The essence of Buddhism is unchanging and not tied to any particular culture or time.  But the expressions of basic Buddhist truths have always adapted to the conditions of the cultural situation.  That is why, over the millennia, the Buddhist tradition has produced a colorful and diverse landscape of different traditions and schools.

The Triratna Buddhist Community is one of the youngest traditions. It was founded in England in 1967 by Urgyen Sangharakshita to offer Buddhist teachings in a form that was accessible and practical for modern times. Over more than 50 years, a global Buddhist community has developed from its tentative beginnings, to provide a clear practice system and a wealth of supportive resources.

Until 2010, Triratna was known as the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (fwbo) – because our community was founded in the West with the express aim of bringing Buddhist teachings closer to people in the West. Over the course of five decades, this approach has also proven successful in other parts of the world – for example, a large part of the Triratna Community has developed in India.

On this website you can find out a lot more about us: e.g. which practices we teach and where we fit into the Buddhist tradition.

The book: The Triratna Story. Behind the scenes of a new Buddhist movement offers a good introduction to the Triratna community. It presents the origin story of Triratna and tells of bold dreams and hard work, of idealism and naivety, of growth and growing pains, of commitment and burnout, of friendship and conflict. It is an appreciation of all that has been achieved but also an honest reflection on past mistakes.