Buddism temples in west London, any advice

[Trying2bgd]

i was brought up in a very vaguely Buddhist household and would like to reconnect with it and understand and follow it more deeply. I live in west London and would like some advice from any buddhists about a good place to start or visit.

Thanks

The West London Buddhist Centre in Westbourne Grove might be a good place to start - we used to live down the street and they were smaller and very friendly. My DH and his friend have been to the larger London Buddhist Centre in Bethnal Green a few times as well to visit the bookshop, and said it was very nice.

HTH

Thanks, will look into it. I guess I am looking for something with a community spirit too.

Western Chan Fellowship have groups in NW2 thought that may be a bit far out for you (depending on where you are). WCF i knew did seem to have a sort of community feel to it

I suppose it depends on what branch and/or type of buddhism you are after

West London Buddhist centre and london Budhist centre I believe are connected to FWBO (it is called something different now though) - it depends how you feel about them.

FWBO and western chan are quite different and there will be a few more that are different again. Depends what you want out of it, where you yourself are, your past experiences of it.

I sit with the samatha trust - lay organisation from a Thai background, emphasis is on meditation and every day mindfulness. They have groups in Kingston on Thames, Richmond and Chelsea I believe. There is the London Buddhist Vihara in Chiswick (Theravada, Sri Lankan). For a large directory of buddhist temples / groups see the World Buddhist Directory (www.buddhanet.info/wbd/province.php?province_id=87). There are many groups in London, hope you find one that works for you!

I would recommend Nichiren Buddhism which has its own website www.sgi-uk.org.

There are meetings in both people's homes and local centres (we don't believe in temples, our type of Buddhism) and we do chanting, not meditation!

I have been chanting since May 2009 and it is very edifying and uplifting and you meet great people too. Oddly enough after 23 years of living in London first, I only discovered this type of Buddhism once I had left there and I now reside in the east midlands!

Please do ask any further questions should you have any. If you click on the local link on the website a local co-ordinator will get in touch with you and visit you. There is absolutely zillions of meetings in London I hear and the support network is vast.

There is also a centre in Acton the address will be given on the website. The community spirit is very strong and the organisation is led by our sensei Daisaku Ikeda and this particular type of Buddhism exists acros 192 countries and territories.

Hope this helps!

Avoid SGI UK Like the plague. It's a cult. Ignore Equinox's post above. SGI is very controversial. All googleable.

Mountains, you've really got an ax to grind with SGI!