Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

158 DianaComens

ceremony.

customary

laws around

inheritance.

a

judicial system

ora caste

system.

In

this.

itis

unlike

many

other

religions.

Australianculture

isstill

heavily

constructed

aroundnorms

developed

intheJudaeo-Christian

tradition.Theneed

for

religion

to

bedefined

bymarriage

isa

strikingexample

—

marriagecertainly

doesnot

defineBuddhism.

Our

proposed

marriageceremony

wasbasedonthesecular

serviceforcelebrants

inAustralia\iith

afew

special

additions.Itreadsasfollows:

I. Dt-t'luru/izm

of

names.(‘elehrantdeclaresthenamesofthose

whoaretohe

married

2.

Blessings.

Celebrant and/orothers recite

appropriateprayers

and

blessings

which

may

hein

any

suitable

language

and

may

includethe

Mango/a

5mm.

Refuge

Recitationor

the

Siggula

Van/aSulra.

3.Adviceon

abliga/iam.

Thecclebrant

expands

onthe

obligations

of

marriage

according

tomutual

agreement

ofthe

parties

tothe

marriage

and

according

to

thelawsofAustralia.

4. Vows.Thecelebrant

requests

the

parties

toeachrecitethe

following

words:

icall

upon

the

persons

here

present

towitnessthat

I.

AB

(orCD).

take

you.

CD

(orAB).

tobe

my

lawful

weddedwife

(or

husband).

BeforethisBuddhist

celebrantandthese

witnesses.

I

hereby

makea

lifelong

commitmentofloveand

devotionto

you.

Imakethis

vow

realizing

the

consequences

ofthelawofkarma

and 1 ask

protection

of

the

Triple

Gem

,

the

Buddha,

thedharmaandthe

sangha.

5. Conclusion.Celebrant
   declaresthetwoashusbandandwifeandwishesthem

long

life and

lifelonghappiness.

Thereisthe

opportunity

fora

concluding

recitationof

prayers.

suchasthe

JoyaMangala

Gulha

Sit/m,

orother

appro~

priate

texts.as

determined

by

the

panies

andtheirBuddhisttradition

Theadditionstothesecularservice
are

things

suchastheBuddhist

prayers

and

thenatureofthe

vow,

inwhichitis

statedthatthisvowismadewithanawareness

of
thelawofkarma.We

proposed

that

individual

temples

wouldbeabletoselect

suitable
people

tobecomecelebrants,

At

present

there is a

livelydialogue

going

onbetween the Federation of

Australian

BuddhistCouncils andmembersot‘the

Federal

Attorney

Gcneial's

department

onthe

issueofBuddhist

weddings.

The Federation

ot‘Australian

Buddhist Councils

has been asked to

provide

information on the

wedding

ceremony

andhe

responsible

for

nominating

and

appointing

Buddhistcelebrants.

Itcanbeseenfromthisthat

thereisan

assumption

atthelevelofthefederal

government

thatall

religions

havea

weddingceremony

andthatall

wedding

celebrantsreceive
religioustraining.

Intraditional Buddhismthe

people

who

receive
religioustraining

are

principally

monksandnunsandthereisnotradi-

tionalBuddhist
weddingceremony
(Japanbeing

an

exception

tothis

rule).

While

Buddhisminthewestis

accommodating

anewcultureand newculturalnorms.

theissueof
weddings

inAustralia

highlights

thistransition

process,

Toa

large

extent,

monksandnunsareeithernot

expected,

orare

actively

excluded,

from

participation

in

weddings,

asstatedinthe

Vinaya:

The

BuddhistCouncil

of

Victoria

159

Should

any

Bhikkhu

engage

in

conveying

aman’s

intentions

toawoman

or

awoman‘sintentions

toa

man.

proposing

marriage

or

paramour-age

.-

ever;

if

only

fora

momentary

liaisonitentails

initialand

subsequent

meetings

0

theCommuni.

.. ‘
‘

ty

(‘Sanghadisesa

r

Wikipitaka

2009. 
      

Whilethereare

lay

teachers

ofBuddhism

inAustralia.

they

fire

substantially

fewerthanthemonksand

thenunswhoare

primarily

responsible

for

teaching

inBuddhist

organizations.

It seemsthat

at this

point

some.

kind

‘of

program

of

marriage

celebrant

religious

training

willneedto

be instituted

in

order

for

Buddhismtobe

recognized

asa

religion

inAustralia.

This

isa

verypeculiar

case

ofAustralianculturalnorms

being

retrofitted

ontoBuddhism.

_.

Buddhism inAustralia

is characterized

by

diverse

Buddhist

organizations

belony'ng

to

specific

traditionsthat

mostlyoperate

at

a

local

level.

althoughsome

may

haveinterstate

afi-‘iliates.

Having

consideration

forthis

tremendous

dwersrty.

ithasbeenusefulto

create

ways

of

working

together

to

represent

ourinterests

and

needstothe

government

andtofind

ways

of

talking

toeach

othcrtThe

firststate

BuddhistCouncil

inAustraliawas

theBuddhist

Council

ofNewSouth

Wales,

establishedin

l985,

andthiswas

followed

by

theBuddhist

Council

of

Yictona,

establishedin1995. BuddhistCouncils

have

subsequently

been

established

in

Queensland.

WesternAustralia

andSouth

Australiaand

the

Buddhist~levtctl

oftheAustralian

Capital

Territory

is in

formation.

The Councils

are

incorpo-

rated associations

registered

atthe state

level and

have

democraticelections

Whereby

member

temples

of

any

nationality

areable

tovote

and

participate

inthe

committee,

.

TheBuddhistCouncil

ofVictoria

has

approximately

40 member

temples

andis

actively

engaged

in

representing

theneedsof

WctorianBuddhists

to

all

levels

of

government.

it

providesspeakers

forinterfaith

dialogue

and

worksWidelywith.

the

community.

TheBuddhist

Council

ofVictoria's

achievements

include

initiatives

inthe

spheres

ofeducation.prisons

and

hospitals.

The

management

committee

is

electedannually

from

delegates

from

themember

temples

. _

TheBuddhistCouncil

ofVictoria

has

developed

a

primary

school

religious

instructionsvtlahusthat

is

operating

in

eightprimary

state

schools

and'is-

run

by

volunteers.The

program

works

through

the

WorldConference

on

Religions

for

Peace.whichisa

non-government

organization

thatacts

asan

umbrellaorganiz-

ation

linking

faith

communities

tothe

Education

Department

Inthe

Vicionpn

state

government.

The

program

was

conceivedin1999.

recetVed

some

substantial

donations

inzoomzoot.

employed

a

part

timeco—ordimitor

and

has

been

running

since2003.The

highlights

have

beenin

making

Buddhism

availableto

children

ata

veryyoungage.

However.

ongoing

difficultiesincludemaintaining

funding

and

retaining

volunteer

teachers

and

training

new

volunteers.

Many

additional

schoolshave

requested

the

program

butthereareinsufficient

funds

andnot

enough

volunteers

tomeetthe

need.

TheBuddhist

Education

Program'has

also

created

a

syllabus,

‘Discovering

Buddha',

a

practical

teaching

resource

kitthat

they

publish

andsell

(Buddhist

Council

ofVictoria

2009).