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The Rainbow Road

From Tooting Broadway to Kalimpong - Memoirs of an English Buddhist

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The Rainbow Road

By: Urgyen Sangharakshita
Narrated by: Ratnadhya
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Having realized, as a 16 year old in pre-WWII London, that he was a Buddhist, the early life of Dennis Lingwood and his path to becoming a bhikkhu named Sangharakshita is a most extraordinary personal story. He was serving as a signals officer in India when, at the conclusion of the war, he threw away his official identity cards, took off his uniform, donned yellow robes and set off, barefooted, along the dusty paths of India as a spiritual seeker, begging for his food, as the Buddha did 2,500 years ago.

The determination and vision behind those early steps, combined with single-mindedness and intellectual rigour, transformed the path of Western Buddhism, for after 20 years in India Sangharakshita returned to England to found a Western Buddhist movement, now called the Triratna Buddhist Order.

The Rainbow Road tells of that early time in India, meeting spiritual teachers from Hindu and other religious traditions, encountering the disturbing caste system and overcoming obstacles, disappointments and numerous challenges. A totally absorbing autobiography.©2016 Ukemi Productions Ltd Buddhism Travel Writing & Commentary England China Meditation Physical Exercise Yoga Taoism Ancient History
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All stars
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Very enjoyable, insightful and
fascinating. At times humorous, vivid and mind opening. Beautifully read.

Fascinating, humorous and beautifully read

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An interesting life, however, I found this to be an unnecessarily drawn out and rambling autobiography. It could have been half the length and better for it.

I started off feeling quite agnostic about Sangharakshita. I enjoyed hearing about his vulnerable childhood and the adversity he faced and overcame.

I normally finish a good autobiography feeling closer to the protagonist but that wasn’t the case with Sangharakshita. He struck me as a conflicted character; an intellectually conceited Buddhist who isn’t honest with himself nor his readers about who he is or his motives.

A conflicted character and an unnecessarily drawn out and rambling autobiography

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