Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

28 David

Emma-Liliaam]WinIrm

Higgins

hindsight.

the

earlycooperation

betweenthesetwo

contrasting

constitucncieswas

remarkable,

withthe 80

hectares

occupiedbyup

to 30 residents

living

the

hippy

dreamwith allits

lifestyleimplications

and

regularly

visited

by

devoutAsian

Buddhistswhocameto

give

dana,eammeritandenacttheir

time-honouredrituals.

Atthetimetherewere

noknown

precedents

forsucha

centreandlittle

thought

was

given

tothe

principles

ofassociation

underpinning

whatsoonbecameone

ofthe

country's

most

imponant

incubatorsofwestern

dhanna

practice.

WBD‘s

establishment

predatedtoday's

majorexamples

of

largelay-based

dharrnicinsti-

tutionsinthewest.

Itsnewsletter.Budhi‘

Leufiproclaimed

thencwinstitutionto

bea‘Buddhist

monasteryrlaycommunityiretreat

centre'.withanabbot

(Phra

Khantipalol

anda

committeeof

lay

residentsin

charge,

Its

rudimentary

consti-

tution

required

that

any

futureabbot.likethefirst

incumbent,

he‘aBikkhuof

the

Dhammayut

Theravada

tradition'.

but

beyond

that

itneitherlaidclaimtothe

centrefor

anyparticular

Buddhistsectnor

specified

what

wasmeant

by

theword

‘monastery'

inits

mixedself-characterization.

Formostofthe

community.

theword

‘monastery‘(or

warin

Thai)

was.inthe

absence of

any

alternative

model.

etTectively

contenninouswith

any place

of

Buddhist

practice.

Thereis

scantevidencethat

anyone

involvedintendedWBD

to

operate

asanorthodox

Theravadin

monastery:

itwassurrounded

by

wilderness

rather

thana

supportive

townor

village

thatcoulddeliverthe

necessary

support

suchan

institution

requires

ona

daily

basis.

By

thesame

token.

theinvolventent

andenthusiasm

ofthe

lay

residentsoverWBD'sfirstdecadeisstillevident

today

inthe

manybuildings

completed

in

that

period

including

a

large

meditationhall

thatis

alwaysgreatly

admired.italso

sported

a

rudimentaryprimary

school for

children

living

in

the

community

Womenwere

prominent

inits

affairs:

ithosted

retreats

by

monasticand

lay

teachersof

Theravadin.

ZenandTibetan

persuasion.

Thosewholed

early

retreatsthere

includedRobertAitken,

Joseph

Goldsteinand

ThichNhatHanh.

Inthelate

19805.

however.

WBD

began

to

experiencedifficulties.

thefirstof

whichshowedhowexternal

forcescould

impact

onsuch

hybrid

institutions.The

hardening

ofeconomic

conditionsandthe

tightening

of

government

labourmarket

and

welfare

policies

madeit

increasingly

difficult

forWBDresidentstotaketime

out

fromnormal

employment

andtheirnumbers

dwindled

precipitously:

suchthat

asmall

and

numerically

volatile

community

ofsix

orsowaslefltomaintainits

now

considerableinfrastructureand

mountitsrctrcat

program.

Thesecond

difliculty

WBDfaced

revealedthe

fragility

oftheethical

compromise

involvedin

melding

the

trappings

of

monasticismwith

lay

associational

expecta-

tions.

Thecentre's

subsequent

travails

exemplify

thetensionsbetweentraditional

Asian

Buddhismand modern

westerndhanna

practice.

Phra

Khantipalo

who.

in

Ayya

Khema's

long

absences.dominatedthelifeof

WBD.began

to

question

tlteThemvadin

orthodoxy

in

general

andits

gender

orderin

particular.

