The Foundations of Buddhism

Traditions of Buddhism 275

the nineteenth century was particularly significant in the early

establishment of Zen traditions there. But it is the period since

the Second World War that has witnessed the greatest growth

in Western interest in Buddhism. A particular feature of this inter-

est has been the increased contact with the living traditions of

Asian Buddhist practice. This contact has resulted both from the

movements of various Asian groups to all parts of the world in

the period after the war and the growing numbers of Westerners

travelling east since the late 1960s. Of particular significance in

this context has been the presence since I 959 of the Tibetan refugee

community in Dharmsala in north India; this has served as both

a source of teachers coming to the West and a destination for

Western travellers.

In the West today the various schools of Tibetan Buddhism

are all represented in Europe, the USA, Australia and New

Zealand. East Asian Buddhism is represented especially by Jap~

anese Zen in the USA and also in Europe; the Nichiren sub-

sect, Soka Gakkai, is also a significant presence. The Theravada

presence takes the form of the Sangha from Sri Lanka and

South-East Asia and several samatha and vipassanii meditation

schools and centres. There are also more eclectic groups, such

as the Western Buddhist Order, founded in 1967 by the English-

. man Sangharakshita (Dennis Lingwood, b. 1925) who, having
been originally ordained as a Theravadin monk in India, came
to regard traditional Asian forms of Buddhist practice as inap-
propriate to the West.

The number of Westerners ordaining into the Theravada,

Tibetan, and East Asian Sanghas and living as monks both in

Asia and the West has increased significantly in the last twenty-

five years; in Buddhist circles in the West it is not uncommon to

find Westerners with thirty or forty years of involvement with

Buddhist practice behind them; some Westerners have gained

an authority as teachers which is recognized by Asian Buddhists.

The overall numbers of committed practitioners may still be

relatively small, but the growth of interest among Westerners in

Buddhism since the Second World War is a significant feature

of religious practice in the West.