sangharakshita Sangharakshita, who was born Dennis Lingwood in 1925, is now considered to be one of the founding fathers of Buddhism in the West. Growing up in the suburbs of London, he immersed himself from an early age in discovering the literature, history, arts of both Eastern and Western culture. At the age of 16, while browsing in a second hand bookshop, he came across two of the most profound texts in the Buddhist canon (the Diamond sutra and the sutra of Hui Neng). From that moment he realized his deep affinity with Buddhism. He lived for 20 years in India studying and practicing Buddhism with teachers from all the main Eastern traditions - Theravadin, Ch’an (Zen) and Tibetan. He was ordained in 1950 and given the name Sangharakshita which means ‘protected by the spiritual community’.  His main contribution to the growth of Buddhism in the modern world has been his extensive writings and the creation both of the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order in 1967 and the Western Buddhist Order the following year. As a teacher, Sangharakshita sees himself as a translator of the Buddha’s teachings for our modern era. He has given many lectures all over the world and written numerous books. His lectures, writings, along with material from his many seminars (the Spoken Word Project) are freely available. Sangharakshita has now handed over all responsibilities for the teaching and running of the FWBO to members of the Western Buddhist Order. He lives in Birmingham, UK. | 
