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| Triratna |
The FWBO
(Friends of the Western Buddhist Order) as a whole, and the Western Buddhist Order itself, are to
become known as the Triratna Buddhist Community and the Triratna Buddhist Order respectively.
‘Triratna’ will be our common name and identity worldwide.
Triratna
The Sanskrit word ‘Triratna’ means simply ‘Three Jewels’, and refers of course to
the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha to which all members of the Order Went for Refuge at the time of their ordinations. The Three
Jewels have long been used as emblems in many F/WBO situations, for instance the logo of FWBO News and on the Kesas worn by
Order Members.
We’ll be marking these changes with an FWBO-wide ceremony on Wesak, at the end of May this year - this
date was chosen as it coincides with a long-planned large international FWBO retreat.
Our reasons
The suggestion to change the
name was made on January 6th in a letter from Sangharakshita to all members of the Western Buddhist Order. His letter was
itself a response to one from a group of Indian Order Members gathered in Pune, in which they requested him to change the
Indian name of the Order from the present ‘Trailokya Bauddha Mahasangha’ and also to give a new and unified name
to the whole Order world-wide.
Sangharakshita’s letter says
in part –
“...
I hope that Western Order members will be as moved as I was by the request I received [from India], and that they will join
with me in wanting to meet the wish of the Indian Order members for a change of their own name and for a name for the whole
Order. Having one name for the whole Order will make it clear to the world not only that we all go for Refuge to the Buddha,
Dharma and Sangha, but that whether in the East or the West, the North or the South, we are one united Order, with a single
vision and a single heart and mind.
After much
deliberation, the new name for the Order that has come to me is the Triratna Buddhist Order (in Hindi, Triratna Bauddha Mahasangha),
and I suggest that all Order members adopt it straight away.
Both ‘Western’
and ‘Trailokya’ had become increasingly problematic for many in the Order over the past decade - ‘Western’
because our Order is increasingly international, with members active in India, Russia, Turkey, and China, as well as other
non-Western countries; and ‘Trailokya’ because it is a word not
widely understood outside the Indian State of Maharastra, and we are increasingly active in many
places all across India. Discussions about
changing the name had in fact continued in the Order on and off since 1979, when we first began activities
in India and the name Trailokya Bauddha Mahasangha was chosen in recognition of the fact that 'Western' was not appropriate.
We’re delighted to have a single name that we can
use world-wide, and to be able to move away from the many sets of initials that seem to have followed us around the world
- FWBO, AOBO (in Spain), VWBO (in Holland) TBMSG (in India) - and so on. We’re also pleased to have a name that reminds us of the central values of Buddhism every time we
use it."
If you wish to join us to celebrate this name change locally, please come to the Wesak puja on 28th May in Inverness.
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