Reviving Buddhism in India :
Buddhism was born in India, but 800 years ago it virtually died out in its birthplace. In the twentieth century it has been spectacularly revived and there are now over ten million Indian Buddhists. The vast majority of these people are from castes formerly known as 'untouchable' who were involved in the movement of conversion to Buddhism initiated in the 1950s.One of the most prominent Buddhist movements in this community is Trailokya Bauddha Mahasangha Sahayak Gana (TBMSG) which is known in the West as the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO).TBMSG has twenty centres situated throughout India, especially in Maharashtra. It also runs a network of social work activities including educational hostels, kindergartens, health projects, and vocational training, that are funded by the UK-based charity The Karuna Trust.
Caste and Untouchability :
The Hindu caste system - a 'system of graded inequality' - divided India for thousands of years. The level of society into which a person was born was their 'fate' and individuals were powerless to change their social position. The people known as 'untouchables' were beneath the caste system altogether, so inferior their mere touch was thought to pollute others. Pushed to the fringes of society, they were denied religious and human rights, and were forced to scrape a living from unpleasant and demeaning jobs.At the time of the struggle for Indian independence a brilliant lawyer called Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar emerged as the leader of the 'Untouchable' community. Ambedkar was born into an 'Untouchable' caste but through extraordinary talent and hard work he rose to the top of the Indian legal profession. He was the architect of the Indian constitution and following Independence in 1949 he framed the laws which made 'Untouchability' illegal.
Conversion to Buddhism :
But - as the experience of American blacks following the abolition of slavery shows - it is one thing to ban a form of oppression; it is quite another thing to overcome its economic and psychological consequences, and the attitudes which brought it into being. Ambedkar decided that the only way for the 'ex-Untouchables' to be truly free was to leave Hinduism and the caste system altogether and to follow values which asserted the humanity of all, and offered ways in which the community could truly transform itself.Thus in 1956 Ambedkar became a Buddhist and in a mass-conversion ceremony he led several hundred thousand of his followers into the new religion. Ambedkar died just six weeks after that historic conversion ceremony, leaving the fledgling Buddhist movement in disarray. One of the people who intervened most decisively to stop it fragmenting entirely was a young English Bhikkhu with whom Ambedkar had discussed the conversion, named Sangharakshita.The movement survived and more conversions followed. But for many years little was done to put the principles these 'New Buddhists' espoused into practice. Sangharakshita returned to Britain where he founded the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order and in 1978 several of his disciples started teaching in India themselves. In India the movement is known as Trailokya Bauddha Mahasangha Sahayak Gana (TBMSG).
Activities were started in Poona, in the Western Indian state of Maharashtra, which has been the centre of the Indian Buddhist movement. They quickly spread to other cities, and there are now also centres in many cities in five states of india, particularly Nagpur and Bombay. Activities now include urban dhamma centres, retreat centres and social work, and they involve tens of thousands of people.There are now around 180 Indian members of the Western Buddhist Order, and it is they who run activities, plan developments, and establish a spiritual lead.Alongside specifically Buddhist activities is a network of social work projects. These projects are funded by The Karuna Trust, a UK based fund-raising charity established by members of the Western Buddhist Order.
