For ours is a battle not for wealth or for power. It is a battle for freedom. It is a battle for the reclamation of the human personality.
Triratna in India
Many Triratna centres are in India, and most of those involved with them are from the community that became Buddhists under the inspiration of Doctor Bhimrao Ambedkar, India’s first Law Minister and the chief architect of the Indian Constitution.
Dr. Ambedkar led a movement of conversion to Buddhism in 1956, among Dalits – people considered ‘untouchables’ under the Hindu caste system - but he died shortly after the movement started. Sangharakshita was then living in India and had discussed the conversions with Dr Ambedkar. He supported the new Buddhists however he could and in 1978, after the establishment of The FWBO/Triratna, Order members started activities in India.
Triratna India has grown into a substantial movement with dozens of urban centres, several large retreat centres, over 800 Order members and many thousands involved in its activities. Triratna activities started in Maharashtra in Western India, but over the years they have spread to Punjab, UP, HP, Gujarat and other states across the subcontinent.
The background of Triratna Buddhists in India is very different from that people in Triratna in other parts of the world, making Triratna a meeting of cultures.
Social Work
From the start, social work activities accompanied the Buddhist teaching work, and they quickly developed into a network of kindergarten, healthcare, educational hostels and Right Livelihood projects. A charity called The Karuna Trust based in the UK, along with parallel Karuna charities in Germany and the US, raises funds for these and other projects among disadvantaged communities in India.
Voices from India
Testimony from Indian Order members as part of the Fifty Years, Fifty Voices project marking a half-century of the Triratna Buddhist Order.
A charity called The India Dhamma Trust raises money in the UK and other countries to support this work.
Nagaloka
Nagaloka is in Nagpur, which is the historic centre of the Ambedkarite Buddhist movement. It’s one of the largest Triratna centres, with a 15-acre campus that hosts conferences and training, education and research programmes. The Nagarjuna Training Institute trains young Indian Buddhists in Buddhism and social activism, and graduates of the Institute form a network of activists across India.
Resources
🎧 Talk by Sangharakshita describing the early days of Triratna in India in 1982
🎧 Listen to Sangharakshita's recollections of his friendship with Dr. Ambedkar
