Conference 24-26 September 2021

Akasharaja, Shrewsbury, UK

Akasharaja was ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order in 2001 and lives with his family in Shrewsbury, UK. He is active at his local centre as well as being a very occasional local radio pundit. He was instrumental in setting up Extinction Rebellion in Shrewsbury in 2018 and wants his and all other children to inherit a viable world.

Amalaketu, Colchester, UK

Amalaketu is past chair for Colchester Buddhist Centre and has initiated and now oversees the Sustainable Buddhist Centre Certification Scheme. He is a Chartered Engineer and Environmentalist and a specialist in low and zero carbon buildings, having won multiple awards for his work.

Maitridevi, Shropshire, UK

Maitridevi is chair of Taraloka Buddhist retreat centre for women in Shropshire, UK. Steeped in her love of both the natural world and the Dharma, Maitridevi has recorded 38 'nature-thought-for-the-day' reflections and short meditations, connecting us with  the burgeoning environment at Taraloka.

Tejopala, Melbourne, Australia

Tejopala is a member of the Triratna Buddhist Order living in Melbourne. He works organising multi-faith climate campaigns for the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC) and is helping to coordinate the upcoming GreenFaith International Day of Action on October 17 and 18, 2021. He also performs stand-up comedy about the climate and Dharma practice.

Dhammachari Amrutasiddhi, India

is 58 years old and was ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order on 4 th August 1991. One of the pioneers of Triratna Nagpur. From 1999 to 2004 he was the Chairperson for BH Social projects funded by Karuna Trust UK. 2010 - 2020 Chairperson for one TBM center in North - East Nagpur.  He has worked in different communities like Ravidasi, Satnami and Matang in Chhatisgarh, Punjab, Maharashtra and is currently working as a Movement Coordinator India, Secretary to Chairman's Assembly India, Member of Area Council, International Council, Steering Group.

Viryanaya, Worcester, UK

After many years of teaching Philosophy and Critical Thinking as well as leading Dharma study and retreats, Viryanaya now enjoys combining them and running workshops on Critical Thinking as a Spiritual Practice, at Adhisthana and other retreat centres. She also works for Buddhafield, a collaboration of Buddhists involved with Triratna, who run camping retreats as well as a festival and a café. Buddhafield is committed to ecological awareness and practising in nature.

Parami, Glasgow, Scotland, UK

In 1977, as a young activist in her native Glasgow, Scotland, disillusioned with politics but looking for a way to change the world, Parami began to practice Buddhism with Triratna (then the FWBO). In 1978 she moved to London to deepen her engagement with the Dharma and the Triratna community and was ordained in 1980. In 1992, Parami moved to Spain and since then has been involved with Triratna in the Spanish speaking world. Over the years she has held a number of responsibilities within Triratna, most recently as one of the International Order Convenors.   Parami is one of the seniormost Order members in the Triratna Buddhist Community. She is a wise and humorous teacher, devoted and irreverent, extravert and thoughtful - a unique and inspiring guide with a great Scottish accent! Parami is also a Public Preceptor, holding responsibility for all ordinations around the world. These responsibilities have meant that she has had the opportunity to experience Triratna within a variety of cultural contexts, something which she really values. Living again in Glasgow, she is enjoying involvement in various social action projects. She manages to carry out all these roles in the most personable way imaginable - we think you’ll enjoy hearing her take on things.

Bhikkhu Anālayo 

is a faculty member at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies and a professor at the Numata Center for Buddhist Studies at the University of Hamburg. Find out more about his research and activities, including courses, by going to his profile at the Barre Centre: https://www.buddhistinquiry.org/teacher/bhikkhu-analayo/ Bhikkhu Anālayo completed a PhD on the Satipatthana-sutta at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, in 2000, published in 2003 by Windhorse Publications under the title Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization: https://www.windhorsepublications.com/product/satipatthana-the-direct-path-to-realization/  View a full list of his publications here: https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/en/personen/analayo.html 

Smritiratna, Dhanakosa, Scotland, UK

Smritiratna lives in a woodland cabin near Dhanakosa where he sometimes leads retreats. He studied Anālayo’s book on Satipatthana 18 years ago when he first went to live in the woods - studying, reflecting and meditating. Recently he’s led retreats called “Appreciative Mindfulness in Troubled Times” and “Active Hope for Humanity” where he draws on mindfulness training and the work of Joanna Macy to help folk face the dangers of this planet time with a steady courage and creativity. So having just read Anālayo’s book “Mindfully Facing Climate Change” he has been looking forward to meeting the author.

