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About Us

Wellington Buddhist Centre is run by members of the Triratna Buddhist Order who work to bring the benefits of Buddhist practice to people in the Wellington area. We are part of a worldwide Buddhist movement, the Triratna Buddhist Community (formerly the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order^*) which practices a type of Buddhism suitable for people living in the contemporary western world.

Triratna was started in 1968 by Sangharakshita, an Englishman who had practiced as a Buddhist monk in the East for 20 years before bringing Buddhism to the West. 

Members of the Triratna Buddhist Order aim to present a form of Buddhism that is grounded in the core teachings and practices that underlie all the different ethnic schools of Buddhism. We are not Tibetan Buddhists, Zen Buddhists, Theravada Buddhists, Nichiren Buddhists, or Pure Land Buddhists — we are simply Buddhists, basing ourselves on the core teachings, but open to the richness of the whole tradition.

People of all sorts can benefit from Buddhist practice and our Centre is used by many of people, young and old, from Wellington and the surrounding area.

^*Change of Name

From the 1st June 2010 the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order changed its name to the Triratna Buddhist Community.  This was done to reflect the international nature of the movement which now operates in many non-western counties.  

Triratna means ‘three jewels’ in Sanskrit and refers to the three most precious ideals in Buddhism, the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.  The name change will emphasise our movement’s commitment to the centrality of Going for Refuge to these ideals.