History of My Going for Refuge

In 1942, at the age of 16, Dennis Lingwood discovered he was a Buddhist. Eight years later, accepting the common view that Buddhism could be properly practised only by monks, he joined the Theravada monastic Order, and received the name Sangharakshita.

In this book, he traces the 'erratic process of discovery' that has led him to conclude that the monastic lifestyle and spiritual life are not identical, that, 'It is possible to be a good monk… and at the same time a bad Buddhist,' and that the GOING FOR REFUGE - the act of commitment to Buddhist spiritual ideals - is not only the central and definitive act of the Buddhist life, but also the fundamental basis of unity among all Buddhists.

It is a process too that has led him to establish a new branch of the Buddhist sangha: the Western Buddhist Order. That Order, whose members are neither monks and nuns, nor lay-people, is now a dynamic, worldwide spiritual community, the nucleus of a movement that has influenced the lives of thousands.

For anyone concerned with the spiritual vitality of the Buddhist tradition - and with its transmission in the modern world - this meticulously plotted 'History' makes indispensable reading.

Forward
1. Introduction
2. The Diamond Sutra and the Sutra of Wei Lang
3. U Thittila and Pansil
4. Going Forth
5. Sramanera Ordination
6. Bhikshu Ordination
7. 'Taking Refuge in the Buddha'
8. A Survey of Buddhism
9. Dhardo Rimpoche and THE PATH OF THE BUDDHA
10. Ambedkar and the ex-Untouchables
11. More Light from Tibetan Buddhism
12. THE THREE JEWELS and Other Writings
13. Bodhisattva Ordination
14. Light from Vatican II
15. 'The Meaning of Conversion in Buddhism'
16. Founding the Western Buddhist Order
17. The Wider Context
18. Levels of Going for Refuge
19. Going for Refuge Old and New
20. Upasaka into Dharmachari
21. Ambedkar and Going for Refuge
22. Conclusion
Notes