Sangharakshita, born Dennis Lingwood and founder of the Triratna Buddhist Order, has died

The well-known Buddhist teacher passed away on 30 October 2018 (aged 93) Hereford, Herefordshire, England, U.K.

The website dedicated to his life and teachings announced today:

With great sadness we inform you of the passing away of Urgyen Sangharakshita, today, 30th October 2018, at approximately 10 am in Hereford Hospital. He had been diagnosed with pneumonia and this morning the consultant said that he also had sepsis, from which recovery was not possible.

Please join with us as we direct our metta towards Bhante, recollecting his wonderful qualities and remembering with gratitude all that he has given to so many of us. Local Centres around the world may be holding daily meditations and pujas and you may wish to arrange additional activities in your communities and homes.

Also posted on the site under the banner of Sangharaksita Memorial Information include:

Sangharakshita Memorial Space

Vigil and Funeral Arrangements

Remembering Bhante – Come and see what people are contributing and share your own thoughts

Lingwood, or Sangharakshita (26 August 1925 – 30 October 2018), was a British Buddhist teacher and prolific writer, who traveled to India after World War II and there studied with a number of different Buddhist teachers. In 1967 he founded the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order in England, which would grow into a global movement in the decades that followed. As Robert Bluck, author of British Buddhism, writes:

Sangharakshita’s immediate decision to start ‘a new Buddhist movement’ was supported by Dhardo Rinpoche and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, according to Subhuti (1995a: 108–9): returning to England free from official British Buddhism and ‘the petty restrictions of monastic formalism’, he grew his hair long and wore robes only for formal occasions. The FWBO began in London in 1967 with weekly public meditation classes and study groups for more committed members, 12 of whom were ordained into a new ‘Western Buddhist Order’ (WBO) by Sangharakshita in 1968 (Subhuti, 1988: 31).

He also prefaces his chapter on the WBO/TBO, saying of Sangharakshita’s movement that “It is an unusual movement which, like SGI-UK and the NKT, is often seen as controversial, and again it is important to steer a middle course between promotion and prejudice here.”

Martin Seager writes in Buddhism in America of Sangharakshita:

A British teacher, Sangharakshita, the founder of Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO), has developed a nonsectarian form of the dharma on a more systematic basis. FWBO is among the most important Buddhist movements in the United Kingdom and Australia, but it also has centers in Europe and in the United States in Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, Montana, New Hampshire, and Maine. Sangharakshita founded the FWBO in 1967 after returning from a lengthy sojourn in Asia. His goal was to establish a new Buddhist path suited to the needs of western Buddhists, drawing inspiration from traditions across Asia. FWBO practice currently includes elements drawn from Zen and vipassana meditation, Tibetan-style visualizations, and physical disciplines such as yoga, ta’i chi, and massage therapy.

The Wikipedia article on Sangharakshita notes that “In 1997, Sangharakshita became the focus for controversy when The Guardian newspaper published complaints concerning some of his sexual relationships with FWBO members during the 1970s and 1980s.[41] For a decade following these public revelations, he declined to give any response to concerns from within the movement that he had misused his position as a Buddhist teacher to sexually exploit young men. He later addressed the controversy, stressing that his sexual partners were, or appeared to be, willing, and expressed regret for any mistakes.”

Indeed, worries about sexual abuse continued on in the order as recently as last year as evidenced in this Guardian article.

Sangharakshita at Buddhafield, by Akuppa John Wigham (2007) Via Flickr C.C.

The article on sangharakshita.org, written by a student and Order member, Dharmacari Vishvapani, concludes:

The Buddhist movement Sangharakshita founded will outlive him. Its history is just beginning, and its members envisage that it will grow into a truly distinctive Buddhist school founded upon his particular presentation of the Buddha’s teaching and understanding of Buddhist practice. Sangharakshita’s body of writing – over 50 titles – has a literary breadth and depth unmatched in other writings on Buddhism, in addition to its merits in communicating Buddhist teachings. In India, Sangharakshita is widely seen as a key figure in the revival of Buddhism and the liberation of millions of people from the oppressive caste system.

More broadly, in the course of more than 70 years Sangharakshita threw himself into the task of enabling Buddhism’s transition from traditional Asian societies to the very different conditions of the modern world. His aim was to renew Buddhism by focusing on the essential teachings at the heart of the tradition and retaining its profundity as a sacred path. Through his practice, his writing and the community he founded, Sangharakshita revivified Buddhism’s spirit of friendship, commitment and depth.

Sangharakshita’s grieving disciples and friends rejoice in his merits and offer him their heartfelt gratitude for everything he has given them, and their determination to continue the work he began.

[This is a developing story; check back for further details]

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