BRIXTON BUDDHIST COMMUNITY 11 ANNUAL REPORT 20 21
CONTENTS
About us
What is an Order Member? 1 What is a Mitra? 2 What is a study group? 2 Diversity 3 Trustees 4 Voting members 5 Other leadership roles 6 Teachers & Centre team 7 2020/21 in numbers 8 10 Chair's Report 16 Finance Officer's Report Women's Mitra Convenor's Report 20 Men's Mitra Convenor's Report 21 programme Coordinator's Report 24 designer & brand manager's report 25 Media coordinator's report 27 publicity coordinator's report 29
about us
Brixton Buddhist Community is part of the Triratna Buddhist Community; an international Buddhist movement founded in 1967 by Urgyen Sangharakshita. "Triratna" means "three jewels". These three jewels are shown in our logo.
They represent the three highest ideals that lie at the heart of Buddhism: The Buddha The Dharma The Sangha the ideal of the teachings the spiritual Enlightenment of the Buddha community
The community is made up of practitioners at different levels of commitment to the Buddhist path; Order Members, Mitras, people who attend regularly, and people who just drop in to our classes.
We call ourselves ~~Brixton Buddh~~ ist Community
rather than a group or an organisation, because this spiritual community - the Sangha - is key to our practise and understanding of Buddhism.
our community
Brixton Buddhist Community is a network of individuals united by the shared aim of developing spiritually and living in accordance with Buddhist principles of friendship; generosity; honest, kindly communication and care for each other's spiritual welfare. A key part of this vision is helping others benefit from the teachings of the Buddha, such as meditation, mindfulness, ethics and social engagement.
what is an order member?
Someone who has been ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order, is an 'Order Member'. Ordination is a significant and powerful ceremony in which an individual makes a lifelong commitment to following the Buddhist path, placing this at the centre of their lives.
Training for ordination is a process which takes many years of personal practice, dharma study and periods of being on retreat. During their ordination, a practitioner makes commitments to practice for the benefit of all beings, to act in accordance with 10 Buddhist ethical precepts and to live in harmony with others. At Ordination they are given special meditation practice and a new Buddhist name to signify their commitment to the spiritual life. You can usually recognise an Order Member because they wear a symbolic white scarf (kesa) embroidered with the three jewels.
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"Everyone who has contact with Brixton Buddhist Community, (such as coming to a class) is considered a 'friend'."
However someone who feels a particular connection with our community and has decided to follow the Buddhist path can ask to become a ‘Mitra’ (which simply means ‘friend’ in Sanskrit). Becoming a Mitra marks a deepening of commitment for the practitioner, and there are special activities, including retreats and study groups open to Mitras to support them in this.
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rest of their lives.
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diversity The Triratna Buddhist Community is unique in the Buddhist world racial diversity as it recognises equal ordination for both women and men
Brixton's rich cultural diversity is huge part of its appeal and we are keen that our community is fully representative of the community it serves.
Currently we work with the other London Buddhist Centres to support Gender London-wide People of Colour activities for our sangha members. Brixton's trustees are also developing diversity a new diversity plan with input from the London Buddhist Centre's Mindful Within the Buddhist tradition, historically and culturally there has been a strict divide between men and women practitioners. The of Race Group, and our involvement Triratna Buddhist Community is unique in the Buddhist world as it with the European Chair's Assembly recognises equal ordination for both women and men, who both join Diversity Group. We hope this a single sangha. However, it also recognises that there is much to initiative will offer more pathways into gain by sharing our lives with those who have an experience closest to our own. our community for people of all ethnic groups, as well as offer specific In Triratna this has lead to the practice of women being trained and ordained support for People of Colour to by other women and men by men. It is for this reason that alongside our deepen their Buddhist practice within many mixed events, our study groups and residential communities are often established as women's or men's groups our community.
