About this place
The London Buddhist Centre (LBC) in the Bethnal Green neighbourhood is one of the largest urban Buddhist centres in Europe and serves as the main base for the Triratna Community in London. It is housed in a striking Victorian fire station, built in 1888, which was extensively renovated by volunteers and opened in 1978.
Programmes and activities
The centre teaches meditation, Buddhism and yoga in a way that is tailored to modern, everyday life. • Meditation & Yoga: There are daily drop-in classes at lunchtime (1.00–2.00 pm) as well as evening classes. Special mindfulness courses (‘Breathing Space’) are also offered to help manage stress and prevent relapses in depression. • Courses & Talks: Introductory courses in Buddhism, lasting several weeks, and in-depth Dharma evenings are held regularly. • Community & Retreats: As well as events for families, people under 25 and people of colour, the LBC organises multi-day retreats at a partner centre in the Suffolk countryside. There is also a bookshop and two charity shops on site. The centre is open to anyone interested – whether you already have some experience or simply wish to explore the historic surroundings at your leisure.
All our events are designed to support you to make progress on this path. This includes learning and practising meditation, exploring Buddhism, and cultivating friendships.
Yoga
In a supportive and warm environment, we encourage you to bring a kindly awareness to your yoga practice. We cultivate mindfulness of our sensations, breath, movement, body, emotions and mental states. The practice may be experienced as meditative, with a sense of connectedness to oneself, as well as the physical benefits of increasing strength and flexibility. The style of yoga we teach is based on Hatha, and the Friday evening class is Restorative yoga. Our teachers also bring their own individual experiences of movement, meditation, Buddhist practice and occasional poetry readings to the classes.
All regular classes are Open Level, we also offer courses aimed at beginners and those wanting to deepen their practice. Unfortunately our classes aren't suitable for pregnant women.
Retreats
A retreat is where you’ll really catch what Buddhism is trying to teach you. After all, Buddhism isn’t a theory or dogma – it’s a vision of life. The point is to live it.
We designed and built our retreat centre, Vajrasana, to create an entire Buddhist world that you can live and practise in. See below to find a retreat that suits your experience level and lifestyle.
Retreat life is simple, with a daily programme to follow. There will be periods of meditation, talks on aspects of Buddhism and Buddhist rituals. As the retreat progresses there will be more meditation sessions and longer periods of silence to allow for reflection. On most retreats there will also be small groups led by a team member in which you can discuss your experience of the retreat. In order to keep the retreat running smoothly, we ask everyone to help out with some simple chores.
Do I need to be a Buddhist?
No, you don’t need to be a Buddhist. On our introductory retreats you don’t need any previous experience of meditation either – if you don’t know our two main meditation practices, we will teach them to you from scratch. To attend intensive retreats we ask that you have been practising the Mindfulness of Breathing and Metta Bhavana regularly, and in a Triratna context, for at least six months.