Order Harmony Consultation 

Introduction to the Project

In February 2023, the Order Convenors and the Dharmachakra Chair took the decision to pause some of the online Order spaces.  This was due to serious concerns and complaints being raised about the potentially harmful nature of some of the communication online. This decision had the backing of the College Chair and Deputies, as well as the International Council Steering Group.  

‘Addressing Issue with Order Harmony Online’ was a communication distributed to the Order in January 2023 and gives the background to that decision. It also outlines the proposed steps to take the consultation forward. (There are Spanish and German translations at the end of the document.)

After pausing the spaces, the Order Convenors and the Order Office launched a consultation to gather information from the Order to be able to shape future online spaces by:

• Finding out what is important to Order members in their communication online  
• Understanding how they may have been affected by disharmony online
• Discovering what kinds of online spaces they would like to see going forwards.

The main components of the consultation were:

• An Order-wide survey
• An Order forum.

‘A Survey of Buddhists’

We sought the expertise of Sahamati to help construct the survey, and to process and analyse the quantitative results.  Around 600 Order members participated and we can now share the results with you:

The Survey: Quantitative Results

The qualitative responses are still being analysed and will be published here when they are available.

Online Forums

The Order Harmony consultation project initially held an Order forum in June 2023. The purpose of the forum was to give us an opportunity to engage with each other on the issues that most concern us in the area of Order harmony online, and to suggest positive ways forward.

The 2023 online forum began with very short talks from a handful of speakers to stimulate our thinking regarding this area. The talks were followed by small group discussions, and a plenary to capture key issues and areas of concern expressed in the forum. 

An in-person forum was also conducted with around 40 Chairs on the European Chairs’ Assembly at Adhisthana on 25 June 2023.

A substantial amount of information – preferences, feedback and comments – has been gathered from the survey and the 2023 forum. It is in the process of being analysed to clarify and further understand what Order members have said so that the new online spaces, as much as possible, reflect this.

A second forum was held in March 2024. One of the questions that arose from the 2023 Order Harmony survey was ‘How do we practise harmony in the Triratna Buddhist Order?’ and the March forum concentrated on this topic, again with the format of short talks followed by breakout groups.

Short Talks (June 2023 forum)

Each of the eight forum speakers were asked to give a five minute presentation. 

We asked each contributor to consider:

• why online communication was important to them as an Order member
• what they saw as key conditions to support harmonious online communication that more of our Order would be inspired to participate in.

In inviting the speakers, the rationale was not to carefully curate a panel to represent specific views, but to hear a range of perspectives from individual Order members. None of the speakers were representing any Triratna institutional bodies, and any opinions they expressed were their own.

The eight contributors were:  Prajnaketu, Amala, Achara, Visuddhimati, Dayaketu, Prajananandi, Saraha, and Viveka.

You can see the videos here:

Short Talks (March 2024 forum)

Vajrapriya (International Order Convenor) opened the forum with a short talk, then we heard from six contributors in five minute talks.

We asked each contributor to consider:

• What harmony means to you in our Order context?
• Two reasons why harmony is important to you as an Order member
• What you see as two key conditions to support the practice of harmony in online communication so that more of our Order would be inspired to participate in it?

As with the first forum, inviting the speakers, the rationale was not to carefully curate a panel to represent specific views, but to hear a range of perspectives from individual Order members. None of the speakers were representing any Triratna institutional bodies, and any opinions they expressed were their own.

The six contributors were:  Parami, Shantigarbha, Padmadharini, Sujiva, Sucimanasa and Kamalashila.

You can see the videos here – the first video is of Vajrapriya’s talk and the second video is the other speakers from the day.

Focus groups

The International Order Convenors, Ethics Order Convenor and Order Office team are very keen for the Order Harmony Online project to run in a way that honours what Order members have expressed, and to develop new online spaces in dialogue with Order members. To help with this, a small group of Order members with experience in communications, online technology, organisational change, research methodologies, and communications was set up. The group met for five meetings, and the meetings have been very helpful for starting the process of analysis, reflection, and making considered decisions on next steps.

The group was made up of:

• Dhivan (scholar with experience in moderation from academic circles)
• Sripakshini (CEO Breathworks, recent MBA in Senior Leadership)
• Prajanaketu (author of Cyberloka, Director of Urgyen Sangharakshita Trust)
• Candradasa (Director of The Buddhist Centre Online, with editorial and moderation duties)
• Aryajaya, Subhadassi and Utpaladhi (Order Convenors and Order Office Team).

Next steps

We hope that some ‘test’ Order spaces will be launched during the first half of 2024. These will give the Order an opportunity to try out some changes in approach to the way Order spaces have previously been set up and run, informed by the consultation.

This web page will be updated as the project progresses.
If you are interested in following developments, + follow our Order Connection channel to receive notifications of updates (requires Order login).