The Buddhist Faith Fellowship is a nurturing and spiritual community that is focused to the classic and modernist approaches to the Buddhist teachings, together with traditional Buddhist values, with the goal of helping our congregants realize their spiritual and psychological human potential by transforming suffering (dukkha) into inner-happiness, well-being, and spiritual liberation. Our One Dharma offerings are currently available in-person and concurrently online to the general public. No experience or knowledge of Buddhism is necessary are required in order to attend our gatherings. The Buddhist teachings are available to everyone, just as they are.
Established in 2001, we have become one of Connecticut’s most established and experienced Buddhist organizations. Since our founding, with the vision and guidance of our founding teacher, Rev. Daishin Senpai M.A., our Buddhist Fellowship has offered a full array of spiritual activities that currently include bimonthly in-person and online Buddhist Practice & Talk and Stoa Buddhist Philosophy Group meetings. Although our past activities included end of life programs, retreats, courses, mindfulness, meditation, contemplative practices, and a 12 Step Buddhist Group, we still offer plenty of unique opportunities to learn about and practice Buddhism in the contemporary American context.
Our Story
Our community began in April 2001 during Hanamatsuri, the Buddha’s Birthday, with the mission to learn and practice the Buddhist teachings and share them with our generation and culture. After studying with and receiving transmission from the Venerable Thich Tri Hoang, and later becoming a student of the late Dr. Taitetsu Unno via his NoHo Lay Teacher’s Program, our founding teacher, Rev. Daishin Senpai M.A., decided to take a bold step and established a Shin Buddhist congregation in Connecticut. Meeting initially in his little apartment in Bristol, Connecticut, the fledgling community quickly over grew the space and consequently moved its gatherings to a community room at the Elmwood Community Center in West Hartford before settling at the College of East Asian Studies, at Wesleyan University in Middletown in 2004. Thereafter, we had become a vibrant Shin Buddhist fellowship that had grown to have a variety of Sunday morning programs, and courses, workshops, and retreats, and hosted special groups like our 12 Step Buddhist Group, New England Institute of Buddhist Studies, and Buddhist Family Practice programs.
For over a decade our activities were located in Middletown, Connecticut, however during the Covid-19 health crisis in 2020, our various groups met solely online. On account of our radical online orientation, we experienced an unforeseeable boon of expanded national and international participation in our gatherings. These days, our small in-person & concurrent online groups gather in Middletown, Connecticut. As of this writing, we are still the only Shin Buddhist fellowship in New England, located in the northeastern part of the United States, which includes the states of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.
Come as you are
For disciples and seekers. For individuals and families. For young and old. For men and women. For the highly educated and not so learned. For believers and non-believers. For the lucky and for the less fortunate. For straight and gay. For any race and ethnic group. For masked and unmasked. For blue collars, white collars or no collars. For the healthy and the sick, For locals and from abroad. At Buddhist Faith Fellowship, labels do not matter; the Buddha’s message is for everyone, for humankind and all sentient beings. Come as you are.
Join Buddhist Faith Fellowship’s Facebook Group. This interactive open space is a great place to learn about Buddhism, share knowledge and experiences with the teachings, and keep in touch with the Fellowship’s activities. Click the Facebook icon to enter.