The Middle Way Society is an international group, first founded in the UK, for the study, promotion and practice of the Middle Way. For more information about the meaning of the term ‘Middle Way’ as we understand it, please see the Middle Way page.

The aims of the society are as follows:

1. To investigate and promote the Middle Way as a practical and moral philosophy of universal applicability, independent of any appeal to traditional authority and avoiding metaphysical dogma, whether positive or negative.

2. To support all forms of practice that address conditions in a way compatible with the  Middle Way.

We intend to support these aims by various activities: blogging and web discussion here and on the society’s facebook page; creating audio and audio-visual material; retreats for fuller study and training in the Middle Way; supporting local groups; providing face-to-face talks in different places; promotion and support for publications about the Middle Way. You are welcome to suggest further activities that would further our aims.

We welcome new members to the Society and Network, which are now treated as the same thing. For more information about joining the society please go to the ‘join us’ page. For more information about Middle Way Network meetings please see this page. Anyone is welcome to join discussion on the Network who is interested in learning about and practising the Middle Way, and is willing to examine any dogmatic assumptions. 

We are an unregistered charity subject to the regulatory powers of the Charity Commission for England and Wales (registration is not required for charities with income below £5000 per annum).

A copy of our constitution can be found here: (Amended MWS Constitution 2023) and will be reviewed at each Annual General Meeting.  Please contact our secretary with any organisational or constitutional queries.

The Middle Way Society was founded in August 2013, by the agreement of the 5 participants on the Middle Way Study Retreat that took place then in Malvern, England, led by Robert M Ellis. The founding members made contact through the Secular Buddhist UK movement, and although we have some things in common with Secular Buddhists (for example, the practice of meditation), we wanted to move beyond the ‘Secular Buddhist’ label. We wanted to create a society that both has a clearer working philosophy and is universal in scope, taking the Middle Way outside the traditional Buddhist heading and treating it as a genuinely universal principle.

The society is run by a teams of  trustees and office holders. The office holders of the society and other trustees of the society are as follows. Their society email address in each case is their first name in lower case followed by ‘@middlewaysociety.org’:

Robert M Ellis (trustee and content creator)

Robert is philosophical writer, who has earned a living by teaching and tutoring a variety of subjects, and now co-runs Tirylan House Retreat Centre in Wales where society retreats are currently held. He has been developing Middle Way Philosophy since 1997, initially from a Ph.D. thesis, and has published a number of books on the subject, including the 4 volume Middle Way Philosophy series (2012-15 – now being re-published in a substantially revised form from 2022), the introductory book Migglism (2014), The Christian Middle Way (2018) and The Buddha’s Middle Way (2019). He was formerly a member of the Triratna Buddhist Order, but is no longer committed to any one religious tradition, though inspired by elements of both Buddhism and Christianity. Philosophy, Critical Thinking, Psychology, Politics and the arts are also all very important to him. Robert has appeared several times on the MWS podcast, but in this interview he talks personally about his own life. 

Jim Champion (trustee and secretary)

As a student Jim specialised in theoretical physics, up to PhD level, and then trained as a secondary school teacher in Birmingham. In 2004 he returned to Hampshire, and more recently moved to Oxfordshire, to teach physics. He first encountered the Middle Way Society in 2015, and has been practicing The Middle Way ever since. Jim is also a husband and father, and did a podcast interview with Barry in 2016 that you can listen to here.

George Glen (trustee, chair and treasurer)

George is an artist and has taught art at College for 24 years. He has also been practising and teaching yoga for 37 years. Having recently stepped back from teaching, he discovered the Middle Way Philosophy and is enjoying both the opportunity to be challenged and stimulated in developing an approach towards a more integrated life.

Susan Averbach (trustee)

Susan Averbach is a secular humanist rabbi and spiritual seeker ordained by the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism (IISHJ). She meditates regularly and has been inspired by a secular modern approach to Buddhism, similar to her humanistic Jewish approach. Although the world of Judaism offers limitless opportunities for learning, the middle way approach adds a dimension that she finds intriguing and beneficial. Susan did a podcast interview with Barry that you can listen to here.

Jennifer Wiley (trustee and Membership Secretary)

Jennifer is a UKCP registered psychotherapist.        

 

Hannah Bailey-Thomas (trustee and website/social media manager)

Hannah is a GP and long-time Buddhist who has been meditating for over 20 years. She grew up in the Christian Methodist tradition, and is inspired by the MWS secular approach to bringing those from wide-ranging spiritual and philosophical backgrounds together. 

Society contact details: Please use one of the email addresses of the officers of the society above in the first instance. Mail address is Tirylan House, Gwynfe Road, Llandeilo, SA19 6RH, Wales.