We are delighted to give you a preview of an important new book by Vishvapani, which is due out in August 2025.
Reimagining Buddhism: Understanding Sangharakshita and his Teachings is a sparkling, deeply felt and penetrating account of the English Buddhist teacher, Urgyen Sangharakshita (1925–2018) – one of the most complex and brilliant figures in modern Buddhism.
Drawing on the whole of Sangharakshita’s vast output, Vishvapani argues that Sangharakshita was primarily an ‘image thinker.’ He then sets out to trace the contours of his imagination, recognise the inner dimensions of his spiritual life and show how these forces shaped his life, his teachings and the Triratna Buddhist order and movement he founded.
‘Sangharakshita resists easy categorization. He was a thinker but not a philosopher; he commented on many Buddhist scriptures but didn’t pass on the teachings of a particular school; as a Dharma teacher he drew extensively on Buddhist scholarship but considered it merely a tool for understanding Buddhism’s outer expressions. The object of both devotion and controversy, his innovations could exasperate conservatives while his conservative temperament dissatisfied modernizers. He was part of a generation of westerners who studied with spiritual teachers in Asia after the Second World War and a unique figure whose contribution to western Buddhism fits none of its usual categories.’ – From the introduction to Reimagining Buddhism: Understanding Sangharakshita and his Teachings by Vishvapani (2025).
The book explores Sangharakshita’s career as a key figure in Buddhism’s arrival in Western countries and its revival in India, and examines his complex legacy, including the controversy surrounding his sexual activities and some of his views and how they affected his reputation within the Triratna Buddhist Community and beyond.
For those new to Sangharakshita’s life and work, this is a wide-ranging introduction; for more experienced readers it presents his teachings as a whole and in their full depth.
We are aiming to publish Reimagining Buddhism in August, which will mark the 100th anniversary of Sangharakshita’s birth. You can support us to do this by sponsoring the book's production.