Metta in action
Local care networks - metta in action
An interview with Aryasuri
Local Care Networks, an initiative of the Abhayaratna Trust, have been around for a few years now. The concept 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 support needs which means we may need to be more organised than relying solely on local friends. The LCN initiative will help sanghas prepare for this eventuality. In most sanghas, it will not involve developing anything particularly new but, rather, the rallying of existing resources already in a local sangha.
In this video, Aryasuri, one of the Abhayaratna Trust’s reps in New Zealand, gives a very vibrant account of her thoughts about care in the Order, partly drawn from her experiences of many years as a health care professional. Mahasraddha
You can find more information on the Local Care Network here.
Maniprabha on caring for Shraddhapushpa
On the topic of care and support in sanghas, Mahasraddha recently engaged in conversation with Maniprabha, who was part of a small group of people in London looking after Shraddhapushpa towards the end of her life. It’s a deeply moving and inspiring story of people coming together to provide care and support for an Order member.
SanghaCare at Aryaloka - a report from Viryagita
Viryagita writes: In the Kucchivikara-vatthu it is stated that when the Buddha came upon a monk with dysentery, he said to the other monks: ‘Monks you have no mother, you have no father; who might tend to you. If you don't tend to one another, who then will tend to you?’ The Buddha further speaks of desirable, caregiver qualities, such as competency, benevolence, a sense of service, and ability to stimulate talk of the Dharma.
What I see here is the Buddha's exhortation for there to be a ‘culture of care’ in the sangha, which reminds me of the aim of the LCN (Local Care Network) project to promote a ‘consistent culture of care’ in our Order. As I understand it, the aim of the project is to assist local Triratna sanghas to create an organized, clear framework of care for Order members who need some amount of care. I was inspired to contact the project and offer to help in any way I could. So I agreed to an interview about my journey with Parkinsons and how the dharma helped me. I mostly wanted to see that future generations could benefit from my experiences.
Aryaloka, a Triratna Center close to my residential facility in Newmarket, New Hampshire, USA. initiated a similar idea around 2018 entitled ‘SanghaCare’. It was an intentional kula of volunteers whose purpose was to serve those in the sangha with specific requests; not necessarily just medical ones. Previous to this time individual sangha members responded informally out of their friendships and there existed a caring sangha but it may have lacked the consistency of an explicit framework. In reality SanghaCare was underutilised and then, unfortunately, this kula entered a dormant phase at the onset of the Covid outbreaks and lockdowns in 2020.
So, presently, there are several people who have expressed an interest in exploring the possibilities for SanghaCare and whether the LCN project could assist in reviving it. Dharmasukta, who has been heavily involved since the inception of SanghaCare and is familiar with LCN, has stated that he will certainly continue to volunteer with transportation; and Lilasiddhi is also open to working in this area and has a knowledge of care needs assessment. I could be of assistance with navigation through the healthcare and public funds system in the state of New Hampshire, USA. Several other Order members have also shown an interest.
The next step is to schedule an initial meeting to see whether there is interest in breathing new life into SanghaCare. We could explore the possibility of receiving guidance and assistance from The Abhayaratna Trust's LCN project.
I can see an Order or Order/Mitra Day spent on exploration of the meaning of ‘culture of care’. What would it look like? How would it feel to establish it for future generations? We can formulate a vision. We can hold a dream; living and dying among fellow Buddhists in a ‘culture of care’. Viryagita
Taradakini is back from sabbatical
Vijayamala, Vessantara and Taradkini
Taradakini is back at work, co-ordinating funding support for Order members, following a two month sabbatical at the start of the year. She was fortunate to be on the Order retreat with Vessantara, Vijayamala and team held in the Gower peninsular area of Wales. She’s come back refreshed and ready to receive your applications! Get in touch with her on behalf of yourself or a friend: taradakini@abhayaratnatrust.org or +44 7857 351818.
Communications Support: jinavamsa@abhayaratnatrust.org - for your questions, ideas and feedback.