Within the Buddhist tradition, historically and culturally there has been a strict divide between men and women practitioners. The Triratna Buddhist Community is unique in the Buddhist world as it recognises equal ordination for both women and men, who both join a single sangha. However, it also recognises that there is much to gain by sharing our lives with those who have an experience closest to our own.
Although our community is increasingly diverse, especially at our classes, we still have a way to go. This is particularly true amongst our teaching team and trustee board. Our hope is that within a few years, our diversity work will mean more members of our sangha from Black, Asian and other ethnic groups will start to feel sufficiently experienced to step into more of these leading roles.
In Triratna this has lead to the practice of women being trained and ordained by other women and men by men. It is for this reason that alongside our many mixed events, our study groups and residential communities are often established as women's or men's groups
Yet, we are aware that this structure does not suit everyone. In response to the emerging awareness of gender diversity, Triratna is currently in a process of creating more supportive contexts for people who are gender diverse, so that they have the necessary conditions to deepen their practice, become Mitras and train for ordination. These needs vary widely by individual, but examples include connecting people with the broader Triratna Gender Diverse Sangha, establishing gender diverse study groups and ordination training programmes, or in the case of people transitioning, supporting them to move between the existing men's or women's wings of the Order and movement.
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TRUSTEES 2022 Brixton Buddhist Community is a registered UK charity. Decisions about the community's vision, activities, finances, and public communications are made by a board of trustees who meet bi-monthly. They are all volunteers, with the exception of Viryanaga, the Chair. Because we are a spiritual community, the trustees are all experienced Order Members able to guide the spiritual direction of the community. We are keen to have more women and people for colour on the trustee board, and hope to achieve this as more people in our community become ordained in the coming years.
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a k a
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voting members 2022
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elena
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emma
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lizzy
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prajnaghosa
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alex
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pam
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s a g a r a s i l a
aryanisha
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maitrinita
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ian
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daisy
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leadership roles
The role of the Chair is to oversee the direction of the community, support the team and all the volunteers, and make the many small day-to-day deci ~~sions involved with~~ running a thriving Buddhist organis ~~ation.~~ Initially this role was volun ~~tary position, but as~~ our community has grown in recent years, the work has also grown into a full-time responsibility, with ~~Viryanaga now employed~~ by the charity.
We have two Mitra Convenors, both of whom are volunteers. Amarapuspa looks after the women's sangha, and Maitrinara takes care of the men's sangha.
viryanaga Chair
paramabandhu president
amarapuspa maitrinara women's mitra convenor men's mitra convenor mitra convenors
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other tea ~~chers~~ If you come to our events, often one or two of our trustees will be teaching. However, there are also some other wonderful Order Members who support our community though teaching. Paramabandhu is the president of Brixton Buddhist maitrinita ~~Community. A presiden~~ t offers spiritual counsel and friendship to a community, and can be a source of They either live in help when issues arise. Paramabandhu is a senior South London or Order Member, who along with others, hold regularly visit us. You responsibility for ordinations within the Triratna may also see some of Buddhist Community. He is also an ex-chair of the our Mitras who are London Buddhist Centre in East London, where he training for ordination lives, and is a highly valued teacher. He visits us at teach at our Monday least twice a year. meditation class.
The centre team is the organisational hub of the centre team Brixton Buddhist Community. Together they are responsible for coordinating all the events, as well as managing our online content. Lizzy and Ian work two days a week, while Alex and Elena currently work one day a week each. viryanaga lizzy chair programmes co-ordinator elena alex online media co-ordinator graphic design ian events co-ordinator
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vajratara
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2021 IN NUMBERS... 5 1 10 8 ORDINation REQUESTS
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mitras in the brixton sangha
27
44
35
Mitras training for Ordination
16
20
12
people in or having completed dharma training courses
an ever widening
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circle, the
sangha grows
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1
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
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0
0
0
0
0
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2
2
1
1
1
9
9
9
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2
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167 111 2020 2021 Course Attendees
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One illustration that quickly comes to
mind for me is a Dharma Study group
that Suddhaka and I led for the past 4.5
years, which finished this year. It must
be said, we were a rather rag-tag bunch
of whoever was around at the time,
literally whoever we could invite from
the small classes back then. A few
departed along the way, but those that
finished are all now serious Dharma
practitioners in their own right,
leave
displaying the qualities of generosity,
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"we've grown a great deal, individually and collectively..."
