Our FBA Dharmabyte today is a moving remembrance of Dr. Ambedkar. Carrying the Torch of Dr. Ambedkar is excerpted from the talk Remembering Ambedkar by Sangharakshita. This highly evocative and moving account expounds the later years and death of a true Indian hero: Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.

Dr. Ambedkar founded the Movement of mass conversions by ex-and#8217;Untouchablesand#8217; (and#8216;Dalitsand#8217;) to Buddhism in order to escape the everyday oppressions and active persecutions they were subject to under the Hindu caste system. That movement, begun in 1956 as a deeply political act, continues today and#8211; and Sangharakshita recalls his own involvement, as well as drawing out some robust lessons for contemporary western Buddhists.

We are offered a truly radical vision of a practice of Buddhism that revolutionizes all aspects of how we live. In that sense, this is nothing short of a challenging, if kindly, broadside of a talk.

Talk given at the London Buddhist Centre, 2006