FWBO Letchworth

FWBO Letchworth
Saturday 7th April was FWBO Day and Jayamuni, Rob Gibb and Rob Mew joined about 150 other Friends and Order Members at the Birmingham Buddhist Centre. We travelled with a coach party arranged by Windhorse, Cambridge and we arrived at Park Road, Birmingham before lunch. There was plenty of time to chat with friends and browse the excellent bookshop before the proceedings proper began in the Shrine Room at 4pm. Sangharakshita gave a talk entitled "Looking Back - and Forward". As this day marked the 40th birthday of the FWBO, he recalled how it had started in a small basement room in Monmouth Street, central London in 1967, a room holding only 20 people at most for a meditation class (rather like the Annex at Letchworth!). This special day also marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of Sangharakshita's magnum opus 'A Survey of Buddhism' in 1957 and the 60th anniversary of his Going Forth in India in 1947. Commenting on the FWBO today, Sanghrakshita emphasised the distinctive emphases of the FWBO:
- an ecumenical Buddhist movement drawing inspiration from all Buddhist traditions;
- the centrality of Going for Refuge to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha;
- a unified Western Buddhist Order open to women and men alike on the same terms, whatever their background;
- team based right livihood businesses;
- the spiritual value of the arts as part of the path to Enlightenment;
- the importance of spiritual friendship;
The conclusion of his talk was loudly applauded and we broke up for tea! Soon we returned to the shrine room for a special seven fold puja with 100+ people giving offerings at the shrine, generating a palpable spiritual hum. The evening ended at 8pm and we set off back to Cambridge after a wonderful celebration of FWBO Day.