Christine Thuring, Vancouver, Canada

 is a Mitra in training for ordination at the Vancouver Buddhist Centre who first came to Triratna in 2010 while living in Sheffield. She is a plant ecologist specialised in green infrastructure and sustainable landscape design. Since 2016, she is an Ecosattva-in-Training through One Earth Sangha. In the last year, she has been actively blocking a tar sands pipeline and defending indigenous sovereignty via Protect the Planet Stop TMX. One of her Dharmic ninja adventures is captured in an essay for XR Buddhists: "Dharma Warrior Training: Practice at the Front Lines" (http://xrbuddhists.com/2021/01/07/dharma-warrior-training-practice-at-the-front-lines/)

Angela  Lombardi, Glasgow, Scotland, UK

has been a practising Buddhist in the Triratna Glasgow sangha since 2006, long committed to personal eco-responsibility but only recently galvanised by COP26 into collective activism with other climate-concerned people of faith and none. She is in the ordination process, supports classes, and is co-mandate-holder of the GBC Social Action Kula. She is also involved with care standards, community development, and arts for mental health, and 'publishes' as a 'book' of the international Human Library project.

Ethan Davidson, USA

is a TFO Mitra who has been involved with the Triratna sangha for twenty years. His activism began in 1977 when he was 24, and continued up to the present time. He has been involved with many different issues, including environmental ones. Those issues have included keeping Northern California from being deforested, shutting down the Nevada nuclear test site, helping Navajo in Arizona combat the Peabody Coal Company, ending fracking. and tar sand pipelines, and combatting environmental racism and classism in San Francisco. He has worked with Earth First!, Food Not Bombs, Occupy San Francisco, Occupy Climate Action group, Occupy Forum, and the Triratna Green Sangha, among other groups. He is very much interested in the ways that environmental activism and Buddhism can be combined in the west, as it has been in Thailand, Burma, and other parts of Asia. 

David Loy, USA

is a (retired) professor of comparative philosophy and religion, a writer, and a teacher in the Sanbo Zen tradition of Japanese Zen Buddhism. His most recent book is Ecodharma: Buddhist teachings for the ecological crisis. He is also co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center in Colorado, USA. See:  https://www.davidloy.org and https://rmerc.org In addition to teaching at the Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center and working with a few private students, he offers workshops and retreats, online and in person, mostly on ecodharma and other aspects of socially engaged Buddhism.

Shantigarbha, Bristol, UK

 is a Buddhist activist, mediator, and lover of life. He's author of The Burning House: A Buddhist Response to the Climate and Ecological Emergency - Windhorse Publications. He is a member of the Triratna International Council, a Regional Order Convenor, a member of the Restorative Coordinating Group, Nonviolent Communication (NVC) trainer and partner to Gesine. They live in Bristol, UK.

Dhivan, Chester, UK 

is a Buddhist practitioner, member of the Triratna Buddhist Order, and scholar based in Chester in the UK. He teaches philosophy and Indian religions at the University of Chester.

Rodashruti, San Francisco, USA

 is inspired by engaged Buddhism, and the balancing influence of meditation and study on action. She lives in San Francisco, has been active in various political movements, and is a founding member of San Francisco Buddhist Center's Green Sangha. She works at the UCSF Center for HIV Information, writes in several genres, and produces independent radio and podcasts. She is Arab- (Syrian) and Irish-American.

Amaragita, Buddhafield, UK

Amaragita's passions are meditation and creating spaces for deep inquiry and celebration of the human condition. She has engaged in actions with Extinction Rebellion and is keen to strengthen and deepen her Eco-sattva spirit. She is currently chair of Buddhafield and has been a member of the Triratna Buddhist Order for 21 years.

Diana Ellis, Glasgow, Scotland, UK

is a passionate climate and human rights activist training for ordination, and co-mandate holder for Glasgow Buddhist Centre's Social Action Kula .  She works in Global Citizenship Education in the West of Scotland, supporting educators to enable young people and communities to take action on issues they care about.  At the moment she is steeped in projects with schools in the run up to COP 26.  She is lead author of a new resource for teachers Climate Justice: A Human Rights Approach and has collaborated on climate and divestment actions with the Glasgow group of Global Justice Now for over 10 years.

Katja Behrendts, London, UK

trained as a doctor and is currently working in the NHS on health and climate change. She is involved in the North London Buddhist sangha and one of the co-ordinators of Extinction Rebellion Buddhists. 

Kaspa , Malvern, UK

is a Buddhist Teacher and psychotherapist, together with his wife Satya he runs the Bright Earth Buddhist Temple in Malvern. He is one of the co-ordinators of Extinction Rebellion Buddhists.