Sudarshanaloka Retreat Centre New Zealand is 11 buildings and huts spread over 230 acres of rugged and mostly steep ground. At age 70, it’s getting rather too much to get around for Guhyavajra, one of its main caretakers.
Rather than leave, Guhyavajra wants to manage ageing in these conditions intelligently. Having an electric bike will enable him to carry on his day-to-day work at Sudarshanaloka at the same time as strengthening his health - but without overdoing it.
Read MoreThe work of the Trust has greatly expanded in India since the covid pandemic of 2020-22. India was hit very hard at that time and many Order members in found themselves in desperate and sometimes life-threatening circumstances. The Abhayaratna Trust responded by running an appeal which received a tremendous response from the Tritana Community all over the world, raising over £200,000. This enabled the Trust to help many Order members across India at the time and also in the longer term, because many Order members there lost their livelihoods due to the pandemic.
As a result, the Abhayaratna Trust developed our Livelihood Project, giving grants to Indian Order members in hardship
Read MoreMahasraddha, the Director of the Abhayaratna Trust is in India for the Order convention, which is taking place at Bodhgaya from 24th to 31st of January . While he is in India Mahasraddha will also be visiting some of the livelihood projects that were funded by the Abhayaratna Trust through our covid India fund, which was money raised by an appeal run by the Trust in 2021.
Read MoreThank you hugely to all those who supported our appeal to enable 150 Order members in India attend the 2025 International Convention at Bodhgaya in January 2025.
Donations almost exactly matched the need and we have now sent the funds to India for 147 Order member places - the final number who requested financial support.
Read MoreSinghadharma is our solo Order member living in Patagonia-Argentina. She was ordained in 2022 and works full time as a teacher to support herself, her young son and mother.
She’s an incredibly positive young woman but living so far away from sangha can be hard going. She wants and needs to get on retreats and gather with other Order members to remain inspired and deepen her connections with the Order. Such trips will also support Singhadharma’s plans to start a sangha group in her hometown of Provincia de Neuquen.
Read MoreEven though it’s in their home country, and the cost is low, being part of this Convention is beyond the financial reach of many Indian Order members. Ratnashil, one of India’s Public Preceptors, who helps our work there, is aware of up to 150 Order members from across India who would love to be there - and they can be if we run a successful appeal to make that happen.’
Read MoreBodhilila needs our collective help. She is in a very difficult place just now, experiencing stage 4 cancer, which has meant giving up being chair of the West London Buddhist Centre.
Read MoreWe are asking for your support today for a remarkable member of our community. Gunapala has worked for nearly 50 years to build our Triratna Centres and sanghas. Now diagnosed with incurable lung disease, he needs our help.
Read MoreBuddhasevaka is one of our sangha members living with Multiple Sclerosis. Now age 47, his mobility is becoming more significantly affected.
What would help him at this stage of MS is an electric tricycle. He says it would be a real game changer and massively improve the quality of his life and health:
‘It will enable me to maintain the limited capability I still have in my left side limbs in a way which uplifts my spirits by getting me out and about in the open air.’
Read MoreRatnadhi lives by herself in Mexico City. She has worked to support herself from a young age and experienced financial hardship along the way, but now faces the most critical situation she has known.
Read MoreEn este video corto, Parami presenta el trabajo del Abhayaratna Trust, describiendolo como “una especie de red de salvación para los Miembros de la Orden” con muy pocos recursos para satisfacer una necesidad fnanciera importante.
Read MoreKavyamani and Akashamitra on becoming trustees of the Abhayaratna Trust were both surprised at the scope of what the Trust does to help Order members in various ways and of the care and sensitivity of the team of trustees who make decisions about grants.
Read MoreLocal Care Networks, an initiative of the Abhayaratna Trust, have been around for a few years now. The concept of the initiative is simple: to help local Sanghas develop a more explicit, organised, proactive and collective framework of care and support. An important context for the initiative comes from the ageing demographic of the Order and the anticipated increase in care and support needs which may swamp more informal care and support provided through friendship.
Read MorePlease have a look to see how things are going and what we have been doing over the last year. You will find a director’s report from Mahasraddha, as well as reports from each of the team on their particular area of work and a foreword by Dharmashura who is chair of the Abhayaratana Trust.
Read MoreThe Abhayaratna Trust team (pictured) and our board of trustees wish you well throughout this festive season. In 2024 we will continue, with your support, to enable a flow generosity and care for Triratna Order members experiencing hardship.
Read MoreMahasraddha writes: ‘In the context of the suffering and confusion that I see around me in everyday living and encounters, I am often profoundly struck by how fortunate I am to have encountered the dharma and, moreover, to have stuck at dharma practice through the many ups and downs, through the many periods of doubt, towards greater clarity and sraddha.
Read MoreSadhanandi talks about why she has left a legacy to the Abhayaratna Trust and how a random act of kindness led her to reflect on the importance of keeping the gesture of giving alive.
Read MoreTaradakini writes: Nagabodhi’s message (click on video image to view) is the start of our appeal to raise £10,000 a year. Not for a specific Order member, like you often see in these newsletters, but for our work worldwide. Because for every appeal for an individual you see, there are at least another 9 Order members requesting support that you don’t hear about.
Read MoreWe love regular donations and there are also other ways to give. One of our supporters, Prakashadhi, recently wrote to tell us that when she lets out her flat in mid Wales she gives most of the money to Triratna charities, including Abhayaratna Trust. We love your ways of giving.
Read MoreTaradakini writes: Dear friends, Bodhipaksa needs our help. This may surprise you. He’s a well-known figure in the Triratna and wider meditation world, leading retreats, and teaching courses from his Wildmind.org platform since 2001. But he has been living close to the financial edge for the past few years and now something has tipped that balance.
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