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Another example is the support for Rathachuda and Amarapupsa by members of the sangha this year. If you are newer, you may not have come across Ratnachuda, but he was formerly a chair of Brixton and invested a great deal of love and energy into helping the sangha flourish.
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ratnachuda
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"this sums up Sangha better than anything: Genuine friendship and care between people who might not otherwise have close connections"
Amarapuspa, his partner, has been central here for many years too, and remains our women’s mitra convenor. Ratnachuda unfortunately fractured his leg this year, resulting in an operation and extended hospital stay, so it's been very tough for him and Amarapuspa. What’s been impressive is both Amarapuspa’s effort in supporting Ratnachuda, but also the people in the sangha rallying around to help, whether that’s hospital visits, taking around food etc. .
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The Order Team
"It will not be so long before some of Brixton’s other mitras who are training for Ordination...I think there will be a cohort of remarkable Dharmafarers not too far away. "
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"So there is flux and change, but plenty of fresh green growth, and much to be grateful for."
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him all the best for his ordination
retreat, and look forward to having grateful for.
him join the Brixton Order team on
the other side of that.
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She continues to work two days per week. Elena is working one day a week for us as our Online Media Coordinator, recording and sharing talks, and interviewing those in our sangha to share the inspiration of our community as
"I remain very impressed with the work ethic, passion and creativity of everyone on the team,"
Even though the number of hours the team is working overall hasn’t increased hugely, their joining has created a feeling that we are actually now a team. This has been both enjoyable and supportive for everyone. I remain very impressed with the work ethic, passion and creativity of everyone on the team, and it's strangely satisfying to see excellent programmes and publicity going out that I've had very little, if anything, to do with. They are all excellent people, it's a joy to work with them.
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"I prefer to see our fundraising as giving those people with adequate income or savings the opportunity to put their money behind the values they really care about, rather than consumer products or the momentary delights of a worldly experience."
"Brixton (buddhist community) does have...an intangible energy of warmth, positivity and goodwill to those who come through our doors, and offers genuine community and lifelong connection for those who stay".
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The following table summarises income and expenses by category for 2021 and shows our end of year cash balance. The sections following give more explanation on these categories.
2021 posed similar Covid challenges as 2020, requiring a constant review of events offered with respect to
'the centre team increased in size in line with our budget'
provide a solid base for our growing
'we retain our ambition to lease our own premises'
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Money from fundraising
The need to manage a turbulent year detracted energy from the fundraising effort and was responsible for an 11% drop in budgeted income.
money from events
Class, course and retreat events were mixed format (either in-person or online) throughout the year to comply with government regulations. A very significant 47% additional income over budget was realised under Money from events. Classes – 11% above budget.
Retreat – Our ability to run 2 in person retreats at Vajrasana and receive January 2023 income for a third Vajrasana retreat allowed us to increase our retreat budget Paramabandhu is the president of Brixton Buddhist almost 5-fold. (The budget assumed we Community. A president offers spiritual counsel and would only be able to hold 2 online friendship to a community, and can be a source of retreats). help when issues arise. Paramabandhu is a senior Order Member, who along with others, hold responsibility for ordinations within the Triratna Courses – Similar numbers attendedBuddhist Community. He is also an ex-chair of the courses in 2021 as in 2020 (179 vLondon Buddhist Centre in East London, where he 171) but there was a 16% increase inlives, and is a highly valued teacher. He visits us at income verses budget.least twice a year.
Outgoings
A negotiated rent reduction with an understanding landlord allowed us to reduce planned rent costs by almost 40%.
