Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

to MichelleBarker

andCristinaRocha

Western

Buddhisms,

AustralianBuddhisms

Many

scholars

haveusedthe

concept

of‘Buddhism in

theWest‘asshorthandfor

theBuddhism

developed

innon-Asiancountries.

Whilethis

conceptmay

be

helpful

asitallows

focusonnew

developments

since

scholars.travellers.

mouasticsand

missionaries

brought

this

religion

to

Europe;

it

also

ignores

thedifferencesinthe

localimtionofBuddhismineach

country.

l-‘urthcn-nore.

itis

noteworthy

that

this

seemingly

clear-cutdifferentiation

betweentheWestandthenon-Westis

impli-

catedinahistorical

process

of

establishinginequalities

of

power

betweenthem.

Indeed.Hall

argues

that‘theWest‘is

neithera

geographical

territory

noranatural

entit).

butisrathera

historicallyproduced

category.

For

Hall.

the

binaryopposition

between‘theWest‘and‘theRest‘isa

discursiveformationthat

emerges

as

aresult

ol'a

setofhistoricalforcesthatwere

centraltotheformationof

Europe'sidentity

These

includethe

processes

ofReformation

and

Enlightenment

aswellas

Europe's

encounter

withthe‘NewWorld‘.Both

processes

gaveEurope

asenseof

itself.

an

identityagainst

whichothernon-Western

societiesandculturesweremeasured.

Asllall

notes.discoursesthat

rely

onthe

binaryopposition

betweentradition

and

modernity.

WestandEast.

simplify

th uc

byesscntializing

the

categories

ofboththeWest

and the

Rest,

a

homogenizing

manoeuvrethaterasesinternal

di. ‘nctionswithin

each

category

U992:280),

itisnot

theaimofthisintroduction

todiscussthe

problematies

of

conflaling

the

categories

theWest/modemandAsia

/traditional

(Baumann2001:

Lopez

2002;

Prebishand

Baumann

2002;

Heineand

Prebish

2003).However.itisusefulto notethatmodern

andtraditionalBuddhism

havebeen

historicallyenmeshed,

just

as‘theWest‘and‘the

Rest'are

historically

implicated,

Since

thelatenineteenth

century

,

andwith

more

intensity

inthe

twentiethand

twenty»first

centuries

7

therehasbeenan

increasing

circulationof

Buddhist

monasties.students.books.

practices

andmaterialculture

betweenthe

Westandthenon-Westand

withintheWest.The

presence

inAustraliaot‘the

llritish

FriendsoftheWestern

BuddhistOrder

(now

TriratnaBuddhist

Community)

and

North

American'sDiamond

Sangha

arecasesin

point

andthese

organizations

are

represented

in

thisvolumein

chaptersbyNagasuri

and

Barzaghi.respectively.

Itis

imponant

tounderstandthatthis

circulationentailsdifferentiated

proc

scs

oflocalization.As

Baumann

argues.

the

way

Buddhism is localil. each

country

hasmoretodowith

each

country‘s

culture

thantothe

religionitsclft

[997:

287).

Inthe

past

two

decades.

scholarshaveidentifieda

setofcharacteristicsthat

are

present

inthe

development

of

BuddhismintheWest:the

plurality

ofBuddhist

traditionsina

singlecountry.

a

diversity

of

practice

forthosewho

convenedand

thosewho

werebomintothe

religion.blurring

ofmonasticismand

|a_\ practice

withthe

consequent

diminishedroleof

Buddhist

monastics.

equality

for

women.

application

of

democratic

principles. emphasis

on

ethics. secularimticn

(this

includes

emphasis

onthe

rationalnatureofBuddhism

andits

congmencewith

Western

science).

linkage

to

psychological concepts

and social

engagement

(Baumann1995;

Tanaka

1998;

Prehish

1999;

QueenI999;

PrehishandBaumann

2002;

Wallace

2002).

Yetthe

presence

and

emphasis

oneachofthese

character-

istics

changes

from

country

to

country.

