Everything you see on this site comes from our beautiful office at the top of the Manchester Buddhist Centre, UK. We are a Buddhist audio-visual media project and a UK registered charity; our work is an expression of Right Livelihood, the fifth limb of the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path.
Founded in the early 1990s, our original purpose was to record the teachings of the Venerable Urgen Sangharakshita, founder of our Buddhist tradition, the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO.) We produced lecture and “newsreel” videos for the FWBO worldwide.
Changes to the Religious Education syllabuses in England and Wales created an urgent need for Buddhist teaching materials for the classroom. Our video-makers joined forces with Padmasri and Adiccabandhu, two very experienced primary school teachers. 1994 saw publication of the first of a series of video packs for schools. Buddhism for Key Stage 2 (8-11 years) has remained our top-selling product ever since.
2009 sees the release of our first-ever free interactive online materials for young people at home:The Life of the Buddha interactive. We have plans for many more educational products, especially more interactive media. To do this, we invite your sponsorship!
We continue to maintain and develop the FWBO image and video archives, making available a steady flow of new and archive material, video and photographic.
Our editorial policy: our work for the FWBO naturally represents the activities, beliefs and concerns of this particular Buddhist tradition. However, in our work for schools and young people we are committed to representing a breadth of Buddhist belief and practice. In this we have the specific agreement of the FWBO's founder, Sangharakshita.
Who are the FWBO?
The Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO) was founded in London in 1967. At its heart is the Western Buddhist Order itself: neither lay nor monastic, the Order's 1600 women and men worldwide, are wholeheartedly committed to the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma and Sangha), whether married, partnered or single.
Munisha
Munisha, director and education officer, joined us in 1998 after cycling alone across China, teaching art in secondary school and eight years' teaching schools visiting the Tate Gallery, London.
She was ordained in 2003 and given the Sanskrit name Munisha, “One who has the power or mastery of a sage”. She became director in 2009.
Amongst other things, Munisha writes teaching materials, runs the Manchester Buddhist Centre's education service and is active in the Network of Buddhist Organisations. Like the rest of the Clear Vision team, she has a lively sense of humour. As Catherine Hopper, she is known for her popular travel lectures.
My mission here is to get young people to ask questions about the meaning and purpose of life. The answers are up to them, of course.
Munisha
Upekshapriya
Upekshapriya is our video-editor and cameraman. After many years of independent filmwork, he joined Clear Vision as an apprentice editor in 1997. He began making videos when he was 22 and gained a first class honours degree in film/video in 1990 from what is now the University of the Arts, London.
He was ordained in 2002. His name means “Lover of equanimity”, which is a good thing given that he also sorts out all the computers when they go wrong. He finds it almost impossible not to help anyone who comes along with a computer problem, so please don't ask him!
Clear Vision is a wonderful opportunity to be able to communicate the Dharma and practise my vocation, with a lovely bunch of positive people to boot.
Upekshapriya
Our volunteers, part-timers and consultants...
Karunavajri (“She who has a vajra or diamond thunderbolt of compassion”) is our book-keeper, frighteningly efficient and calm under pressure.
Paul has helped us introduce interactive online products for schools. A master of Flash, he makes computer games for a living.
Nathan (www.programx.co.uk) designed and masterminded this wonderful new website. The fact that he lives on the Isle of Man was no obstacle! If you'd like a website almost as nice as ours, get in touch.