Growing in Breadth, Depth,
& Unity

We are at a point in our lives where we feel it is important to invest for our future. We have given it a great deal of thought and have come to the conclusion that spreading the Dharma by donating to the Future Dharma Fund is the best investment in our and all beings future that we could possibly make.

At the Combined Convention I was inspired to recollect how much my life has changed since I started to practise at the London Buddhist Centre in 1988. I want us to be able to reach out to the many people who are searching for more positive ways to live their lives in our world. I know that the Dharma, our practice and our institutions can offer the most effective support. That is why I offer some of my savings to the Future Dharma Fund.

I'm giving to Future Dharma because it's time to get Triratna's finances onto a more regular and planned footing.

I'm giving to Future Dharma because awakening the heart is the only way humanity will survive, and survive beautifully.

I have encountered the beautiful exposition of the Dharma by Sangharakshita and an initial vision of what "The New Society" could be. It would be a negation of my sources of inspiration not to give monthly to Future Dharma.

I donated a small amount as I am keen to share the dharma with as many people as possible. I really appreciate the existing projects and personally benefit from the online activities like the Buddhist Centre Online and ClearVision Trust.

I’m on a support package and I was telling myself that the amount I could afford to give was too embarrassingly small. But then I just got over myself and realised there is power in numbers. I hope my tiny gift joins up with thousands more to make a gigantic amount of money for FutureDharma.

I strongly believe that the Dharma is the most valuable and precious thing in existence. I can think of no better use of my money than to help it to flourish in the world and in the lives of individual human beings.

I am inspired by the vision of Future Dharma to help a diversity of projects throughout the world - getting the money where it can be put to good use and used really effectively. Future Dharma make it easy to feel connected to exciting new projects, which I might not otherwise even know about. It's so inspiring to be able to help a little bit!

My will contains a legacy of 15% of its total to Future Dharma.   The word legacy means “a gift by will” or “something received from an ancestor or predecessor”.  Believing that the greatest gift is the Dharma and grateful for all I have received from Bhante and Triratna, I see a bequest to FutureDharma fund as a simple and effective way to help ensure the Buddha’s teachings remain available to all those who in the future will see us in Triratna as their Dharma ancestors and predecessors.

"I’m really pleased Future Dharma will be supporting developing online dharma. For those of us in the Southern Hemisphere it’s crucial. And the College and International Council – they must be funded – to support our International delegates to travel to the UK. It’s been the history of Triratna (and the FWBO) that we’ve done amazing things. But we haven’t really paid much attention to financial planning. We’ve bought properties and we’ve been very fortunate – they’ve grown in value. In a way Samsara has been with us. In the next 50 years we can’t expect it to be on our side. Now conscious planning is needed. I love the way that planning fits in with the dharma. One of the things I love about the dharma is that it’s so consciously worked out. My attitude to money is “live simply so others may simply live. I’ve been very fortunate. I see myself as a channel for the money I have – it’s just an energy flow."

I'm inspired by Future Dharma's vision of funding Triratna projects that will help to take the Dharma out into this mad, mad world. Sangharakshita and the movement he brought into being has brought some sanity and light into this world for nearly 50 years and it's inspiring to think it will be able to continue far, far, into the future.

The Dharma has been the greatest gift I have received; I know that sharing that gift is the very best thing I can do with my life.  I am delighted to have the opportunity to give in this simple way as well.

"I'm delighted to contribute to Future Dharma because I'm excited and inspired by its vision. I'm more and more convinced that Triratna communicates the transcendent values which the world desperately needs. We've been shining like a beacon in this troubled world for five decades – and doing that on a shoestring. I can see so much more potential which could be realised by proper funding, and I really want that to happen. Already I'm delighted to hear that Ratnaguna is going to be supported to teach order members to communicate the Dharma more effectively – it'd be such a waste of his Dharma knowledge and study-leading talents if he'd had to get a regular job. And it gives me a little glow of pleasure to know that my pledge helped to make that possible – so much better than money in the bank!"