Support costs were slightly above budget due to illness in the team but otherwise were in line with our planned increase of .5FTE for 2020.
Contributions to other Triratna charities includes a 5% contribution to the European Chairs Assembly.
Gift Aid
A 38% drop with respect to the gift aid budget was the main reason our overall budget was just missed in 2021. This was mostly due to an oversight at the end of Q1 2021 when we reduced our fundraising budget by 30% but did not correspondingly reduce our gift aid budget which is directly related to it, thereby overstating our forecast income for the year. (The reduction in fundraising budget was brought about by a need to focus on organizing our programme to address COVID and a regulations corresponding delay in beginning Amaladana fundraising planning and activity). Finance Officer May 2022
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"the two women's study groups have seemed to thrive despite being online"
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- men's mitra convenor's report
"I feel proud of how Brixton Bu ~~ddhist~~ Community has pulled together ~~during~~ the pandemic and how we have emerged from it with more breadth and depth in the Sangha."
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"i was excited to be co-leading the first long meditation retreat we've had"
"I continue to wish everyone in the Sangha inspiration in practising the Dharma for the
sake of all beings."
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People ask to become a Mitra when they: programme coordinator's report Consider that they are Buddhists. lizzy Are trying to live in accordance with the five ethical precepts of Buddhism. We also ran our first in-person 2021 has been a year of transition, both The Monday night meditation drop-in course of the year, Think, Act, Live within the centre team, and for our resumed in-person in June, albeitFeel that the Triratna Buddhist (based on the Sikkha project course, Sangha more broadly. We began the with everyone meditating together,Community is the appropriate
"we received the highest number of bookings for any course to date"
"people warmly welcomed a return to in-person events...it has been joyful to gather again..."
what is a study group? We have continued to be greatly helped by the media team; a small but vital team of volunteers who help with our media and promotions. Emma has been a huge help in managing our mailing list communications, Lotte is very effectively managing our Discord channel (Discord is an online chat room that we have made use of as a way of connecting the Sangha during lockdown). I have also benefited from an excellent and responsive team of proof readers.
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for the events
During this time I've continued to
develop and explore our visual identity
and graphics. By trade I'm a graphic
designer and illustrator, so that has been
by far my favourite part of the job! It has
been a real honour to have the
making sure the
opportunity to carve out imagery that
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" It has been a real honour to have the opportunity to carve out imagery that both represents and promotes the thing I love most – our incredible Sangha!"
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" It's been really great to work alongside my friend and teacher, Viryanaga"
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media coordinator's report
elena
My work with the Brixton Buddhist Community started in April last year, towards the end of the 2021 lockdown. My main tasks then were to live stream the Monday meditation classes and record the Dharma night classes, as well as editing the videos to upload to Youtube.
" I had the support of volunteers such as Emma and Jac who were brilliant at helping and making me feel more confident."
To start my job by going straight into the nerve-wracking task of live streaming meditation classes was a big challenge! However I had the support of volunteers such as Emma and Jac who were brilliant at helping and making me feel more confident.
The other challenge I had back then was the video editing and managing the Youtube Paramabandhu is the president of Brixton Buddhist studio, which was something I hadn’t done Community. A president offers spiritual counsel and before but I was able to learn it quite quickly friendship to a community, and can be a source of with the help of Jac who did some training. help when issues arise. Paramabandhu is a senior Order Member, who along with others, hold At the end of the lockdown restrictions, weresponsibility for ordinations within the Triratna stopped the live streaming and the recordingBuddhist Community. He is also an ex-chair of the of regular classes and the video content was London Buddhist Centre in East London, where he mainly created from special events such as lives, and is a highly valued teacher. He visits us at festivals, retreats and one-off events with least twice a year. guest speakers. I have also recorded talks made during our Sangha retreats in Vajrasana in September last year and more recently in January.
