Our community has attracted its fair share of criticism over the past 50 years, much of it valid and useful. You can read about the history of our development as a new Buddhist movement in the section on our story. Controversial issues involved have been widely debated over the years, and still are. There has also been controversy surrounding the past sexual activity of our founder, Urgyen Sangharakshita, and others. 

In late 2016, some of the historical controversy around Sangharakshita, sex, and the early days of the FWBO was the subject of renewed discussion. As part of our commitment to transparency, we host a public FAQ and dedicated archive around all of these issues. Sangharakshita himself later made a statement about his own past and the College of Public Preceptors offered a further response. 

We treat reports of abuse extremely seriously and will investigate in accordance with the law and our policies. See our Ethical Guidelines and our model policies for safeguarding children and adults, which follow best practice in the UK. Listen to a podcast on Triratna safeguarding. If you have questions or concerns, contact Triratna’s Safeguarding team: safeguarding [at] triratnadevelopment.org