Triratna Buddhist Community (Sangharakshita)
British-founded Buddhist community (originally FWBO, 1967) led by Dennis Lingwood / Sangharakshita until his 2018 death. The Adhisthana centre and the Triratna Order have publicly acknowledged Sangharakshita's history of sexual abuse of male members.
CLCI radar
BITE breakdown
+1 for documented systematic sexual abuse by founder Sangharakshita (acknowledged by the Order in 2017+).
Profile facts
In context
Triratna (formerly Friends of the Western Buddhist Order, FWBO) is one of the largest Western convert Buddhist organisations. From the 1990s onwards, multiple ex-male-members described Sangharakshita's coercive sexual relationships, framed within his teaching as 'going for refuge' to him personally. The Order's 2017+ public reckoning, including Subhuti's open letter, marked a significant institutional shift. Sangharakshita died in 2018.
History
Triratna grew from London origins into the largest Western convert Buddhist community; the post-2017 reckoning with Sangharakshita's abuse has reshaped its self-understanding.
Key control doctrines
- Sangharakshita's distinctive 'going for refuge' framework
- Right Livelihood team-based businesses
- Order ordination as binding commitment
Recovery resources
See the full curated list at /resources.
Notable public ex-members
- Mark Dunlop
- Multiple subjects of the Adhisthana Kula acknowledgments
Legal cases & controversies
- 1996+ ex-member testimonies
- 2017 Adhisthana acknowledgments
- Various civil disputes
Evidence by BITE axis
- Communal living for many
- Right Livelihood businesses with members surrendering market wages
- Substantial commitment to ordination process
- Members donate property and earnings
- Sangharakshita's writings authoritative
- Internal abuse allegations historically suppressed pre-2017
- Sangharakshita as authoritative Western Buddhist interpreter
- 'Going for refuge' to Sangharakshita personally framed as spiritual progress
- Strong devotional ties to founder
- Sexual access to Sangharakshita presented as spiritual privilege (now acknowledged abusive)
- Severance from non-Triratna friendships discouraged
Timeline
- 1967Sangharakshita founds FWBO in London
- 1996Mark Dunlop public account
- 2017Order publicly acknowledges Sangharakshita's abuse
- 2018Sangharakshita dies
Sources
- Mark Dunlop, 'My experiences in the FWBO' (1996) search ↗
- Triratna 'Adhisthana Kula' acknowledgments (2017+) search ↗
- BBC coverage search ↗
We cite sources by name and outlet rather than fabricating links. Where a source includes its own URL, the open ↗ link opens it directly; otherwise search ↗ runs a Google Scholar query for the cited title — useful for verifying academic sources. For news outlets, search the outlet's own archive.
Voices of former members
“Sexual contact with Sangharakshita was framed as a privilege, an initiation — only years later did I understand it as abuse.”
— Anonymous composite, 2018
Quotes are either verifiable public testimony or anonymized composites drawn from documented patterns. See Survivor Voices for more.
Change history
Substantive edits logged per the score-updates policy.
- 2026-05-20Source-density flags derived from existing free-text sources[]: investigative journalism. Heuristic auto-flag; subsequent editorial pass will populate structuredSources[] with reliability tiers.
- 2026-05-20Score band scheme migrated from 4 bands to 5 (Minimal 0–5 / Low 6–12 / Moderate 13–20 / High 21–30 / Extreme 31–40). No CLCI value changed; the new Minimal band was carved out of the bottom of the previous Low band.
Relevant hubs
Curated entry points on CLCI Hub for situations connected to this group.
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