Partner Article

Meet Bruno Wang, the man on a mission to improve Britain’s mental health with Buddhist teachings

Soft-spoken, serene and intentional, Bruno Wang is a man on an urgent mission. The prolific philanthropist, arts patron and creative producer believes that the UK and the Western world is facing one of the greatest challenges of recent times: a youth mental health crisis.

Bruno Wang is not a public figure or a household name. But for over a decade he has quietly and modestly played an important role in shaping Britain’s cultural scene. He is a prolific arts supporter whose many patronages have included The Royal College of Music and The British Museum, where he supported the preservation of an invaluable masterpiece of Chinese art called the “Admonitions of the Instructress to the Court Ladies”.

Bruno Wang is also a theatrical producer. Bruno Wang-supported theatre productions have collectively won 29 Olivier Awards and have been nominated for 109 more. His production house, Bruno Wang Productions, has supported shows such as the critically acclaimed Leopoldstadt, Hamlet with Andrew Scott and The Scottsboro Boys. 

Bruno Wang has also been a supporter of the BFI Flare: London LGBTQ+ Film Festival, in the hope that this initiative will increase the visibility of LGBTQ+ narratives and productions within the British film industry.

But Bruno Wang's main passion lies in philanthropy. His charitable vehicle the Pure Land Foundation, has played a significant role in improving British society’s access to holistic knowledge since its inception in 2015.

The Pure Land Foundation has supported numerous charitable projects that have promoted spirituality, creative expression, universal peace, alternative therapies, intellectual discussions and mental wellbeing.

Tackling The UK’s Mental Health Crisis

Today, it is the UK’s evolving mental health crisis that keeps Bruno Wang awake at night. Alarming statistics have been published on the subject of youth mental health in the UK. This includes the Resolution Foundation’s 2024 report that people in their early 20s, particularly Gen Z, are more likely to be suffering from the physical, emotional and economic consequences of mental health problems.

The Lancet’s Psychiatry Commission also reports that young British people are facing an “alarming” spike in ill mental health, triggered by issues such as inequality, social media pressures and the climate crisis.

Bruno Wang believes that non-religious Buddhist and other Eastern teachings and principles can provide often-overlooked solutions to this mental health crisis. Because of this, he has resolved to combat the crisis by giving young people, in the UK and beyond, digital access to the beneficial effects of Eastern spiritual teachings, which includes Buddhist inspired wisdom.

Formerly a “conventional” foundation that made substantial grants to many UK charities and organisations, Bruno Wang has more recently transformed the Pure Land Foundation into a digital-first direct advocacy organisation. 

Through this renewed focus, the foundation is now actively and directly advocating for the mental health benefits of Buddhist inspired teachings to Britain’s youth, primarily by producing high-quality online educational content on YouTube.

Providing Answers To The Most Searched For Questions

At the centre of the digital advocacy activities of the Pure Land Foundation is a beautifully animated series that seeks to answer questions about common everyday challenges through the prism of Buddhist inspired concepts. 

Each animation has a gentle and ethereal quality and seeks to draw attention to Buddhism-inspired answers to common questions pertaining to matters that can impact mental wellbeing, such as “How to manage empathy burnout?”; “How to make friends?” and “How to find mental and physical harmony?”.

The Pure Land Foundation undertakes deep data analysis when determining which questions to create beautiful and thought-provoking answers to. It does this by strategically mining big data sources to determine which mental health related questions are the most searched for on Google, and which are trending on social media; and then providing well-crafted answers to them.

Advocating Ancient Wisdom For Modern Wellness

Last year the Pure Land Foundation also commenced a unique partnership with a Japanese monk called Osho Taigu, a prolific Zen master who is known for his rebellious nature and for breaking down conformities in Japanese society.

The foundation supported a unique inaugural event in London which brought the 31st head monk of a 540-year-old Fukugonji Buddhist Temple in Japan, to London, to explain the teachings of Buddha to a Western audience comprised people who travelled to London from all over Europe for the event.

The Pure Land Foundation has also collaborated with the monk to produce short and snappy educational content that advocates ancient Buddhist philosophies for modern mental wellness. These short learning videos cover Osho Taigu’s philosophy on subjects such as “Loss and Grief”; “Parenting” and “Stress Management”.

