THE funeral of a controversial Buddhist teacher and writer has taken place near Ledbury.

The funeral of Sangharakshita, was attended by 1,400 people and watched by 65,000 people on the web.

In the week before the funeral, which took place last Saturday, November 10, "coachloads" of Buddhists travelled to Adhisthana,formerly Coddington Court, near Ledbury to sit with the body of Sangharakshita, who was born Philip Edward Lingwood but achieved renown as a unique figure in the Buddhist world.

Here was a man who sought to establish a viable Buddhist tradition in the western world.

He also reached out to lower caste Indians in India, many of whom converted to Buddhism and who watched the Facebook broadcast of his funeral in their thousands.

But Sangharakshita was not without controversy. During the 1970s he encouraged his heterosexual male followers to experiment with homosexuality, something he apologised for in 2016, for any harm it might have caused.

A former member, Mark Dunlop, told the BBC he had sexual relations with Sangharakshita at a retreat near Norwich, during the 1970s.

He said: “I told him I hated it. He said, well, you need to keep persevering; you mustn’t give up.”

Speaking this week, the safeguarding officer of the Triratna Buddhist Community, at Munisha, said: "Some of Sangharakshita's more senior followers asked him to apologise. It is sad that in an otherwise great life this one aspect caused harm and suffering to some people."

She added: "In the 1970s he started to have relations with young male followers, at a time when we were not so aware of the power balance between teachers and followers.

"But he was a very mindful man, a very old man, he was 93 when he died - someone from a previous generation; a sort of Edwardian gentleman.

"He was always thoughtful and very kind."

Sangharakshita died on October 30.

His funeral service took place in a converted barn and he was buried in the grounds.

Munisha said: "Six strong Buddhists carried out the coffin to the burial plot."