"I have often said that I think tithing (giving 10% of your income) is far more viable to people who have more money than those on basic support level. Recently however I have managed to cut some of my costs and suddenly I seem to have more money than I thought - even though I am on support ! So I have had the pleasure to increase and set up new standing orders to Triratna projects (whilst keeping something back for higher pleasures!) so that my giving over the year is above 15%. So with the help of Ratnasambhava I have proved myself wrong! mmmmm....."

I give to Future Dharma because I would like to see more and more people meet the Dharma.

Finding the Dharma through the Colchester Buddhist Centre literally saved my life and gave me a vision and path that I hadn't even realised was possible.  I am who I am today only because of the generosity of friends and teachers who have given themselves to helping the Triratna community shine its light on the World.

"In my Will I have left my estate to Future Dharma, Berlin Buddhist Centre and Abhayaratna Trust. Why? Well, it's obvious! In my opinion Sangharakshita is a spiritual genius and a living Bodhisattva. So I’ve given my life's energy to this movement that he’s founded, and I want to give ‘energy’ to Triratna after I’ve died – in the form of money. I trust the spiritual and human integrity of Sangharakshita’s senior-most disciples, who decide FutureDharma’s project priorities. I know that when the time comes they will know what the movement and the world most need. I can feel the pull to give money to my nephews and nieces. It's not a bad impulse, but it's the pull of nature, not of the higher realm. I have explained my wishes to my brother and sister and they accept them completely."

I love projects that think big and are confident. Future Dharma does this and is a much needed space to integrate Triratna fundraising and reach out into the world to fund fantastic projects. I feel very grateful for all the work that has gone into establishing this fund.

The world urgently needs the Dharma.  As a movement we need to develop our capability to help people connect with the Dharma in a way that transforms lives.

The Dharma has changed my life so much in the past eight years and I want everyone to have the opportunity for such positive change in their lives. That's why I am delighted to support Future Dharma and all the projects and people who are helping to bring the Dharma to other people all over the world.

I'm giving to Future Dharma because it offers a way to contribute to spreading the Dharma that is not tied to any one, specific, time-bound project; it's able to respond flexibly. I have faith that, as priorities change, Triratna will respond creatively. We need funds to back up that response.

Just as one may delight in blowing the seed-head of a flower and seeing the seeds blow in all directions, so also by contributing to Future Dharma one may help plant seeds for present and future generations, so they too may be touched, helped and inspired by the values, principles and practices as expressed and communicated in the positive precepts, as well as exemplified in Punya, Samadhi and Prajna and ever expanding circles of wisdom and compassion, what better investment. Sabbe Sattha Sukhi Hontu...

Future Dharma is a great cause. I have a connection with both the Polish and the Ukrainian Sangha. It delights me when people strive to practise the Dharma in places where the conditions are harder than in the UK.

"As the central activity of my life is Going for Refuge, and I have by and large enough for my needs, it seems completely 'logical' to support this activity financially for the sake of myself and others. I reached my 55th birthday last year and collected my 'occupational' pension and together with other 'assured income' can now plan ahead into late middle age and beyond. This would seem to be the time to make decisions about how much I need to live on and how much I am able to give away. I am pledging to give 10% of my monthly income to Triratna charities. Half of this will go to FutureDharma Fund. There are many aspects of the FutureDharma Fund that are both exciting and inspiring, but for me it is the overarching sense of perpetuating the spread Bhante's elucidation of the Dharma geographically, into the future and into different areas of society that is most interesting. I would say to anyone thinking about it - if you can - give! I feel blessed to be able to do so. What an opportunity we all have!"

I was very inspired by the Mixed Convention. There's so much to do in the movement, and I think Future Dharma is a well managed way to enlarge and strengthen the movement for all. I'm excited about the energy and size of FutureDharma Fund's ambition. Giving to FutureDharma Fund is a valuable investment if you want the Dharma to reach many more people.