Under Bruno Wang’s direction the Pure Land Foundation has also invited three everyday people for one-to-one sessions with Taigu Osho: a personal trainer, an artist and a counsellor; each of whom was facing their own challenges. In a series of documentary short films due to be released in March 2025, viewers will be able to follow their individual journeys of enlightenment before, during and after learning about Buddhism-inspired philosophies and practices.

Exploring The Origins Of Love

The Pure Land Foundation’s “Series On Love” is a further limited series of short videos that capture the findings from the work of author David Cadman, who is a Harmony Professor of Practice at the University of Wales, Trinity St David. 

The author and academic has received longstanding funding from the Pure Land Foundation to support the publication of his scientific, spiritual and psychological analysis of love in various reports and books.

In the “Series On Love”, Professor Cadman explains how the absence of love in our social structures has an impact on our lives, and guides viewers on how to adopt life-affirming and life-improving practices based on his findings about the very origins of love.

Exploring Healing And Compassion

Another original film created and released by the Pure Land Foundation follows and explains the gathering of a group of senior Tibetan Monks in London to create a sand mandala, the universal symbol of healing and compassion. 

Over three days, the monks create an intricate geometric pattern using colourful sand. The series then shows and explains how after this painstaking creation, the sand mandala is ritualistically destroyed, and explains what this process represents and how viewers can draw wisdom from it for their lives.

Passion Born From Adversity

Projects such as these engender Bruno Wang’s passion for advocating for the improvement of emotional, spiritual and mental wellness. The Pure Land Foundation, may have a rich legacy in the UK, but its origin story is inspired by Bruno Wang’s personal journey into discovering the beneficial effects of Buddhist teachings whilst he was living in San Francisco.

Bruno Wang grew up as the eldest child within a strict household in Taiwan. After being initially bound by the culture of conformity and familial obedience, he moved to San Francisco in the 1990s for studies.

His worldview dramatically changed and expanded as he rediscovered his deep ties to his Eastern roots. He began involving himself in the world of performing arts, also becoming a lifelong advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. 

During this period, Bruno Wang also started exploring spiritual Buddhist practices and discovered their benefits to physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing, especially when applied within a non-religious context. 

Equipped with this new knowledge and eye-opening perspectives, Bruno Wang became immersed in the transformative power of spiritual thoughts, especially within the context of creativity and the arts.

But it was the tragic event of the death of his father in 2015 that empowered Bruno Wang to help more people to discover how Eastern wisdom can improve their emotional and mental wellbeing. 

His late father had been a civilian businessman in Taiwan, who had facilitated the acquisition of naval hardware from France during the 1990s.  While the acquisition was initially perceived to be a diplomatic turning point which had supported the security of Taiwan, years later the transaction became politically controversial. Bruno Wang and his family were found to be innocent bystanders in the affair by the Taiwanese Supreme Court in 2019.

The experience made Bruno Wang even more determined to dedicate himself to a life of philanthropy and patronage of the arts, and provoked the first major initiative of the Pure Land Foundation, called The Pure Land Series, in 2016.

The Pure Land Series, which was curated by Bruno Wang and is still available on the Pure Land Foundation YouTube channel, is a series of high profile talks focused on emotional and physical wellbeing. Produced in partnership with China Exchange, the series includes a workshop with actress Goldie Hawn, as well as discussions with prominent figures Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson and Bianca Jagger.

New Hope For The Future

Bruno Wang’s mission to heal Britain’s growing mental health crisis is his most pressing.  According to market analysis by Grand View Research, younger people in the UK are now more keen than ever to discover spiritual content to help answer questions about their mental health and wellbeing.

And growing research into the application of secular Buddhist-inspired practices such as meditation, mindfulness and non-attachment increasingly validates their mental health benefits.

Bruno Wang sees a hopeful future and is confident in the power of the Pure Land Foundation’s renewed role in society as an advocacy organisation.  

To engage with the Pure Land Foundation’s work, you can visit @ThePureLandFoundation on Instagram and YouTube.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jane Wang .