When a person first attends a triratna centre they are considered a ‘friend’. They may take part in all the public activities of the centre, including meditation classes and courses, classes devoted to Buddhist study and practice, festivals, events, and so on. There is no obligation or pressure to take their involvement further, and some people remain as friends – attending a centre and going on retreat on an ad hoc basis – for many years. However, as someone’s practice of the Dharma deepens, and their connections strengthen, it is possible to formalize this involvement with the work of the Order by becoming a Mitra.
‘Mitra’ is the Sanskrit word for friend. A Mitra is someone who wants to practice Buddhism seriously according to the triratna approach, and intends to do so for the foreseeable future.
Together, Order members and Mitras make up the core of the sangha, or spiritual community, around a triratna centre.
Dale Jackson
My Mitra ceremony took place at the West London Buddhist Centre, UK in 1995.
Sandy Currie
My Mitra ceremony took place in Vancouver in 1997
Larry Birckhead
I became a Mitra with the support and guidance of the Tri-Cities, Washington sangha in October of 2000.
Before and since, it’s been all about breathing daily life into the precepts.
Mattie Walker
Melissa Kingston
Originally from Toronto, I became a Mitra in the spring of 2005 on retreat at Sun Lakes in Washington State making a commitment to practicing and acknowledging that I am a Buddhist.
My passions are novel writing and music
Anne Lavergne
Mike Leznoff
I became a mitra on January 18th 2007 at the Vancouver Buddhist Centre and am grateful to the people there for their continued friendship and effort in supporting the flourishing of wisdom, compassion and transformation in such a gentle, wily and fun way!
Martha Lewis
I became a mitra in May 2009 at the Sea-to-Sky retreat centre near Whistler. I am happy to be learning more about Buddhism and the TBC.
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Lynne Quarmby
My mitra ceremony took place October 24th 2009 at the Vancouver Buddhist Centre. This ceremony marked my dawning awareness that the TBC is an excellent context for a vigorously rigorous agnostic scientist to learn and practice the dharma, with an eye to growing wisdom and compassion. Here my Buddhist aspirations can be wholly integrated with a scientific view of the world.
