The International Council:
Past, Present and Future

On this ten-day meeting, we began each morning session with a talk on one of the stages of the sevenfold puja (see below) followed by discussion in mixed groups of people from around the world – it set a suitable Dharmic context for all the other discussions we had.

Dhammarati set the context of our work by describing the founding of the International Council, exploring its principles, goals, and early work. Here’s a brief part of the introduction here (about 7 minutes), and below you can watch the whole of this important overview.

This was followed by a brief questions and answer session, for which Dhammarati was joined by Parami and Mahamati, who were International Order Convenors at the time of the founding, and have been involved since. Mahamati, as Chair of the College of Public Preceptors, is current Chair of the International Council. Parami is a member of the International Council Steering Group (ICSG), and until recently was part of the Area Council for Latin America. We then introduced the current members of the ICSG, who also answered questions.

Other sessions during the meeting included a preview of the forthcoming Triratna.org website, and an explanation of the thinking behind it by Vishvapani

Dhammamegha explained what she’s been learning through the economic review of Triratna that she is conducting on behalf of the International Council, Future Dharma and the European Chairs Assembly.

Jnanadhara encouraged us to think about the importance of the apparently simple ritual of saluting the three jewels, and how we might start a conversation about commonality and innovation in puja and ritual.

We discussed how we might review this year’s shared global theme of the Four Gifts, and began some conversations about possible future shared themes, and if we decide to have more, what we can do to make sure they work well.

We also spent plenty of time in our strands (College members, Order Convenors & Movement members), to connect across the regions, learn about each other, and explore shared issues.

While a few people chose to have a quiet day at Adhisthana, most of us enjoyed a delightful day-trip to the very inspiring and ambitious Alfoxton House project, where a semi-derelict property from 1710 is being converted into a Triratna retreat centre [link]

We enjoyed a presentation about Triratna in India, and a cultural evening of performance, music and poetry from around the world.

Perhaps most importantly for the future of the International Council, we put quite a lot of time and thought into our Area Councils: how we can make them more effective, and what the next steps are for each individual Area Council.

Here is Dhammarati’s presentation on the founding and history of the International Council in full.

We believe that it is very important that all those involved in the International Council understand its underlying principles, and why it and the Area Councils are designed the way that they are, so that together we can build on those principles to give Triratna the support that it needs today. We would also like far more people to be aware of the Area and International Councils, and the role that they play in helping Triratna.

The Seven-fold Puja

Short talks to stimulate discussion on one of our most important rituals.