At the end of Bhante’s 1999 talk “Looking Ahead a Little Way” he says "I need hardly say how much the world needs the Dharma, needs such an Order, such a movement as ours.  I have done what I can. I have started the Order, started the movement.  The future of the Order, of the movement is in your hands.”  Listening to this invariably moves me to tears.  I feel we too have to look ahead beyond our own lifetimes to the potential of what the Order and movement can bring.  The seeds that we’re sowing now will bear fruit even if we don’t see it.  It’s the breadth of that vision that moves me so much.

I gave to Future Dharma because it gives a good return on my investment. Money well spent. Why? Because meeting the dharma in a form I could understand, in a sangha that I trust, transformed my life. I can't imagine a more satisfying way to spend money than to help others similarly transform their lives. 10% Giving cleared up a lot of problems in my relationship to money. The very same evening that I heard Amalavajra give a talk on the benefits of 10 % giving, I made my calculations and spread my 10% out over charities that reflected my concerns in the world. I immediately felt as if a weight had been lifted and that I was at last using my money inline with my deepest values. Since then I've felt I'm working not only for me and my family but for the wider world. As I have become more committed on the Buddhist path and seen first-hand how it effectively addresses the causes of suffering I have adjusted my giving to be more weighted toward dharmic projects. This reflects what I think will most positively effect the world.

Giving to Future Dharma feels 100% good. It makes development possible now and in the future.

I think this is a great way to make dharma more available and it's so inspiring!

I was moved by the vision of the FutureDharma Fund. I decided to give a single donation. I went through a sequence of thoughts: I named a sum beyond my normal giving; l thought of a lower amount and good reasons for offering less; and then I chose to give the original sum! I imagined all those very different people across the world - known and unknown - who would benefit from this fund. I imagined the consequences spreading and flowing beyond my lifetime. I imagined, I imagined ... and then I felt a simple wave of pure joy.

I want to give to the Future Dharma as I am inspired by the work that is already being funded as well as potential future projects. I find it exciting that Triratna is in a position to offer so much - Triratna has developed effective models for practising the Dharma in the modern world. It would be great if more people across the world were given the opportunity to engage with the movement - people from different countries and who speak different languages."

The talks and pledge opportunity at the mixed convention 2016 prompted me to give something to Future Dharma from an inheritance which was coming my way. I gave the donation as an expression of appreciation for and faith in those in the Preceptor's College and those involved in FutureDharma, and trust they will choose worthwhile and effective projects to support.

I would likely be wondering through life depressed and unfulfilled if I had not discovered the dharma, which resonated with what I knew intuitively to be true and able to provide a framework for living a well lived life. Not only that, I needed a clear and critical exposition of the dharma and a framework of friendship in which to convert an intellectual understanding to an emotional and volitional understanding of the dharma. Triratna has provided all of this.

The Dharma is my life, so passing that on through Future Dharma feels important. I also keep coming back to what the Buddha said about gifts: 'The gift of the Dharma excels all other gifts'. Following from that the second best gift must be to give to those who give the Dharma!

I donate to Future Dharma because I was raised to give to charity. This was the tradition in my family. I would like to leave a legacy that expresses my vision, knowing that my deed will bring happiness to others. I feel inspired when I give and I believe that other people will be inspired too. I have a strong connection with Triratna and now also with Future Dharma. I hope that my Dana practice will help to strengthen and secure the future of the Triratna Community.

"It seems to me that so many of us have money sat doing nothing with companies that are doing not very good things with it. I mean that money could be working for something we deeply believe in. Particularly when you have to work so hard to get any return on your money. It just seems ridiculous putting it in an account with virtually no interest when it can work for the Dharma. So long as the money is safe, I’m not even bothered about getting a return on it. I won’t miss the 1% or whatever I was getting on an ISA. You could just see this as Dana to the Movement. I’m happy to put my money behind this. It’s a no brainer really isn’t it? It’s a great time to do it. I think loads of people will get involved."