Young Buddhists flourish in Melbourne

More and more Triratna Buddhist centres in the UK have groups catering specifically for the younger Sangha members - under 35 or even under 30. Now Jodie Dempster writes from Triratna’s Melbourne sangha with news of a similar initiative ‘down under’. She says -

“Just wanted to let you know that our young Dharma activities are going very well here in Melbourne. Last month we ran a practice day, with 16 people attending - some for the first time. Most are in their 20's; a few in their early 30's. Manjusiddha and Shantidevi came as honorary youngish order members to help lead meditations and a puja, helping Shane and I run the day. There is a lot of energy and enthusiasm coming from the youth group and I find it personally very supportive too.

“In 2010 the Melbourne Buddhist Centre started offering activities specifically ran by young people for young people. We called the new venture the Young Dharma Discussion Group (YDDG). In recent years the number of young people coming to the centre has gone up considerably, but not many continued coming along regularly so we started to wonder if there might be better ways to engage young people.

“We decided to offer informal, varied, fun, inexpensive sessions for people aged 18 to 30 who are exploring similar questions and experiences. A few curious people well into their 40’s asked to join us, arguing that they are so young at heart! We will continue to meet new people and catch up with old friends, practice meditation together, discuss the difficult questions in life, share meals and hopefully inspire each other to live as fully and creatively as we possibly can.

Jodie and Shane (Melbourne, Australia)

Triratna's Melbourne Buddhist Centre

More generally, in Triratna there’s a Facebook group for ‘Young People in the Triratna Buddhist Community’, which carries news of events specially for younger practitioners.

Coming up soon in the UK is “The New Society in Principle and Practice” and, in October, the large Annual Young Buddhists Retreat where up to 100 young Buddhists will be gathering for a weekend of practice, inspiration and fun.