He

had

nurturedanecumenical

attitudeto

dharma

practice

atthe

centre.

including

an

early

sympathy

forthe

Mahayana.

and

became

increasingly

interestedinit.Inthelate

19805,heannouncedthe

conclusionthatthe

‘eight

seriousconditions‘

imposed

on

nunsand

ascribedtotheBuddha

inthePalicanon

—

theTheravada'5maindoctrinal

• 
  

Emergenceofseculzir

insight

prov/ice

29

support

for

subordinating

and

marginalizing

women

7

were.intact.

iipocryphal.

‘Duetotheformulationoftheseconditions.we

may

concludethat

they

arealater

insenion

by

someonewhowasbiased

against

theordinationot‘ttoment'he

it

role

inBodhi

Leaf119901l0l.

His

high

standi

gamong

bothwesternandAsianTheravadinscontributedtoair

atmosphere

oicrisisaroundhis

supposedupostasy

andmadethewe

'

onceat

theWat's

‘parallelcongregations'

difficulttosustain.Theissuesheraised

brought

into

sharp

relieffundamental ditferenees between the

givens

ofTheravadrn

Buddhismandthe

widespread

view

among

western

practitioners

thatBuddhism

was

inherentlyprogressive

andoifereda

range

of

possibilities

inassociational

principles.

Phra

Khantipalo

disrobedandaTheravadinfactioncame

together

and

imposed

anewconstitutionin [992.Itrewrote

history

and

stipulated

thatWBD

had

always

been

7

andmusteverremain

»

anorthodox

Thai-style

Theravadin

monastery.

Truetomonastichierarchical

assumptions.

thenewconstitutionvested

all

powerexclusively

infiveself-selectedtrusteeswhoheldofficeuntildeathor

resignation,

afterwhichthe

surviving

trusteesalonewouldchoosethe

replace-

ments.A

Laotian-hom.

Thai-trainedmonkwas

appointed

'interinrabbot'andis

stillinoffice 18

years

later.

Itwasone

thing

toassertTheravadinmonasticisin.but

quite

anothertomake

a

monastery

workinthemiddleoftheAustralianwildemess.Asa

visiting

senior

monk from

England,Ajahn

Viradhammo,

pointed

out in

1994.

no Theravadin

monastery

could survivethere and recommended that WBD should

operate

instead a a

'lay-based

retreat centre‘ with

hennitage

facilities for

visiting

monasticstThenewtnisteesfollowedthisadviceanda

fragilecompromise

was

restored.Underthedetacto

management

ofa

lay

committee.

WBDreturnedto

itsformerroleasa

busy

andeclecticretreatcentreforthenextit)

years.

Periodic

eruptions

occurredwhenorthodoxTheravadinmonkscameonextendedretreats

andtriedtoasserttheir

authority

and

gender

exclusions.butthecommitteelearncd

todissuadetheirvisits.Muchmore

importantly.

thecentrehostedthe

majorlay

insight

retreatsinthe

Sydney

area.

onesoftenled

by

overseasorinterstateteachers

andinthe

Sydneyregion

itactedasthe

spiritual

home

orlayinsightpractitioners

outsidetheGoenkaandMahasitraditions.Once

again.

women

playedprominent

rolesinits

spiritual

life.

WBDhadbecomeadefacto

voluntary

association.

but thetrusteesrefused

to

negotiate

any

constitutional

changes

thatwouldhaveseentheir

power

diluted

orthe

possibility

ofafutureturntoTheravadinmonasticism

compromised.

This

institutional

incongruityeventually

doomedthe

compromise.

From 2000 aseries

ofinterventiot'is

by

thetrustees

(who

hadturneddirectorsonWBD‘s

incorporation

in

1998. 
      

intothe

management

ofWBDledto

increasingly

severeconflictsthat

erodedthe

laysuppon

base.

so

undermining

WBD's

ability

tomountretreatsand

evenmaintainits

buildings

andland.In

early

2005 thedirectors

responded

with

anew

attempt

toturnWBDintoaTheravadin

monastery

in

practice,including

reducedretreat

activity

andtheenforcementofthe

vinaya(traditional

rules)

onthe

monasticfacilities.which

essentially

banishedwomento

separate

facilities

yet

to

bebuilt.