See the world afresh - in a converted warehouse

The Brighton Buddhist Centre has been celebrating its 40th anniversary.

The Brighton Buddhist Centre, in Tichborne Street, has been celebrating its 40th anniversary.

It belongs to the Triratna Buddhist Community, formerly known as the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order. This was founded in 1968 by British-born Dennis Lingwood, who had studied in India under many spiritual masters, and who took the Buddhist name Sangharakshita. (He is now aged 89 and has relinquished control.) It was conceived as an ecumenical group in which all Buddhist traditions were equally respected, and has continued to grow ever since. In fact, the name was changed in 2010, because the order has now spread to parts of the world, including India and China, where the term Western might not seem appropriate. Triratna, which strikes me as a less apt or accessible name (I had to look it up), refers to the Three Jewels to which Buddhists go for refuge: the Buddha, the dharma or teaching, and the sangha or Buddhist spiritual community. 'Going for refuge' (sarana-gamana) is regarded as a turning-point in one's spiritual journey.

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From modest beginnings in someone's front room in Knoyle Road, Preston Park, with just two members, the Brighton branch slowly expanded. In 1974, it acquired a former shop in George Street, Brighton. (Peter Field, a longstanding friend who helped find the property, and who now happens to be Lord Lieutenant for East Sussex, spoke at their anniversary gathering.)

After three years at George Street, then 22 years at Park Crescent Place, they moved into their present splendid premises - a former Co-op dairy warehouse - in the North Laine, in 1999. There are also now outreach centres at Eastbourne, Hastings, Lewes, and Worthing, while the Rivendell retreat centre, in a former rectory near Uckfield, has been part of the Triratna organisation for 30 years.

Mokshini, the centre's current chairwoman, kindly showed me round the other day. (Order members take Buddhist names - Sahajatara, Subhadassi, Vidyadasa, Prabhasvara, Amoghavajri and so on - which, I have to say, are a bit hard for the newcomer to get the hang of.) The skylit main shrine room on the top floor is spacious and calm, with a large Westernised icon, some attractive traditional Buddhist rupas, lotus-design lights, and a scattering of meditation mats. Below is a large room used for yoga and tai-chi classes. On the ground floor is the reception area, bookshop, library and office. In the basement are another large shrine room and a smaller room for private meditation. There is a lift and disabled access. The whole place is beautifully maintained and exuded tranquillity. Mokshini estimated that 25,000 people use it annually. Finances come partly from fees for courses, partly from donations, and partly from the proceeds from the Evolution shop in nearby Bond Street.

According to national census figures, our city has the highest Buddhist population in the southeast, nearly three times the national average. (There are also twice as many atheists here, and more alleged Jedis than Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, and Sikhs put together - but that is another story.) There is another Buddhist community, the Bodisattva Kadampa Meditation Centre, with a Tibetan affiliation, in Lansdowne Road; it was founded in 1992. The Dharma School in Patcham, the country's (possibly Europe's) only Buddhist primary school, was founded in 1994.

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'See the world afresh,' says the leaflet I picked up as I was leaving. 'The Brighton Buddhist Centre offers a way to understand ourselves in a new light: the ancient teachings of the Buddha re-interpreted for today.'

Whether, like me, you have studied and practised Buddhism before, or are completely new to this faith (or religion, philosophy, life-discipline - call it what you will), you are sure to find a welcome.

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