German tour raises 1,000€ for Bodh Gaya centre development

Sraddhabandhu writes from Dusseldorf with news of the very successful collaboration between Triratna centres in Germany and our small outpost in Bodh Gaya, in far north-eastern India but the place of the Buddha’s Enlightenment and as such a central place in the Buddhist world.

He says - "When I was a the 2009 International Order Convention in Bodh Gaya, I learned (among many things) about our plans to have a centre there. This struck me as amazingly sensible, because so many schools of Buddhism have a temple, a centre or a school in Bodh Gaya, the most holy place for pilgrims. So why not us?

“During the Convention Amitashuri, a Dharmacharini from the UK, gave a presentation, distributed leaflets about the land we have there and Bhante’s vision for it. She was also available for all sorts of questions. I have met her before, when she was in Germany, so l asked her if she was willing to do another tour in Germany, this time to present the Bodh Gaya centre project.

“We didn’t know then that the very next day Bhante was to going to give the Centre the name The Three Jewels Centre through a video message broadcast from the UK.

“I translated the leaflet, began organizing her trip to Germany (we had a few phone calls and more communication on Facebook), and suddenly there she was: giving talks in Berlin, Düsseldorf and Essen between 17^th and 24^th May, all of which were very well received.

“And as a result, Buddha e.V., the charity which hosts the activities of Triratna Düsseldorf, was able to give her no less than 1,000€ (£870 pounds sterling or 63,000 Rupees) for the development of the Centre in Bodh Gaya.”

You can read more about the vision for the land and new Centre on its website www.threejewelscentre.org. There is also a page for online donations at www.justgiving.com/bodhgayaproject