of Donor and Events Manager. Meanwhile I took on the role of Team Coordinator, alongside my responsibilities as Assistant to the International Order Convenors. In December 2023, we met as a full team for the first time at Adhisthana, to spend time together and begin our planning for 2024.
• My own work | This year I’ve joined the International Council’s working group on communications, where I enjoy our discussions of how to share Bhante’s vision in our era. We appointed Bodhikamala as the International Communications Officer in September. I also support the Order Convening network across our six Areas, this year particularly working with the women’s Regional Order Convenors (ROCs) in the UK & Ireland, where we have welcomed some new ROCs. It’s wonderful to hear of all the ways that Order members connect and share the Dharma and to be a part of helping that flourish.

Here are some short updates from members of the team.

DASSINI | Order Information Service, database, Order Address List

My main work for the Order Office is twofold: I compose and send out the Order Information Service emails that you receive regularly. That is, notifications of forthcoming ordinations, announcements with the names of the new Order members, and notifications of ill health, deaths, and resignations from the Order. I really like this work as it keeps me directly connected to an important aspect of Order life.

My second main role is registering new order members with online services: the emails, Shabda and all online Order services and content, such as the Order address list. I love these tasks! They are a direct way of sharing important information about the life of the Order. For me personally, the ethic of service has always held a key place in my endeavour to live with meaning.

LOKABANDHU | Finance Officer

This is my second full year of working for the Order Office as their bookkeeper and I continue to value it for the very detailed set of connections it gives me with the Order and its members worldwide. 

I remember when I joined the Order I was told I was “number 392” – this year we celebrated our 3000th ordination. What a difference! A topic of reflection for me has been how to navigate what is inevitably a changing relationship with the Order as it grows way beyond a sort of giant “extended family” into something where one can never hope to meet more than a tiny fraction of its members. Something to celebrate of course, but also sometimes hard to keep up with… 

I love the Order and feel honoured to be able to serve it (and our amazing Order Convenors) in this way.

PRAJNAMANAS | Donor & Events Manager

I joined the Order Office this year, after nearly ten years on the team at the London Buddhist Centre. I was particularly glad to find another right-livelihood context which allowed me to continue being based at an urban centre (most of us at the Order Office work remotely). And shifting my focus to the Order itself has been very interesting: I feel more in touch with the spirit of internationality and can see more of the workings that keep it all going. I’m grateful to the Order Convenors and the team for taking me on. 

SHANTAVIRA | Shabda Compiler & Distributor

I continue to enjoy hearing from Order members from around the world, and facilitating the thoughtful and often quite moving communication between us. I received much appreciation for the recent anniversary issue, and it was a delight to hear from so many Order members on that occasion.

The number of paper Shabdas has risen over the past year from about 350 to 390 copies a month. About 1300 digital copies are downloaded from the website each month, about 100 more than last year. However, several hundred people prefer to read Shabda online without downloading it. There were 2294 downloads of the anniversary issue. There are currently 2600 Order members. Ignoring the anniversary issue, which contained 418 letter reports, the average number of contributors has risen slightly, from 64 to 72 letters per issue. The number of first-time reports increased from 34 to 61 this year, most of them in the anniversary issue.

The ageing Shabda software is currently being rewritten and this will make it easier for people to submit material and hopefully make it easier for me to hand on to another compiler some time next year.

VANDIKA | Robes & kesas

I have been very happy to continue helping provide kesas and robes for the Order. It feels like an act of devotion, and a living-out of my name (“She who worships or praises”), to work to ensure we have what’s needed for people to join the Order. The wonderful “Kesa Queens” are a volunteer team of Order members and Going for Refuge mitras in Manchester. They continue to sew our beautiful ordination kesas by hand – and to build friendships through their work. A huge thank you to them and their team leader Maitrinandi. We have amended the fit and sourced a new supplier for robes and are looking forward to seeing the new ones soon. May 2024 see many new Order Members enjoy wearing both!

Dana Report 2023

Order members gave around £138,000 in Order dana in 2023. It is wonderful to see Order members give to our collective vision in this way. However there is quite a lot of room for growth. As Lokabandhu says, last year’s income level represented only a very slight increase on the previous year. Given recent inflation levels, this means a decrease in real terms. We were sad to note that the proportion of Order members giving also appeared to have fallen (to 60%). We are taking steps to make it easier for people to give Order dana and not need to be reminded; and to clarify what it is that Order members are giving to. 

We recognise that there is lots of potential to increase our income, and hence the projects the Order Office can create. We aim to do this in our 2024 campaign by both encouraging more Order members to give, and asking those who do give if they can contribute a bit more. If you already give, thank you! If you don’t, please consider helping the Order flourish in this way. 

Convention Pattern 2025–2028

The convention pattern is agreed by the Area Order Convenors in discussion with the International Order Convenors. The coming years will run as follows:

Goodbye for now!

We hope you’ve enjoyed finding out more about the work of the Order Convenors and the Order Office. We’re always happy to hear from Order members, so if you’ve got a question this report hasn’t answered, do write to us on orderoffice@triratnaorder.org.