East London Life

In 1978 the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order converted what was once a Victorian Fire Station in the East End into what is now the largest urban Buddhist Centre in the West.

Over the intervening years, the London Buddhist Centre has worked tirelessly to bring Buddhist teachings and concepts to greater London, and is now at the center of a wide community of Buddhist outreach, educational and business concerns in the East End.

The best introduction to the London Buddhist Centre, and those who study in and benefit from it is their 53 minute introductory video.
Most interesting, to me at least, of all of the effects that the Centre has had in East London, is the growing “Buddhist Village” area of Tower Hamlets, made up of businesses dedicated to practicing “right livelihood”.

Based firmly in Buddhist ethics, the businesses are run co-operatively with people being paid according to their needs rather than as a reward for their contribution. Profits from the businesses are either re-invested or given away. They include a Bookshop, a vegetarian restaurant, a Yoga studio, a wholefoods shop, an arts centre, a gift shop and a secondhand charity shop.

I will be covering each of these businesses individually soon.

To visit the London Buddhist Centre and the “Buddhist Village”, alight at Bethnal Green Tube station and walk East along Roman Road. The Centre is at the corner of Roman Road and Globe Road, with the entrance on Globe Road.
The Buddhist Village businesses mentioned dot the area around the Centre; on Globe Road, Roman Road and Morpeth St.