The Triratna Story - a History of our Movement

Since the 1960s, the Triratna Buddhist Community has grown like a great spreading tree, of which East Kent Buddhists can be seen as a little branch. Like all growing organisms, Triratna has seen successes and failures, times of strong growth and challenges, acclaim and accord as well as our share of controversy. This book describes Triratna’s growth, drawing together material from many sources into one narrative. A community needs to tell – and retell – its story in this way. It is one means by which a community learns about itself, and grows into the future.

The story is roughly in chronological order, though some of the middle chapters also jump back and forth in time in order to explore a particular theme in more detail: Chapter 5 discusses work and lifestyle, Chapter 6 explores how the FWBO (Friends of the Western Buddhist Order, Triratna's former name) developed men’s and women’s wings, Chapter 7 is about the international and cultural diversity of the FWBO, and Chapter 8 relates the history of the Order and ordination training processes. It is written primarily for a Triratna audience.  My brief was to write something short and easily readable. It has ended up being just over 1,000 words for each of the 42 years of Triratna’s history. There are inevitable limitations in trying to cover so much ground in so short a space. Many stories have been left out, countless acts of generosity not celebrated, numerous issues dealt with only very briefly.  From Vajragupta’s Preface

You can read the full Triratna story here

“Vajragupta has written an excellent synopsis of the history of an important Buddhist movement. This is of interest to all of us who are concerned with the arrival of Buddhism in the West and the vicissitudes of Buddhist movements through periods of social change over the past half century: the triumphs and disasters, the glory and the tears, the pioneering spirit and the dilemmas of success and failure – it is all set out here in an easy to digest narrative that I found, by turns, informative, nostalgic, encouraging, and challenging. This helps us to gain perspective and to see our way forward with greater clarity.”

David Brazier; author and head of the Amida-shu

“The Triratna Story is a courageous and important book. Written by a serious adherent, and commissioned by the Triratna Community itself, it defies all expectations to tell the brilliant, troubled, and inspiring history of this unique Western Buddhist movement with a thoroughness and honesty that, frankly, would not have been possible had it been written by an outsider. This is a valuable and instructive text for anyone interested in looking beyond the idealism of the Buddhist teachings to what actually happens when Buddhism becomes real in the modern world.”

Zoketsu Norman Fischer; poet, author and founder of the Everyday Zen Foundation