Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

(.4

Sally

McAt‘a

I

argue

thatthe

stupaproponents'

successthus far

isarcstiltofthis

alignmciit.

alongside

theiraccessto

significant

socialand

cultural

capital,

which

empowers

thematamore

implicit

level.Before

continuing,

it

isworth

noting

the

religious

motivationbehindthe

stupaproject.Alongside

teachings

about

attainingenlight-

enmentinordertobenefit

allsentient

beings,

the

FPMT‘S

spiritual

director.Lama

ZopaRinpoche.

emphasizes

the constructionand

venerationof

‘holyobjects'

suchas

stupas.

statues

and

prayer

wheels.Atone

level.

seeingholyobjectshelps

dliarma

practitioners

byinspiring

them.Buthe

alsomaintainsthatwhendedicatcd

practitionerssponsor

orvenerate

holy

objects.they

receive

spiritualpurification

thatwill assisttheir

comprehension

and

realizationof

teachings.

Further.even

beings‘

withno

interestinor

capacity

tounderstandthedhamiareceive

positive

kanntc

imprints

toberebornas

human.

hearthedliarmaand

ultimately

become

enlightened.

Thus forLama

Zopa

and his students.

constmcting holy objects

bringsgreat

spiritual

benefitforall.

Benefitsto

Bendigo‘sidentity

and

economy.

asdiscussed

here.areseenas

secondary.

Building

connections

In

June 2007 His

HolinesstheDalai

Lama.

spiritual

leaderofthe

Gelugpa

sect

of

whichtheFPMTis

part,

visitedthe

incomplete

sinicture.

During

the

official

welcome

speeches.

the

Mayor

of

Bendigo,

Julie

Rivendell.

referredtoher

city

asa

place

that celebrated

diversity

and

creativity.

She

quoted

fromthe

city's

‘Community

Plan'.

a

public

consultationdocument

developed

in 2005 tooutline

avisionfor

the

city‘s

future:

Two

years

ago

thecitizensof

Greater

Bendigodeveloped

avisionforthe

Bendigo

we

aspire

toin the

future.Asa

‘welcoming

and inclusive

place

enriched

by

themulticultuml

diversity

ofour

city:

that

acknowledges

and

celebrates

creativity:

whereall

residentsarevaluedandcan

participate

in

community

life.‘Our

Community

Planreflectsthe human valuesthat we

share.

TheGreat

Stupa

ofUniversal

Compassion

willstandhere.asit

symbol

inthe

Southern

Hemisphere

that

embodiesthesevalues.

(Rivcntk'll

2007)

In

representing

the

stupa

asacontributiontoher

city‘s

multicultural

diversity.

Rivendell reiteratedthe

discourse of

governmental

multiculturalism

that

Hage

analyses(1998). Hage

maintains

thatthisdiscoursesituates‘whiteAustralians“

asthe

managers

of)!

culturally

diverse

nationandethnicminoritiesas

peripheral

subjects

who

provide

cultural

enrichment.

whichI

refertohereas‘multicultuml

capital~

to reflectBourdieu's

analyses

ofvarious forms

ofcultural.social

and

economic

capital(

“186).

According

tothemulticulturalist

discourse.

Australiaisa

nationofdiverseculturesthatallhave

something

to

contribute.

so

long

as

they

do

so

inlinewiththedominant

group‘s

concepts

orthosecultures.The

stupaproject.

presented

asa

multicultural

contributionthatenrichesthelocaleand

nation,

provides

a

particular

instance

ol‘how

multicultural

capital

canbe

deployed

inAustralia.

• 
  

Budd/rifting

Australia

()5

The

project's

ChiefExecutiveOfficeris[anGreen.astudentof

Lama

Zopa.

AlishaCentreisbuiltonlandthatIan‘s

father.

Ed

Green.

donated

totheFPMT

in 1981.This

propeny

gave

the

project

a

majoradvantage

in

gaining

public

acceptance:

theyalready

ownedlandandAlishaCentrehad

becomewellknown

overthe

yearsbyofferingopendays

andmeditationcourses

tolocals.

By

contrast.

a

group

that must

begin

with

finding

and

pitrcliasing

anew

propeny

has to

negotiate

With

neighbours

whoknowlittleabout

them.

making

objections

more

likely

and

rendering

the

planning

applicationprocess

moredifficult.

In

Bourdicu's

usage.

social

capital

is‘the

aggregate

oftheactual

or

potential

resourceswhichare

linkedto

possession

ofadurablenetworkof

moreorless

institutionalized

relationships

of mutual

acquaintance

or

recognition‘

[1986:

248).

That

is,

thosewho

possess

social

capital

haveaccesstosocialnetworks.

dispositions

and

knowledge

that

open

up

accesstoresources

[Bourdieo

1986:

248752).

An

agent

or

group

of

agents

can mobilizeconcentrationsof

capital

throughpanicipation

innetworksof

friendsand

acquaintances

(Bourdieii

I986:

249),

through membership

in

a

religious

organization

and so forth. Cultural

capital

is

usuallyacquired

unconsciously

viasocializationbutisoften

markedin

Ways

thatothers

can

detect.

suchasmannerisms.articulate

spccch.

educational

credentials,

aesthetic

preferences

andsoforth

(Boitrdieu

with:

245).

Thus

people

involvedwiththe

stupa

project

unknowinglypresent

themselves

insucha

way

that

facilitatescommunicationwiththosewhose

supporttheyrequire.

Likeeconomic

capital.

socialandcultttral

capital

areresourcesthat

people

can

individually

or

collectively

drawonto‘maintainandenhancetheir

positions

inthesocialorder'

(Swanz

I997:

73).

Mostofthe FPMT Buddhists associated with

AlishaCentre are

relatively

privileged

Anglo-Australians(that

is.

those

ot‘AngloaCeltic

or

European

descent)

and

members

ofthe dominant stratum ofAustralian

society which hccomes

evidentwhen

the

stupa‘sprogress

in

gainingpttblicsupport

is

compared

with

parallel

efforts

byethnolreligious

minoritiesinAustralia

tMcAra2009).

Aslocal

Anglo-Australians.

the

stupaproponents

havean

advantage

overrecent

immigrant

Buddhistsinthat

theypanicipale

in

long-established

socialnetworks

and have

accesstolocalforrnsofculturaland

social

capital

in

\ia3s

that

man)immigrant

Buddhistsdo

not.

although

situations

vary

andsome

immigrant

Buddhists

have

successfully

established

major

centres

(Waitt.

this

volume).

This

capital

has

assistedthemto

navigate

thecouncil

regulations. organizehigh—profile

events

and

inspirelarge

donations.Further,

[anGreen's

longadvertising

career,

based

in

Melbourne

and

Bendigo.

has

given

himusefulsocialconnections

andvaluable

experience

inthefieldof

public

relations.

providing

theknow-howthatheneeded

tofoster

support

forthe

projectamong

hisconnections

in

Bendigo

and

bcyond.

lan

Green'scultural

capital

enhanceshiscommunication

with

Bcndigo

elites.

allowing

himtobuildconnectionsand

align

the

aspirations

ofthe

stupaproject

ivithissues

ofconcerntolocalbusinessand

government.

especiallythroughhighlighting

its

culturalandeconomicbenefits.

EminentBuddhistleaderswhohave

visitedthe

stupa

siteinclude

Sakya

Trizin

andtheDalaiLama

(bothhighlyrespected

Tibetan

leaders).

andThichPhuocHue