Some questions about Buddhism in the United Kingdom.

BuddhaOdin

Which sects of Buddhism are most common in the U.K?

Is there a dominant form of Buddhism in the U.K?

Are there any sects of Buddhism that developed in U.K?

Nios

BuddhaOdin wrote: »

Which sects of Buddhism are most common in the U.K?

Is there a dominant form of Buddhism in the U.K?

Are there any sects of Buddhism that developed in U.K?

1) The three main buddhist sects in the UK are Theravada, Tibetan and Zen. I'm not sure which is most common.

2) I would have to say no

3) I suppose New Kadampa gained ground in the UK first. Not to sure about that. I think Celtic Buddhism first started in the UK (Ireland)?

Nios.

Simonthepilgrim

An organisation called the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO) was founded in the 1960s by a Theravadin monk, Sangharakshita.

This is an attempt at a sort of "back to basics" which you will also find on this forum.

There is a good article about Buddhism in the UK here:
http://fwbo.org/buddhism/uk.html:
"The three largest Buddhist movements in Britain are the FWBO, NKT and Soka Gakkai."

Citta

Simonthepilgrim wrote: »

An organisation called the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO) was founded in the 1960s by a Theravadin monk, Sangharakshita.

This is an attempt at a sort of "back to basics" which you will also find on this forum.

There is a good article about Buddhism in the UK here:
http://fwbo.org/buddhism/uk.html:
"The three largest Buddhist movements in Britain are the FWBO, NKT and Soka Gakkai."

I think that the FWBO is the largest single Buddhist organisation in terms of numbers.
Followed by various Tibetan groups. Then Theravada, although Theravadin lay followers tend to not fall into organised groups so their numbers are difficult to estimate.
In numerical terms Zen, both Rinzai and Soto, are tiny in the UK.

Fran45

I agree with the previous posts. My nearest centre is Theravadan (one Abbot and one monk). We had a very small Tibetan centre (one monk and a couple of lay meditation teachers) for a couple of years, but that has now closed. We also have Pureland meditation and teaching available in the city centre once a week in term time.

fivebells

I know next to nothing about Buddhism in the UK in general. However, if you can get in touch with David Brazier, I would strongly recommend it.

Simonthepilgrim

I live some 30 minutes from Bristol (by car. 2 1/2 hours by train!!!!) where we have every form and flavour of Buddhism. My own town is a hotbed of spiritualities but, on the whole, they tend towards the heterodox.

BuddhaOdin

Where I live there are some Buddhists but they are small in numbers compared to Christians. But when I go to the garden centres there are loads of Buddha ornaments and Buddha statues etc. I wonder if people who spend loads of money on them really know who the Buddha was.

Nios

If my place of work and friends are anything to go by; no!

Fran45

David Brazier is Pureland and is based in Leicestershire at the Amida Trust. He and his wife Caroline Brazier have written several books.