A strong, moving, nuanced set of perspectives from Vishvapani on areas of historical controversy in the FWBO/Triratna, especially those involving our founder, Sangharakshita. 

The talk spans Vishvapani's long involvement with the community in both its light and "shadow" aspects - from first coming across the Dharma in Croydon, UK, at the age of 14 in the 1980s until the present day. It is in many ways a timely look at the past and the present, rooted in the Dharma itself as the most helpful context in which to try to meet and hold the inevitable complexities, while still attending adequately to clearly felt pains. 

We hear about his work in relation to the media, we consider communal history from the perspective of karma, we travel to Auschwitz as Vishvapani engages with a history of family sorrow that has much to offer anyone who finds there are no easy answers to suffering. Throughout we are invited to witness the past with a searching, admirable honesty, learning what we will learn and allowing space for a range of responses that might help give rise to a future where shadows are carried well as part of the Dharma shining on through.

Talk given in Cardiff, Wales, February 2017.

Read 'An Account of Croydon Buddhist Centre in the 1980s by Vishvapani'