The Buddhist Society is a UK registered charity which aims to encourage the study and practice of Buddhist principles.
The Buddhist Society is an inter-denominational and non-sectarian lay organisation. It offers talks and classes on the teachings of all the different major mainstream Buddhist schools and traditions, as well as a structured programme of courses on general Buddhism, for both the public and members. It has a publishing programme and in its premises houses one of the main libraries in Britain on Buddhism. It is managed by an elected council and its patron is the 14th Dalai Lama.
Among other publications, it produces The Buddhist Directory, a reference book which lists the vast majority of Buddhist groups, centres and other related organisations in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and The Middle Way, a quarterly journal (referring to the Buddhist concept of a Middle Way).
History
<!-- WP:NFCC violation: thumb|170px|[[Christmas Humphreys.]] -->
The Society was originally created in 1924 in London as an offshoot of a Theosophical Lodge by Christmas Humphreys, a British judge and convert to Buddhism. It became an independent body in 1926, by then Buddhist and no longer associated with Theosophy, and Humphreys remained its president until his death in 1983. In 1961 the 14th Dalai Lama became patron of the Society, the first organisation in the West to be so honoured.