September 2025 News
The gift of sight
Abhayasara
Abhayasara who lives in Merida in Venezula is struggling with her eyesight, her eyes are now in an advanced state of deterioration, and she needs cataract surgery on both eyes. Parami who publicly ordained Abhayasara says:
“Abhayasara was ordained in 2019, becoming the first Dharmacharini in Venezuela. She works tirelessly for the Dharma in Merida, having been the centre chair since 2021. Given her situation, living in Venezuela, most of her contact with the Order and wider Triratna movement, including her weekly chapter meeting, is online. This is becoming increasingly difficult as she suffers from deterioration in her eyesight. Please consider supporting this appeal for a cataract operation which would make a massive difference to her.”
The surgery on both of Abhayasara’s eyes will cost around £4000, knowing how much this would improve Abhayasara’s life Abhayaratna Trust are launching this appeal so that she can get this much needed surgery.
Abhayasara says of her condition “The deterioration of my vision has reached the point of greatly hindering my daily activities, thus draining my energy considerably. At the end of the day, my physical exhaustion is truly significant”
Abhayasara lives alone, in Merida, in the house where she raised her son after the death of her partner almost 40 years ago. She has a small pension after 25 years of university work which she tops up with renting out a portion of her house as an Airbnb, this barely covers her living costs.
Please donate securely today here in a choice of currencies. Thank you.
Please note: 10% of what you give, plus any gift aid we can collect from UK donations, will help support other Order members in financial and health hardship.
Dharmacharini health project
As many of you know, the Abhayaratna Trust ran a highly successful appeal to support Indian Order members severely affected by COVID-19. You may recall that in 2021, there was hardly a week that went by without the tragic news of an Order member in India succumbing to COVID-19.
Your generous response to this crisis was remarkable, with donations totalling nearly £250,000. With these funds, the Abhayaratna Trust provided immediate, often lifesaving, medical assistance. Additionally, based on advice from Order Convenors in India, a portion of the funds was allocated to two long-term projects. The first project provided grants to Indian Order members facing hardship, helping them reestablish their livelihoods after losing income due to COVID-19. The second project focused on offering grants to Dharmacharinis in need, to cover modest medical expenses.
The livelihood grant scheme has been notably successful, supporting over 30 Order members in India to establish livelihoods/businesses and generate income once again. The Dharmacharini Health project faced several challenges initially, but under the leadership of Dharmachari Ratnasila and Dharmacharini Maitridarshini, it is set to be revitalized to meet the pressing health needs of Dharmacharinis in India. Look out for updates from us on the progress of this project and its impact on the health of Dharmacharinis in hardship in India.
Gratitude, solidarity and the Order at its best
Mahasraddha
At the recent CAOW, along with four other Triratna charities, Mahasraddha gave a short presentation of what he most values about his work with the Ahbayaratna Trust and why he thinks it is worth supporting the work that the Trust carries out on behalf of the Order. He talked of how, as director of the Trust, he is deeply inspired to witness the effect of generosity re-igniting the bond of solidarity between Order members, of the powerful and uplifting effect on the recipient, physically, psychologically and spiritually and the response of gratitude.
‘I witness this impact of generosity time and time again in my work for the Trust and this inspires me.’
A big thank you to all who responded to the presentation by pledging donations. Sixteen people pledged to make regular monthly donations and we received twenty two one off donations towards our Worldwide Fund.
If you don’t already do so, please consider supporting our work. You can donate securely here.
A fun way to support the Abhayaratna Trust
If you are someone who supports the Abhayaratna Trust in whatever way, or values the work that we do, then we would love it if you made a short video for us, just 2 minutes long, saying why you value the Trust, or why you donate regularly or to our appeals. You could simply do this on your phone, or whatever device you might prefer and then send it to me at jinavamsa@abhayaratnatrust.org in a form that we can download and add to our YouTube channel, our newsletter or social media. Please give it a go, it would only take a couple of minutes.
Contact Communications Support: jinavamsa@abhayaratnatrust.org with any questions or feedback.