Moving towards the end of their weeklong meeting at Adhisthana, the European Chairs offered puja books in many European languages in an international puja in which we recited the positive precepts in nine languages. You'll find the international puja book collection on a new shelf at the back of the shrine room.
They also reviewed their finances (see below) and enjoyed a series of very short, spontaneous ‘pop-up’ talks on topics including:
- Croydon Buddhist Centre: a thriving sangha
- Developing understanding and policy for the inclusion of trans people in Triratna life (no hyperlink here because I have still to write the policy!)
- The Ecosia search engine, which pays for tree planting at no cost to the user (and can be added to Chrome)
- Optimism about the future of Triratna
‘Core quadrant analysis’: a tool for teams
The ECA’s money is held in its ‘Development Fund’. Its main income comes as donations from Triratna centres across Europe (the ECA’s members). Some Triratna charities elsewhere contribute too, in respect of the worldwide services funded by the ECA, mentioned below.
In 2016 these donations came to just over £116,000; next year £121,000 is pledged. £72,500 goes on staff costs: financial support for the members of the Development Team employed by the ECA. Given that there are five people in this team, you can see that nobody works here for the money!
Money is also given to The Buddhist Centre Online, Clear Vision and the Translations Board, as well as Windhorse Publications, Triratna’s book publishers.
For details please see photograph. You will see that some grants are projected to diminish strongly in 2017. This is because the new FutureDharma Fund will come into operation.