Publisher Description

Sangharakshita read the Diamond Sutra for the first time the summer he turned seventeen. It seemed to awaken him to something whose existence he had forgotten, and he joyfully embraced those profound teachings 'with an unqualified acceptance'. This experience decided the whole future direction of his life.In this first volume of memoirs he describes how, from a working-class childhood in the London suburb of Tooting, he came, a twenty-four-year-old Buddhist novice monk, to Kalimpong in the eastern Himalayas. Sangharakshita paints a vivid picture of the people, the places and the experiences that shaped his life: his childhood, his army days, and the gurus he met during his years as a wandering ascetic staying in the caves and ashrams of India. He moves between the ordinary and the extraordinary, from the mundane to the sublime; his narrative takes in the psychological and aesthetic, the philosophical and spiritual. His experiences are both universal - love and loss, comedy and tragedy - and unique to what is an exceptional life.

Back Cover

At the age of sixteen Dennis Lingwood discovered that he was - and always had been - a Buddhist. This realization was to act as the motive force behind a life in which Lingwood, now better known as Sangharakshita, has played a major part in the introduction of Buddhism to the West. This book traces Sangharakshita's development from a childhood dominated by illness and books to homeless wandering and ordination as a Buddhist monk. It takes us from the streets of wartime London to the dusty villages, ashrams, and caves of India. Full of fascinating characters and keen insights, The Rainbow Road from Tooting Broadway to Kalimpong is as finely observed - and as entertaining - as a first-rate travel book. More than that, it is a remarkable and refreshingly candid record of a journey of spiritual exploration. This Complete Works edition of the first volume of Sangharakshita's memoirs also contains a sequence of later writings in which he reminisces about his early life.

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At the age of sixteen Dennis Lingwood discovered that he was - and always had been - a Buddhist. This realization was to act as the motive force behind a life in which Lingwood, now better known as Sangharakshita, has played a major part in the introduction of Buddhism to the West. This book traces Sangharakshita's development from a childhood dominated by illness and books to homeless wandering and ordination as a Buddhist monk. It takes us from the streets of wartime London to the dusty villages, ashrams, and caves of India. Full of fascinating characters and keen insights, The Rainbow Road from Tooting Broadway to Kalimpong is as finely observed - and as entertaining - as a first-rate travel book. More than that, it is a remarkable and refreshingly candid record of a journey of spiritual exploration. This Complete Works edition of the first volume of Sangharakshita's memoirs also contains a sequence of later writings in which he reminisces about his early life.

Author Biography

Sangharakshita is the founder and principal teacher of Triratna, a worldwide Buddhist movement. With teaching experience spanning 60 years, he is the author of over 40 books.

Table of Contents

Foreword KalyanaprabhaMap1 Giants and Dragons2 The Children's Encyclopaedia3 Learning to Walk4 'Here Comes the Boys' Brigade'5 Evacuated6 The Veil of Isis7 The Pendulum Swings8 Buddhism and the LCC9 The Misfit10 Passage to India11 With the Swamis in Ceylon12 Maitreya,the Coming Buddha13 The Three Worlds14 Coincidences15 The End of the Beginning16 Jumping in at the Shallow End17 Direct Action Day18 All-India Religions Conference19 Two Meetings and a Marriage20 Anandamayi, the Blissful Mother21 The Three Untouchables22 Meditations in the Mango Grove23 The Divine Eye24 The Going Forth25 A Question of Identity26 Sramana Versus Brahmana27 The Temple of the Virgin Goddess28 The Road to Trivandrum29 What Happened to the Offerings30 The Town of the Three Rivers31 'What Is Your Caste?'32 The Three Lawyers33 Other Friends34 Outings and Activities35 The Path Within36 'Krishna Has Come!'37 Ramdas, the Servant of God38 At The 'Abode Of Bliss'39 The Vision in the Cave40 The One-Eyed Guru41 Sandalwood Country42 'Tiger, Tiger...'43 Disappointment at Sarnath44 Through the Curtain of Fire45 At the Shrine of the Recumbent Buddha46 'Here the Blessed One was Born' 47 With the Newars in Nepal48 Academic Interlude49 In the Land of the Great Disciples50 Facing Mount KanchenjungaAppendices1 Introduction to Learning to Walk2 Giants and Dragons: Original Version

Review

'I have always looked to Sangharakshita's books for inspiration and ideas on how to better translate the principles and practices of Buddhism for Western audiences and practitioners today.' - Lama Surya Das, author of Awakening the Buddha Within

Review Quote

'I have always looked to Sangharakshita's books for inspiration and ideas on how to better translate the principles and practices of Buddhism for Western audiences and practitioners today.' - Lama Surya Das, author of Awakening the Buddha Within

Description for Sales People

At the age of sixteen Dennis Lingwood discovered that he was - and always had been - a Buddhist. This realization was to act as the motive force behind a life in which Lingwood, now better known as Sangharakshita, has played a major part in the introduction of Buddhism to the West. The Rainbow Road from Tooting Broadway to Kalimpong traces Sangharakshita's development from a childhood dominated by illness and books to homeless wandering and ordination as a Buddhist monk. It takes us from the streets of wartime London to the dusty villages, ashrams, and mountain caves of India. Full of fascinating characters and keen insights, The Rainbow Road from Tooting Broadway to Kalimpong is as finely observed - and as entertaining - as a first-rate travel book. More than that, it is a remarkable and refreshingly candid record of a journey of spiritual exploration. This Complete Works edition of the first volume of Sangharakshita's memoirs also contains a sequence of later writings in which he reminisces about his early life.

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