The Vajra Bell happily joins The Buddhist Centre Online this month in celebrating the Triratna sanghas of the U.S. - and the rest of the North American continent as well! We'd like to begin by welcoming you to our new home on The Buddhist Centre, and tell you a little bit about ourselves.
What started as a small black and white quarterly newsletter at Aryaloka Buddhist Center many moons ago has grown and evolved over the years into an rich, colorful, and unique publication - the Vajra Bell. Our mission is to "keep sangha connected" by providing in-depth coverage of important Buddhist topics, programs, events, news, and media from our many centers in North America. With so many miles between our Buddhist centers on this side of the ocean, it's ever so important that we are able to stay in touch with one another and with the wider Triratna community around the world.
The Vajra Bell has also become a vital way for newcomers to our centers to discover the richness and depth of our community. We are staffed by an amazing kula of talented volunteers, and supported by the generosity of donors and Aryaloka Buddhist Center.
Our Summer issue arrives on July 1st, and to give you a sneak peek, we'll be continuing the theme begun on The Buddhist Centre in June with a feature story focused around a comprehensive history of the Triratna Movement in North America. That's just one of many great pieces we have planned, so don't miss it!
We're also looking forward to making the best use we can out of what The Buddhist Centre has to offer a publication like ours. By having a presence here, we have the opportunity to bring regular content to you more often than every three months, we are able to engage with our readers through comments and feedback and discussion of topics, and we can also provide supplemental materials such as audio and video which will serve to enhance the articles in the publication. An exciting new frontier, to be sure! Like the Old West online, except with Buddhists instead of cowboys and goldpanners!
To view back issues of the Vajra Bell, please visit http://www.aryaloka.org/category/vajrabell/ where you can download a PDF version or view online the issue you're interested in.
We hope you'll visit us often! You can + Follow us and get the latest updates by clicking in the top left of this page. Leave your comments, start online discussions around our articles, and just generally enjoy yourselves in the new space!