Introduction

I 1

Severalofthesecharacteristics

are

present

in

Australiaaswell.

Spuler's

analysis

of

Buddhism

inAustraliain 2000

identifieda

diversity

oftraditionsand

lineages.

a

differentiation between ethnicand convert

Buddhism,

an

emphasis

on

lay

practice.

onthe

application

ofdemocratic

principles(exemplifiedby

theexistence

ofelected

councils),

some

emphasis

onsocial

engagement.

andsomeevidenceof

secularization

(2000:3840;

Spuler

2003b).

The

chapters

inthisvolumeevidence

thatthesecharacteristicsarealiveandmoreevidentadecadelater.For

instance,

Bubna-Liticand

Higgins

addressthedifferentiationaswell as

conjunctions

of

practice

between so-called ‘ethnic'and ‘convert‘ Buddhism. LamaChoedak

Rinpoche

is

ideallypositioned

to

provide

anexcellentoverviewoftheditferences

betweenthesetwo

congregations

intermsof

practice.understanding

andbelief.

duetohis

backgroundworking

withboth

groups.

HewastrainedasaTibetan

monasticandhasbeen

teaching

Westernfollowersfor

manyyears.

His

analysis

also

goes

one

step

further

bypointing

totheconflictsthatarisewhendifferent

Asiantraditions

meetin

theWest.

Vasi's

chapter

alsoshowsthe

precariousposition

of

someCambodian

migrants

inrelationtothedominantwhitc

culture.

evidencing

the

benefitsofthe

culturally

appropriatesupport

servicesthat

temples

can

provide.)

Whilewelfareservicesare

provided

for

migrantsby

various

organizations.

Vasi's

chuptersuggests

that

large

cultural

shiftwouldbe

necessary

toenabletheseCambodian

migrants.

whodonot

speakEnglish

and

come

froma

very

differentcultural

background.

to

successfully

accesstheseservices.

Likewise.

Thich

ThongPhap‘schapter

describesVietnamese

youth

whoareunsureoftheir

place

inthenation.Whilethese

youthrespect

their

parents'

culture,tensionsariseas

they

also feelthat

they

areAustralian.

Caught

betweentwocultures.

they

canbeashamedoftheir

parents'

cultureandthe

religion

thatis

part

ofitand

consequently

shunthem.

Finally.

Bowen's

chapter

alsoshows

the

difficulty Anglo-Australians

havewhen Buddhism in

tightly

connected to

Japanese

cultureShe

argues

thatasSokaGakkai

graduallyadopts

amoreWestern

stance,

Anglo-Australian

followers are

becoming

more

easily

accommodated

withinthetradition.

However.

even

though

Buddhism

practices

are

localizing,

‘authenticity‘

isstillanissueIn 2007

Eddyexplored

the

approach

toand

practice

oftantrainthe

FPMTin

Australia

concluding

that

‘itisevidentthattheFPMT

maintainsa

stmng

adherencetothedoctrinalfoundationsofthe

Gelugpalincagc

andits

Mahayana

orientation‘

(Eddy

2007).

Inthis

volume,

Barzaghi

discussesher

strategies

for

maintaining

thefinebalancebetweentraditionandinnovationinthe

Diamond

Sangha.

Secularizalion

can be

translated intola’ ‘7ation. democratic

principles

and

femin m.L

cization

isacharacteristicofAustraliaBuddhismandBubna- .tic

and

Higgins

demonstratethedifi‘icultiesin

melding

the

trappings

ofmonasticism

with

lay

associational

expectation.

Davisand

Barzaghi

examinethesameissuein

relationtoZenBuddhismintheir

chapters.

’lhecontributorsincludedinthesecond

sectionofthisvolume

exemplify

the

contemporaryemphasis

on

laypractice.

as

many

oftheauthorsare

lay

teachers.

Keamey's

discussionoftheBurmese

insight

meditationtraditionnotesthatthemovement

represents

atransitionfromtradition

to

modernity. through

its

empowcnncnt

ofthe

laity

andits

reorgani7ation

of

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