Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

26 David

Bubrm-Li/icand

Wiman

Higgins

vestiges

such

as

lineage-based

dharrna

transmission.

quasi»ordination

procedures,

ritualand

hierarchical

authority.

(The

Friendsof

theWesternBuddhist

Orderfrom

its

inception

includedasem

autonomous

nucleus,

theWestern

BuddhistOrder.

which

resurrectedmonastic

hierarchy,

nomenclatureand

usage

toa

considerable

degree)

Similar

hybrid

forms

appeared.

for

instance,

withthe

(Zen)

Diamond

Sangha,

whichcontinued

lineage-based

dhannatransmission

and,

inthe

sphere

of

insight

meditation.

the

monastic-blessed

lay

associations

connectedtothetradition

of

Mahasi

Sayadaw.

lnevitably.

however.

a

clashof

fundamentalmoral

principles,Z

abovealloverthe

inclusionofwomen

on

equal

terms,

was

boundto

emerge

in

institution

building.

Ifthenew

vehiclesofdharma

practice

inthewestwerenot

monastic,

thenwhat

were

they?

In

practice,theyreadily

fell

intothatfamiliar

category

ofwesterncivil

society

,

the

voluntary

association.At

leastinthewakeof

second-wavefeminism

and

comparable

demandsforcivic

diversity,

theethos

ofwesternassociationallife

hastendedtobe

rationalist,

egalitarian,

inclusiveand

democraticin

particular,

decisionmakers

typically

havetoface

regular

electionsand

discussionofthe

group’s

affairsmust

proceed

withoutundue

influence,

letor

hindrance.Westerners

whocommittheir

time.

energy

and

money

to

a

voluntary

activity

of

any

kind

mightreasonablyexpect

to

enjoy

full

rights

of

membership

andthus

toexercise

an

influenceoverit

equal

to

thatof

any

other

activists.

So

long

asanaura

ol’religit

surrounded

dharma

practice.

thedemandsof

normal

western

principles

of

associationcouldto

someextentbedeflected

by

appeals

to

spiritualauthority.

But

thataura

inexorably

fadedthefurtherdharma

practice

removeditselffrom

monastic

tutelage

and

themoretheboundsofthat

authority

began

tobe

questioned

The

Australian‘dharma

scene‘

lntemational

influences and networks

have moulded

endeavours to establish

dharrna

practice

in the

variouswestern

countries.

Prominentwestern dhanna

teachershavetendedto

globalize

their

activitiesandlead

meditationretreatsina

numberofdifferentcountries.

Especially

since

theintroduction

ot'theworldwide

webin

the

mid-19905,Australiandharrna

practitioners

in

particular

havetaken

the

opportunity

toovercometheir

geographical

isolation

by

not

only

going

on

retreatwith

overseas

teachers,

but

also

byfollowing

developments

in

(and

debates

around)

dharma

practice

anddoctrine

occurring

inlocales

a

longway

fromtheir

nativeshares.Thesearchfor

an‘Australian

Buddhism‘,then.will

yieldonly

an

oxymoron.

Many

individuals who would

laterbecome

influential teachers of

insight

meditation in
Australia

originally

spent

time

in

Asia. sometimesin

robes.

in

Burma,

SriLankaand

Thailand.Ontheir

return,

they

typically

alsoretumedto

lay

lifeand
practised

eitherin

the

quasi»monastic

centres

oftheMahasi

traditionorin

entirelylay

forms.

PractitionerswithAsian

experience

were

prominent

among

those

who.inthe

W705,establishedtwostillextant
Buddhistintentional
communitiesinthe
rural

Emergenceofsettllurinsight

practice

27

NorthernRivers

region

of

NewSouthWales:BodhiFarmandtheDharrnananda

community.

These

communities

occupiedadjoining

landin

spectacular

rainforest

and

quickly

establishedthe

ForestMeditation

Centre.

whichbecamea

magnet

for

those

who

wanted

to

practise insight

meditationandadharmic

way

oflifethat

was

self-evidently

radical

andnon-monastic. ltattracteda

range

of

prominent

overseasteachers.

including

Christina

Feldman,

Joseph

Goldstein,

ThichNhat

Hanhand

Christopher

Titrnuss.

torunretreats

there:

thelastnamedhasmaintained

hisinfluenceintheareasincethattime.When

insightpractice

establisheditself

in

nearby

Brisbane.

especially

in

themain

layinsightsangha,

DharmaCloud,

the

institutionalethosoftheNorthern

Riverssetthetonethereaswell.

Clearly,

contact

withmonasticBuddhismhas

been

negligible

fromthe

beginning.

Quite

adifferent

dynamic

occurred

in

the

major

citicsotherthanBrisbane.under

theinfluenceofthe

enormousinfluxof‘ethnic‘Buddhistsinsuccessivewavesof

Asian

migration.

Thanks

tothem.Buddhismassuchhasforsometimebeenthe

country's

fastest

growingreligion.

aswellasthe

country'slargest

non-Christian

one

(2.]

per

centol‘the

population.according

tothe 2006

census).

Australian

dharma

practitioners

ofwestern

background

tendtobeurbanandmiddleclass

and Buddhist

migrants

(like

most

migrantgroups)

are

largely

concentratedin

the

big

citiesas

well,

but

are

predominantlyworking

class.Fromthe

[9705,

the

instimtionsofthe

immigrant

‘bom

Buddhists‘,

withtheir

faith-inspiring

ancient

antecedents,

often

appealed

towesternconverts.Andwhilethe‘ethnic‘Buddhist

institutionsfocused

on

upholding

the

immigrants‘

ethnic

identity.

someoftheir

leadersrealizedthe

valueof

engaging

withlocalwestern

Buddhists,

whocould

articulateandbolster

theirown

position

inthehost

society.

Also,

theconverts'

presence

was

thought

to

help

convincethe

migrants'

childrenthat Buddhism

wasnotamererelicoftheir

parents‘

oldworld.butrather

somethinguniversally

valuablethatattractedmodern

westernersaswell.

Forthese

reasons.

western

andAsianBuddhists

probably

tendedtofraternizc

inAustraliancitiesmore

than

they

didinmostotherwesternenvironments.This

comingling

sometimestookinstitutional

forms,

albeitonesthatcameto

exemplify

whatNumrich

dubbed‘intersectionwithoutinteraction'and

‘parallelcongrega-

tions‘

(1996:63,67).

Butenthusiasmformutualcontactforatime

papered

over

the

underlying

conflictbetweentheassociationalvaluesthatinhereintraditional

religious

institutions.ontheone

hand,

andwestern

voluntary

associations.

onthe

other.A

crucial

example

isWatBuddhaDhamma

(WBD),

establishedin 1978 in

the

wildernessofthe

Dharug

NationalParklessthantwo

hours‘

drivenorthof

Sydney,

the

country‘slargestcity.

WBD‘smission

was

to

provide

a

setting

inwhich

interested

Sydneysidcrs

andtheirnear

neighbours

couldlearnand

practise

the

dharrna.Thetwofounders

(both

of

whomwould

enjoy

international

reputations)

werean

English-bum

Theravadin

monk,

Phi-a

Khantipalo,

andaGerman-Jewish

refugee.

Ilse

Ledermann.whowas

shortly

thereafterordained.

becomingAyya

Khema.

Khantipalo

had

hada

long

monastic

training

bothinIndiabut

especially

Thailandandcamewith

aformidableinternational

reputation

asaFallscholar.

The

project

receivedtheenthusiastic

support

ofbothwestern devotees

and

migrant

communities

from

Thailand,

Sri Lanka and Burma in

particular.

In