The Bristol Buddhist Centre is part of an international Buddhist movement called the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO) with centres all around the world. It is known in India as Trailokya Bauddha Mahasangha Sahayak Gana (TBMSG).

The FWBO was founded by Sangharakshita in 1967 and the first ordinations into the Western Buddhist Order itself took place a year later in 1968. It is a new Buddhist movement that aims to make the traditional teachings and practices of Buddhism relevant to people living in the modern West.

We teach the traditional three fold way of Buddhism i.e. we encourage people to live an ethical life based on the five Buddhist precepts ; we practice meditation to develop greater awareness and emotional positivity; and we study, reflect upon, and attempt to realise the Buddhist Teachings on the nature of reality.

Members of the Western Buddhist Order are ordained as Buddhists and Dharma-followers but do not take a monastic ordination or wear robes. Friends are those people who attend FWBO centres and wish to benefit from the practices, teachings and community on offer.

Sangharakshita has described six distinctive features of the FWBO

1. It is ecumenical, drawing its teachings from all schools of Buddhism.
2. It is a unified movement in the sense of being open to all, regardless of nationality, background, race, or gender. It is also unified in the sense that men and women are ordained on an equal footing.
3. The act of Going for Refuge to the Three Jewels (of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha) is considered central to the life of a Buddhist.
4. Spiritual friendship between peers and between teachers and students is encouraged, both as an essential support to spiritual life but also as a means of overcoming selfishness and self-preoccupation.
5. Team-based right livelihood is practised as a way of integrating Buddhist practice with the realities of economic life. It also provides an important supportive context for Buddhist practice.
6. The practice and appreciation of the arts are seen as an important way to develop higher states of consciousness, alongside the more traditional methods of meditation, ritual etc.

Click here to read more about these Six Distintive Emphases of the FWBO or about The Five Pillars of the FWBO.

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