Dear Friends,

Recently I was appointed General Secretary of the Buddhist Federation of Norway (BNF), having been on the board of trustees since 2000. That was the year I started Triratna's Oslo Buddhist Centre, returning home after many years at the Manchester Buddhist Centre.

The BNF is an umbrella organisation with 16 member communities with about 16,000 members, founded in 1979. Created to enable an application for money from the Norwegian government to fund Buddhist activities, it has steadily grown and is now involved in running a website, joint celebrations of Vesak/Buddha day, rituals and translating and publishing, as well as a 'confirmation course' where teenagers learn about basic Buddhism and different traditions over two residential weekends. The BNF facilitates activities for young adults, and promotes sustainability.

I see this work as an opportunity to contribute to Bhante's idea of the New Society, which inspired me right from the start as a student of business ethics at the University of Manchester, and provided part of my vision in starting the Oslo Buddhist Centre. Now, handing on the Chair to Muditadevi, I am free for other responsibilities, including conducting my first private ordination, for Norwegian Mitra Nils, this summer.

This means an exciting deepening of practice, internally and externally, to let the bodhi spirit flow through the ordination; and simultaneously I have to deepen my practice to facilitate dialog and inspiration across the various Buddhist traditions and into society. I think I am well prepared through Bhante’s perspective and training in Triratna, as well as my professional training. I am excited to have this opportunity and feel humble about the complexity and demands of the task.

In my role as General Secretary I will be representing the BFN at meetings of the European Buddhist Union where I will meet my good friend Munisha (Triratna's Liaison Officer and EBU Vice President).

I still teach at the Oslo Buddhist Centre, offer gestalt therapy and teach social workers at OsloMet University.

With metta,
Gunaketu