Forty-Three Years Ago : Reflections on my Bhikkhu Ordination by Sangharakshita

Forty-Three Years Ago by Sangharakshita revisits his bhikkhu ordination and the questions it raised about Buddhist practice. Personal recollection accompanies an argument about the place of formal monastic status.

Written for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Western Buddhist Order, the work emphasizes Going for Refuge and wholehearted commitment to the Buddhist path. It presents Sangharakshita’s position within an ongoing discussion, not a view shared by every Buddhist tradition.