World Buddhist Scout Council

• 1. Introduction

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  The World Buddhist Scout Council exists at the meeting point of two global traditions, one ancient and one barely a century old. On the 21st of July 2004, the organization became officially active with the election of its first chairman, marking the moment a quiet ambition became something formal and lasting. The body had grown from earlier roots as the World Buddhist Scout Brotherhood, a name it carried until 2009 when it gained consultative status with the World Scout Committee. That status was not given lightly. The World Scout Committee's own guidelines require at least three years of demonstrated work before such recognition can be granted. What kind of work? The questions that follow reach across continents, from a temple in Mongolia to a jamboree in the United Kingdom, and eventually to a personal blessing from the Dalai Lama himself.

• 2. A Name and Its Meaning

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  In 2016, the council revisited its own name. The word "Brotherhood" had served well enough, but the leadership recognized that it no longer reflected the full membership the organization sought to represent. The name became the World Buddhist Scout Council, a change driven by a deliberate effort toward gender equality and broader inclusion. This was not a cosmetic update. It reflected a stated objective running through the organization's founding documents: to motivate and promote Scouting among Buddhist boys and girls on a global basis. The revised name brought the title in line with that commitment. Membership by that point had grown to span countries as geographically distant as Brazil and Mongolia, Norway and Sri Lanka, with fourteen member nations total including Japan, Thailand, Bhutan, and the United Kingdom.

• 3. Faith in the Field

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  At the 21st World Scout Jamboree held at Hylands Park in the United Kingdom, the Buddhist tent in the Faith and Belief Zone became one of the more memorable spaces on the grounds. Activities ranged from making origami lotus flowers to sewing Buddhist neckerchiefs, from crafting prayer flags to practicing seated meditation. On Sunrise Day, a Buddhist celebration held on one of the subcamp stages drew an attendance of over 1,000 Scouts. Three traditions of Buddhism were represented at that celebration. Lama Gankhuyag Magsarjav spoke for Vajrayana Buddhism, Ven. Ming Kuang from Taiwan represented Mahayana Buddhism, and Ven. Chao Khun Bhavanaviteht, also known as Luangpor Khemadhammo and holder of an OBE, represented Theravada Buddhism. The Heart Sutra was read aloud in both Chinese and Tibetan, with talks on Buddhism simultaneously translated into French. A large Buddha statue, a gift from the National Scout Organization of Thailand, was presented at the Jamboree to mark both the centenary of Scouting and the 80th birthday of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. That statue, named Prabuddha Prathanporn Loka-satawassa-nusorn, now resides in the Buddha Sala at Gilwell Park in London, replacing a statue the Scout Association had received back in 1967.

• 4. Service at Manzushir Khiid

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  In 2009, WBSB members from Mongolia and the United Kingdom organized something different from a jamboree tent. They arranged a service project at the Manzushir Khiid temple in Dzuunmod, a town 43 kilometers south of Ulaanbaatar. Eighty-two Scouts spent a week repainting the temple, and a substantial donation was also raised to help improve its facilities. The temple carries a weight of history. It stands on the site of a large monastery of the same name that the Mongolian communist government destroyed in 1937. The physical labor of repainting walls was, in that context, something more than maintenance. The project was organized jointly for the UK Scout Network and Mongolian Rover Scouts, bringing together participants from two countries to help restore a place that had been deliberately erased from the landscape less than a century before.

• 5. Toward the Future

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  At the 2019 World Scout Jamboree in North America, WBSC members worked alongside the broader jamboree team to deliver a dedicated space on Buddhism. They also contributed to a shared journey of spirituality zone drawing on multiple faiths, and played a central role in running an LGBT+ safe space for both young people and adults. The Dalai Lama sent a personal blessing to all Scouts present. Three years later, on the 26th of February 2022, the World Buddhist Scout Council held a formal conference and elected new leadership. Dr Tony Malone of the United Kingdom became the new secretary general. The council resolved to meet every two months going forward, a structural change reflecting a more regular rhythm of engagement with youth development work across its member nations.