Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

[02 ShivaVasi

firmly

basedon

the

metaphysical

foundationsofTheravada

Buddhism.

andare

perceived

asthe

naturalextensionofitsethical

principles.

The

study

hasbroader

implications

forsome

aspects

ofthe

transplantation

and

adaptation

of

Buddhism intheWest.Previousstudies ofIndochinese

refugee

communitiesin

themain countriesnt‘resettlement

(Australia

Canadaandthe

United

States).

havedocumentedtheactiveroleoftheBuddhist

temples

in

aiding

the

resettlement

process (Burwill,

Hill and Van Wicklin

1986;

Dorais

[989:

MeLellan

1992. 1999;

Smith-Hefner

1999;

Chan

2004;

Vasi

2005).

Thecontri»

butionof

Buddhist

temples

inareassuchastheeducationofadults.educationof

children.

hospice

and

hospital

work.

alcoholand

drug

rehabilitation

programs

and

refugee

resettlement.islocatedwithinthebroader

concept

of

engaged

Buddhism.

Theterm

‘service-basedBuddhism'has beencoinedtodescribemore

specifi-

cally

this

aspect

of

sociallyengaged

Buddhism

(Queen

2000:

10).

Social

justice

activismis

argued

tobean

integralpart

ofBuddhist

teachings

andnota

by-product

ol‘its

transplantation

totheWest:acontributionot‘WesternhumanismtoBuddhist

ethics.Onthe

contrary.

the

very

essenceofBuddhisminvolvesacommitment

to

social

engagement(Rahula

1974.

1988;

Macy

1988:

Sivaraksa

I988;

Nhat

Hanh

1996;

Hunt-Perry

and

Fine

2000;

Sherwood

200].2003).

The

findings

ofthis

smallescale

study

ofthe

CambodianBuddhist

community

in

Victoria

addfurther

support

tothis

position.

This

study

demonstratesa

strongcontiguity

betweenthe

traditional<religious

roleof

temples

and

their

involvement

intheareaofsocial

welfare.The

findings

also

portray

Cambodian

Buddhist

temples

asvitalhubsof

religious

activities.

welfare

services.

aswellas

agents

ofcultural

continuity

intheir

communities.Farfrom

being

anachronisticor

declining

institutions.

they

remain

relevanttotheolder

first-generation,

aswellasthe

younger.

secondandthird-

gencration

Cambodians.

Conclusion

Thereisa

needto

recogniZE.

re—evaluate.

andutilizeBuddhist

temples

as

platforms

forthe

delivery

of

sustainableand

culturallycompetent

servicesand

programs

ina

wide

range

ofareas.Thereisadire

needtoenhancethe

capacity

ofthc

temples

to

respond

more

effectively

tothesettlement

andwelfareneedsoftheir

communities.

Currently.

CambodianBuddhist

temples

donothave

the

resourcesto

cope

with

thedemandthatare

placed

onthem.Themonksandmembersofthe

management

committeesoftheBuddhist

temples

otterservicesthat

go

well

beyond

the

scope

oftheirtbnnalrolesandduties.Thisotten

puts

additionalburdenontheir

already

overstrctchedresource.In

addition.

themonksand

temple

leaderslackthe

required

skillsand

expertise

to

respondappropriately

tosomeofthe

problems

withwhich

they

are

presented.

Thereisaneedto

improve

resourceswithinthe

temples

to

optimize

their

potential

in

aiding

theircommunities.

The

findings

ofthiscase

study

offeralensfor

examining

the

dynamics

of

adaptation:

thecontinuationofthetraditionalrolesof

temples,

aswellastheir

transformationin

response

tothe

demandsof

a

newsocioculturalenvironment.

Buddhist

temples

have

traditionallyoccupied

a

unique

rolein

Cambodia.

not

only

——————fi

Adaptation

inCambodian

Buddhist

lamp/ex

[03

as

religious

andeducation

centres

whichtransmitCambodian

Buddhist

cultureand

values,

butalsoas

institutionswhich

integrate

awide

range

of

community-based

welfareservices.

The

findings

indicatethat.

as

they

are

taking

rootinAustralia.

the

CambodianBuddhist

temples

are

engaged

in

transmitting

Buddhism.theCambodian

cultureand

responding

tosettlement-related

challenges

inawide

range

ofareas.

Thisinvolvesthemaintenance,

extension

andmodification

ofthe

temples‘

tradi-

tionalroles.Farfrom

being

extantinstitutions.

theCambodian

Buddhist

temples

in

Australiahave

emerged

asvibrant

religious

and

communitysupport

centres.

Notes

I Evidence

suggests

thatincommunities

Where

literacy

levelsare

low.

people

aremore

likely

to

accept

information

passed

on

by

wordofmouth.

particularly

whenrecom-

mended

byprominent

members

ofthe

community

suchasmonks.InCambodia.

when:

over

90

per

centofthc

population

isBuddhist.

Buddhist

monksareheldin

highregard.

run

only

as

religious

leadersbutFor

theirtmditional

roleat

helping

thnse

mostinneed.

Non-govemment

organizations

such

asUNICEFand

SalvationCentre

Cambodiahave

acknowledged

theroleofBuddhist

monksandnuns

asclTectiveeducators.

They

have

been

collaborating

withBuddhist

monksand

nunsto

implement

large-scale

HIV/AIDS

prevention.

care,

support

and

advocacy

initiatives

atthe

community

level. inCambodia.

Buddhist

monks

play

an

important

role

in

decreasingstigma

anddiscrimination

against

families

living

withHIV/AIDSand

areattheforefront

ofHIVawareness.

2

Despite

clear

policyguidelines

dictated

by

the

AustralianGovernment's

Accessand

Equity

strategy.

there areserious

concernsabout

theCambodians‘ low

levelsof

awareness

ofsocialservicesand

thelowerratesof

services

uptake

relative

totheirneeds.

Thebarriers

toeiTectivcservice

useintheCambodian

community

havebeendocuments

byprevious

studies.

whichhave

suggested

the

implementation

ofthe

follnwrng

strut-

egics

forsuccessful

service

delivery:incorporation

ofhilingual

service

providers

in

key

areasof

need,linkingfunding

tolevelsofserviceuse.

panncrship

between

mainstream

andKhmer

ethno-specific

service

providers

and

community

education

campaigns.

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