FWBO Discussion

CHANGES IN THE FWBO

Nagabodhi
The FWBO — a Community in Transition An account of changes in the FWBO from an experienced Order member and Public Preceptor. For many years Nagabodhi edited the FWBO Newsletter and its successor Golden Drum.

Subhuti
Freedom in the Order Madhyamavani 7: Autumn 2002. Subhuti was appointed Chair of the Western Buddhist Order’s College of Public Preceptors after many years serving as Sangharakshita’s secretary. He is the author of Sangharakshita — a new voice in the Buddhist tradition, an excellent introduction to his teaching. Available here from Windhorse Publications.

The Future of the Order and Movement: Outlining changes in the structures of the WBO and FWBO (Madhyamavani 9, 2003)

http://www.madhyamavani.fwbo.org/6/lastword.html: An enquiry into ”authority“ in the Order (Spring 2002)

Vishvapani
Growing Pains: an inside view of change in the FWBO 2003–2005. June 2006. download pdf A detailed account of changes in the FWBO at a time he had a central organizing position. Vishvapani is a long-time commentator on the FWBO and was editor of the FWBO’s Dharma Life throughout its life. Looking for an Overview An interview with Dhammadassin about his perceptions of the FWBO in the UK. Madhamavani 10, 2004

Dhammadinna
“Sexual Evolution” First published in Dharma Life in 1998, this is a frank account recalling experiments in the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order around sex, celibacy and lifestyle, also discussing how its collective experience has matured.

Akasaraja
Seven Years experience of working at Windhorse Trading , ClearVision.
Their recent video, Who Are the FWBO? gives a good up-to-date snapshot of what FWBO Centres are typically like. Click to watch. It is hosted on the FWBO’s website www.videosangha.net.

Suryaprabha’s FWBO History videos are a moving four-DVD series tracing the history and struggles of the early FWBO. He describes them as “an unfolding saga during the 60s and 70s of the conception and early growth of the friends of the western buddhist order, told by the history makers themselves”. He adds “Here are all the challenges a Buddhist can expect to face in the modern world”. They are available from his website for UK 15 sterling each. Dharmadhara, an Order Member from New Zealand writes “I do believe what you are doing is vital for the evolving identity of the FWBO, as we try to understand who we are more fully. And newer people, which is coming to mean most people, can SEE and FEEL where we have come from, in a way that words can’t convey.” Part 5 is in preparation and expected sometime during 2007.

Dhammaketu
Dhammaketu, chairman of Ghent FWBO, offers his reflections on Sangharakshita and Croydon in his article Of the Shadows of the Past, and the Road That Goes on, first published in 2003 the Order’s journal Shabda. Some Reflections on Change contains Dhammaketu’s reflections on group tendencies within the FWBO and the need to address them as they arise.

Satyaloka
Satyaloka lives in Missoula, Montana, USA. For many years he was a Director of Windhorse Trading in the UK.

Some past problems with the F/WBO, their legacy and the need for change