Triratna

Domain XIII · Contemplative & religious disciplines · Sangharakshita · 1967 · London, UK

What it is

Triratna is a modern Buddhist movement and teaching organisation, not a therapy. It was founded in London in 1967 by Sangharakshita (born Dennis Lingwood, 1925) as the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO). It took the name Triratna Buddhist Community in 2010. Its centres teach two…

Format

• Triratna has no therapeutic phases. The framework below is the organisation's path of involvement as published, followed by a frame for the therapist's work alongside it. No session counts are given by the sources and none are stated here.
• Newcomer and drop-in classes. Centres run drop-in meditation sessions, often by donation, and introductory courses that teach the two foundational meditations. Local centres list newcomer events, courses, regular classes and retreats.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Reassurance-seeking moving to the teacher instead of the therapist.
• Isolation after leaving, loss of spiritual meaning, and depression.
• Your own idealisation of or hostility to Buddhism or Triratna. Take it to supervision.
• Re-traumatisation, or pressure to forgive. Restorative work is voluntary and should not replace therapy or legal routes.
• Former members for whom devotional practice towards a founder-centred lineage is now painful. Shame about devotional feeling.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.