OUR COMMUNITY
The Triratna Buddhist Community is an international Buddhist movement founded as the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order in 1967 by Sangharakshita, an Englishman, who was ordained as a Buddhist monk in India in 1950, at the age of 25. He lived for many years in Kalimpong, north-eastern India, where he studied with teachers from several of the major Buddhist traditions, including leading Tibetan lamas. During this period, Sangharakshita became well known for a non-sectarian approach that drew on the whole Buddhist tradition.
The Triratna Buddhist Community considers itself a genuine Buddhist movement, which accepts the Buddhist tradition as a whole as its primary source of guidance, inspiration and instruction. In harmony with other Buddhists, Triratna practitioners simply aim to practice and make available the Buddha's teaching in ways that are relevant and accessible today.
Triratna means The Three Jewels, and Sangharakshita emphasizes that the Buddhist tradition is united by the defining act of Going for Refuge to the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. This is the central principle or orientation of the Triratna Buddhist Community, and all our activities are understood in relation to it. At our Buddhist Centers we teach meditation, study the Buddha's teaching together, engage with the Arts, support each other through life, and engage in our local communities. We also promote projects in which Buddhists can live and work together, and explore how to turn our work into a spiritual practice.
To read more about our movement's history, and it's founder Sangharakshita, with photo galleries, timelines, and more, visit the 'who we are' tab on thebuddhistcenter.com