The Triratna Story by Vajragupta

The Indian Dhamma Revolution of thousands of pounds for welfare projects in India. Secondly, the appeals can be life-changers for those who take part in them.

Knocking on a stranger’s door in a strange city and asking for money can seem a terrifying prospect, but the appeals are skilfully designed to give participants the training and support – all within a context of Buddhist practice – in how to communicate confidently and from the heart.49 In 1981, the first appeals made about £35,000. By the mid to late 1980s, they were raising over a quarter of a million pounds each year.50 Today, the charity’s income is nearer £1.5 million.51 In the 1990s, Karuna started to receive grants from UK charity trusts and government development agencies, although donations from individuals and door-knocking appeals still account for 70% of their income. While it is still the major funder of TBMSG projects in India, the charity has also broadened out its remit. It now funds other Dalit-led projects, as well as working with other similarly marginalized communities in countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, and Tibet.

This financial relationship between a UK charity and an inexperienced Indian Buddhist organization hasn’t always been easy.

On the one hand, Karuna has obligations to its donors. Equally, under charity law, it must clearly account for the money it spends.

On the other hand, the Indian movement is still financially dependent on the West; especially in the early days, its people were unused to running projects with big budgets. There is plenty of room here for tension and misunderstanding, and the territory has had to be negotiated through much sensitivity and discussion. n It is not possible to do justice in this one chapter to the work in India: the health and education facilities; the women’s projects; 47