Hello there! I'm Natalia, a mitra training for ordination, based at Taraloka. To raise money for Tiratanaloka Unlimited, I'm going to do 108 pujas... one each week, over the course of just about two years. After each puja, I'll upload a photo of the shrine and an audio recording of the mantra to my blog, here: https://108pujas.wordpress.com/

I've been training for ordination since 2017, but the thought of asking for ordination came to me much earlier, when I heard a woman give a talk at the London Buddhist Centre. By-the-by, she mentioned that she used to live at a retreat centre, where she helped women to get ready for ordination. Just to know that such a place existed planted the seed of inspiration for me. There's a place where women train for ordination! There's a place where I could train for ordination! 

Over the years since I began that journey, Tiratanaloka has been a place where I’ve been both deeply challenged and met with encouragement every step of the way. I am one of many women in training, and yet I have always felt that someone there has time for me - which is truly remarkable, considering how hard they work! I want as many women as possible to have the opportunity of training for ordination... and I want the team helping them train to be amply supported in the phenomenal work they do!

When Tiratanaloka was bought in 1994, there were fewer than 100 women in Triratna Buddhist Order. Thanks to the tireless efforts of the women who live and work there, women like myself now have the conditions to take their practice deeper, and over the past 28 years, Tiratanaloka have trained hundreds of women to the point of ordination, through friendship, Dharma study and Buddhist practice.

Due to the great success of Tiratanaloka's efforts, it is becoming increasingly difficult to get a space on ordination training retreats. A retreat I was trying to book onto this year filled up within hours - by 4pm on the day bookings opened, I found myself sixth on the waiting list. Moreover, the task of keeping in contact with all of these women, as well as leading retreats and running a retreat centre is simply too much for the small team they have. In addition to needing a bigger space to accommodate the many women who want to train for ordination, Tiratanaloka need the space to develop a support team.

A search is already underway for an appropriate space. In the meantime, I want to do what I can to help them get the funds they need to flourish!

May the merits gained from this practice benefit all beings.