Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

—*

Abbrevrations

AAHCI’ AustralianAssociation

nfBuddhistCounsellorsand

Psychotherapists

ABC Australian

BroadcastingCorporation

ABS AustralianBureauof

Statistics

CPI-l clinical

pastoral

education

F

PMT Foundationforthe

Preservation

of

the

Mahayana

Tradition

FWBO FriendsoftheWesternBuddhistOrder

ITCA

insight

Teachers”Circleof/tustialia

LGA

local

government

area

[.PP

LiberationPrison

Project

NSW New

SouthWales

5135

Special

Broadcasting

Service

561 SokaGakkai

lntemational

TBRL team-based

right

livelihood

WBD WatBuddhaDhamma

WBO WesternBuddhistOrder

(now

knownas

TriratnaBuddhist

Order)

Introduction

Michelle

BarkerandCristinaRocha

Inlate 2009

peopledriving

down

oneof

Sydney’s

busiest

roads.

stopping

when

the

lights

turnedred.couldlook

up

inthe

sky

toseetheDalaiLama

looking

downatthemfromanoversizedbillboard

on

top

ofa

building.

Nexttohim

stoodthe

question:

‘OurFuture:

Whois

Responsible?‘

Thiswasan

advertising

campaign

carried

by

theDalai

LamainAustralia

organization

thatwas

managing

his

teaching

eventsandhis

participation

intheannual “Mindand ItsPotential‘

conferenceinAustralia.The

campaign

erectednine

large

billboardsin

keycity

sitesforfiveweeksthat

stayed

lit

up

all

night.

Thesame

image

alsocirculated

onabout 30 busesforthesame

period;

smaller

posters

were

put up

in

many

cafesandon

lightpoles

andbus

stops.

ThiswastheDalaiLama'sseventhvisitto

Australia;

thefirstonehadbeen

in1982.Inaninterviewwiththe

SydneyMorning

Herald,

Lynn

Bain

(generalmanager

oftheDalaiLamainAustralia

organization)

observed:“Youdon'thavetobe

BuddhisttoconnecttoHisHolinessiswhatwe're

trying

to

say'(Harvey

2009).

Since

winning

theNobelPeacePrizein

1989.

theDalaiLama‘s

popularity

has

enabledTibetan

Buddhismtoreachamuch

larger

audienceintheWesternw.

Thisis

particularly

sobecauseoftheDalaiLama’s

emphasis

on

general.positive

valuessuch

as

happiness.

harmony

withthe

environment.

and

compassion.

This

is enhanced

by

thefact thattheinternationalmediahavebeenenthusiasticin

embracing

Buddhism

generally

as

trendy

andexotic

(Baumann

1995:

Baumann

andPrebish2002: ]:Rocha

2006:

130—4).

Thisis

equally

thecaseinAustralia.

WhentheDalaiLamaarrived

in

Australia

he

gained

muchmedia

coverage.

Asfor

previous

visits.

large

audiencesflocked

tohistalks.

TheDalaiLama’svisitsillustrate

one

aspect

oftheAustralianencounterwith

Buddhism.BuddhisminAustraliais

bestdescribedas

pluralistic.

asasubstantial

numberofBuddhisttraditions.schools

and

lineages

havetakenroot. In 2006

Buddhistsaccountedfor2.]

per

centot'Australia‘s

population.

almost

doubling

the 1996

figures,

and

making

itthefastest

growingreligion

inAustralia The

numberofBuddhistadherentsinAustralia

has

grown

due

both to

large.

ale

Asian

immigration

andtheinterestof

Anglo-Australians,

However,

Australia‘s

close

geographical

proximity

toAsiahasmeantthatthe

development

ofBuddhism

inAustraliaissomewhatdin‘erenttothe

growth

ofBuddhisminother

Western

countries.Thisvolumeseeksto

explore

theBuddhist

experience

inAustralia

with