FWBO

Since 1967 the FWBO (Friends of the Western Buddhist Order) has been introducing the teaching and practice of Buddhism in a way that is particularly suited to people living in the modern world. Over this time the FWBO has grown to be a rich and widespread Buddhist movement, a flavour of this can be seen at the FWBO news site and also the FWBO People website.

The FWBO was founded in by Sangharakshita. He is an Englishman who spent twenty years in India living as a Buddhist. There he studied and practised with teachers from all the main schools of Buddhism. Through this he developed a broad perspective of Buddhism as a whole. When he returned to the UK in 1966 this perspective enabled him to develop a new approach to Buddhism drawing on both the diversity and the unity of the different schools and teachings.

The FWBO has a great deal in common with the rest of the Buddhist world – both past and present. It shares with them the basic teachings such as the Four Noble Truths, The Noble Eightfold Path, Conditioned co-production, the Six Paramitas. The FWBO, like other schools of Buddhism teaches the threefold path of Ethics, Meditation and Wisdom. At the same time, it has its own distinctive features that differentiate the FWBO from other Buddhist Movements (for more details see the six distinctive emphases of the FWBO by Sangharakshita).

• 1. The FWBO is an Ecumenical Buddhist movement. It does not identify itself exclusively with any one Eastern Buddhist Traditions. The FWBO is not Theravada, Mahayana, Tibetan, or Zen but instead describes its self simply as ‘Buddhist’. The FWBO draws upon the enormous wealth of the entire Buddhist tradition. It takes from the entire tradition all of those ideas, principles and practices that help people develop, in a way that is relevant in the context of Western cultural and social life.


• 2. The FWBO places great importance on ‘Going for Refuge to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha’ and sees these as being the central values. This is what all Buddhists have in common, in that they all recognise the Buddha as an Enlightened man, and that it is possible for anyone to attain what he attained. That the teachings of the Buddha, the Dharma, lead one to Enlightenment, one can become a Buddha. Also that there are other human beings, the Sangha, who have achieved this complete illumination and release from suffering.
  
  The FWBO teaches that ‘Going for Refuge is primary and central. And lifestyle is secondary.’ In the FWBO there is no tradition of monks and lay people which is commonly found in some other Buddhist traditions.


• 3. The FWBO is a unified Buddhist Order. This means that the FWBO is open on completely equal terms to both men and women. There are some Buddhist Orders which are not open to men and women in this way. The FWBO is also unified in that it is made up of people from all walks of life regardless of background, race or sexual orientation.


• 4. The FWBO emphasises Right Livelihood. This is a Buddhist principle whereby one should earn ones living in a manner that is in keeping with the basic precepts of Buddhism. In particular, the FWBO emphasises ‘Team-Based Right Livelihood’. This is where a group of Buddhists come together and form a business or organisation. TBRL’s provide support for individual Buddhists in a way that is ethical. They provide a framework where people in the FWBO can engage in work as spiritual practice. And any profit made goes back into the organisation for the purpose of sharing the teachings of Buddhism.


• 5. The FWBO see’s the spiritual value of the Arts. Properly approached, the Arts can lead to an expansion of consciousness, a state of heightened awareness and an understanding in which, ultimately, the limiting boundaries of ‘self’ no longer hold. Many FWBO centre’s and retreat centre’s offer courses and retreats based on exploring the ‘spiritual’in the Arts. The FWBO also has many members who are themselves, artists, musicians, writers, actors or performers.


• 6. The FWBO emphasises Spiritual Friendship. Indeed, the Buddha himself tells us that Spiritual Friendship ‘is the entire spiritual life’. The FWBO teaches that developing our relationships with other practicing Buddhists helps to develop an altruistic outlook that takes us beyond ourselves. This altruistic perspective is the basis for empathy and compassion which all Buddhists strive for.

Links to further information about the FWBO

Visit the main FWBO Web Site
Visit the TBMSG for info about the Indian equivalent of the FWBO
Visit the FWBO entry in the Wikipedia - a free online encyclopedia