Aryaloka News

Martha Stolzer of Portsmouth became a mitra this past week during Aryaloka’s Sangha Night. I was delighted to conduct the ceremony with Aryaloka’s and Martha’s friends and family present.

Martha has been coming around to Aryaloka for more than two decades. I first remember meeting her at a retreat with Maitreyabandhu in 2018. She came to Aryaloka seeking spiritual refuge from her life struggles, attending classes and retreats. At the start of the pandemic, she dived more deeply into the Dharma, attending Sangha Night regularly online. After attending a day on spiritual friendship and witnessing another mitra ceremony recently, she decided to declare her wish to live and practice Buddhism as part of our Sangha. 

Please join me in welcoming our newest mitra. You can reach her at mgstolzer@gmail.com, 

With metta and mudita,
Saddhavasini

Dayalocana first came to Aryaloka Buddhist Center (ABC) in January 1989 through a class on meditation and Buddhism taught in Concord, New Hampshire, by Manjuvajra, an Order Member of the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (the FWBO), which was the predecessor of the Triratna Buddhist Community (the TBC).  Manjuvajra invited the class to attend a day retreat on Padmasambhava at ABC, and Dayalocana has been attending ABC events ever since.

Dianne Wright always had been curious about Buddhism but, until 2010, had read only a few Buddhist authors.  She began a mindfulness class that year at a local church, and her nascent interest in meditation brought her to Aryaloka Buddhist Center (ABC) for a five-week introductory meditation class.  At that juncture, her interest in the Dharma had been kindled.  She began attending Tuesday Friends’ Evenings each week and, a few years later, became a Triratna Mitra.

Teal Furnholm, sangha member and mitra sister, passed away very peacefully at her home on June 27, 2022. She had lived through cancer more than a decade ago, but it returned in recent years and finally got the better of her. 

Teal began practicing with the Aryaloka Triratna Buddhist community while she was in graduate school at UNH, in approximately 2010. After receiving her PhD. in Molecular Biology she moved to California for several years. While there Teal continued to practice. She posted often on Triratna and Aryaloka facebook pages and always felt part of the sangha.  In 2019 Teal moved back to the east coast. Her cancer had returned and she needed to be near Boston for treatment. During these last years she lived with close friends in Rehoboth, Massachusetts. It was these friends who cared for her to the end.