edinburgh buddhist centre

Over the last thirty years the FWBO has grown to be one of the largest Buddhist movements in the West, with centres and activities in many cities around the world.

The FWBO was founded in 1967 by Sangharakshita, a remarkable Englishman who spent sixteen years as a Buddhist monk in the East. Having returned to England in the mid-1960s he saw the need for a new Buddhist movement that was faithful to the values and teachings of the Buddhist tradition and was relevant to the conditions of the modern world. This meant avoiding the twin dangers of transplantation and adaptation. Sangharakshita believed it would be a mistake to attempt to practise a form of Buddhism already in existence in Asia in the very different conditions in which he now found himself.. At the same time he also did not want to water Buddhism down to suit modern tastes. Instead he attempted to base the new movement on the core teachings that underlie all of the schools of Buddhism, and to apply the principles deriving from them in the modern world. The fwbo site has the full story on Sangharakshita and the movement.


			Friends of the Western Buddhist Order The forms in which Buddhist truths are expressed always adapt according to circumstances. But the essence of Buddhism transcends culture and conditions. Now that Buddhism has come to the West, westerners are faced with the task of creating new and viable Buddhist traditions for the modern world.



	Over the last thirty years the FWBO has grown to be one of the largest Buddhist movements in the West, with centres and activities in many cities around the world. The FWBO was founded in 1967 by Sangharakshita, a remarkable Englishman who spent sixteen years as a Buddhist monk in the East. Having returned to England in the mid-1960s he saw the need for a new Buddhist movement that was faithful to the values and teachings of the Buddhist tradition and was relevant to the conditions of the modern world. This meant avoiding the twin dangers of transplantation and adaptation. Sangharakshita believed it would be a mistake to attempt to practise a form of Buddhism already in existence in Asia in the very different conditions in which he now found himself.. At the same time he also did not want to water Buddhism down to suit modern tastes. Instead he attempted to base the new movement on the core teachings that underlie all of the schools of Buddhism, and to apply the principles deriving from them in the modern world. The fwbo site has the full story on Sangharakshita and the movement.