Vajrajyoti and Bhadrakari

Vajrajyoti has been actively involved in the Auckland Buddhist Centre since she moved to Auckland in 2000 from a women's retreat centre in Wales. As the chair of the Auckland Buddhist Centre, Vajrayjoti is committed to helping create a vibrant, lively spiritual community in which we together deepen our wisdom and compassion. She's involved in facilitating study groups, leading retreats and generally helping people connect with each other and with the dharma. Vajrajyoti is also a psychotherapist, working with people experiencing struggles around gender and sexuality, the effects of trauma, addictions, grief and loss, depression, and many of the other challenges that life throws at us. She draws on psychodynamic psychotherapy and mindfulness-based approaches, endeavouring to stay true to the Buddha's teaching that life inevitably involves suffering but all human beings have the capacity to grow and develop.

Bhadrakari was born in 1946 and left home at 21 on a quest to find a deeper meaning to life. After much travelling and living and practicing with many different spiritual disciplines she came upon the Triratna Community in 1998 after one of her sons died in a car accident.

She has four living children and a few grandchildren. She was ordained in Spain in 2012, is very committed to the path of purification and has a passion for inspiring people to practise. She is involved in a variety of activities at the centre including the Tuesday morning Dharma discussion group and teaching daytime meditation classes.