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I have enjoyed my work as a media coordinator very much. I feel very grateful to be working with such a kind, supportive and experienced team. I have also been able to work with interesting, inspiring Dharma content and I have learnt new skills such as video editing, live streaming and Youtube studio management. It’s been a delight to work as a Media coordinator for the Brixton Community and I look forward to more this year!
I hope the Sangha videos will also be ~~enjoyed by~~ other members of our community and by people outside it who may be interested in knowing more about Buddhism. I’m planning to use them not only on our Youtube channel but also across other channels, especially on Instagram where we want to create content showcasing the diversity and vibrancy of our community.
Paramabandhu is the president of Brixton Buddhist An exciting project I have been Community. A president offers spiritual counsel and working on this year is the Sangha friendship to a community, and can be a source of videos which feature members of our help when issues arise. Paramabandhu is a senior Sangha explaining why they consider Order Member, who along with others, hold themselves Buddhists and how their responsibility for ordinations within the Triratna practice relates to their everyday Buddhist Community. He is also an ex-chair of the lives and to the wider world. I’ve London Buddhist Centre in East London, where he been enjoying this project very much. lives, and is a highly valued teacher. He visits us at It has given me the opportunity to least twice a year. elena hear moving and inspiring stories and media coordinatorr create bonds with people in the May 2022 Sangha I didn’t know very well.
"I feel very grateful to be working with such a kind, supportive and experienced team. "
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- publicity coordinator's report
ian
I joined the team as Publicity
Coordinator in April 2022 and am We already have a great team and grateful to be able to contribute working culture here, which has to the work of sharing the made getting used to the new role Dharma in South London. much easier for me! As well as the fantastic design work, video and and course photography I hope we can build on what we’ve development and organisation, I’ve already achieved by reaching out to been so impressed and slightly different communities – really making humbled the work of our by the Buddha’s vision of the Dharma volunteers on the email newsletter available, accessible and inviting for and social media. We’re lucky to have all. We are starting to work more so many talents within the Sangha closely with the People of Colour and I think it shows. Sangha and are planning to host a PoC event in Brixton later in 2022. We’re currently discussing different ways to keep our core Sangha engaged online.
As well as letting people know about events, courses and classes, a particularly enjoyable part of my role has been celebrating our Sangha through our publicity - on Instagram and Facebook - and by including more images of people on our website. There are lots of exciting possibilities for doing more of this in the future, whilst being mindful of the inherent pitfalls of social media and online communication.
ian publicity coordinatorr august 2022
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info@brixtonbuddhistmeditation.org
Brixton Buddhist Community is a registered UK charity (charity no. 1084889)
CHARITY COMMISSION,, Independent examiner's FOR ENGLAND AND WALES I report on the accounts S•ction A Independent Examiner's Report R•port to the trust81 members of Triratna Buddhist Community IBrixton) On account• for the year ended 3111212021 Charlty no (If any) 1084889 I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of ts atw)v• charity (Ihe Trusfi for the year ended 3111212021 Ro•ponslbilllles and As the charity trustees of the Trust. you are responsible for the preparatK bas1¥ of r•port of the accounts in accordan¢e with the requirements of the Chantie8 Acl 2011 (Ihe Act"). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Chanty Commission under section 14515)(b) of Ihe Ad. I have compleled my examination. I confinn Ihat no material matters haye come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material resp8Ct.' accounting records were not kept in accordance wilh 8ectTron 130 of the Act or the account5 do not accord with the accounting records Independent oxaminorf8 Statement I hav8 no Concems and have come across no other matters in ¢onnectK with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Slgned: D•t•: 17110122 Name: Fay Pritchard Relevant professlonal quallllcationl$} or body (If any): AAT licensed accountant r.. 1004354 AddrM8: 8 Darwn Street, Shrewsbury, SY3 8QE Section 8 Oisclosuro Only complete if the examlner need8 to hiohlighl matt6r8 of Concern (see CC32 Independent examination of ¢hanty accounts dirnctions and OU4n¢• lor examiners) IER Octohr 2011