Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

2

MichelleBarkerandCristina

Rocha

particular

focusonthoseelementsthat

differentiatethis

experience

fromthoseof

other

Westerncountries.

In

this context.Buddhismin

Arts/Palm: Traditionsin

Change

hastwo

objec-

tives.

First,

it

gathers

scholarlypapersanalysing

the

inception

ofBuddhismin

Australia.

Second.

it

presents

analysesby

both

monasticsandteachersofthe

challengesofspreading

BuddhisminAustraliato

provide

amorerounded

picture.

giving

voicetomembers

uftheBuddhist

community

whohavebeenfundamental

in

making

this

process

possible.

Thisvolumeis

unique

in

giving

anaccountofthe

challenges

ofBuddhism

inAustralia

through

academic

viewpoints

and

community

representations

BuddhirminAustralia:

Traditianrin

Change

addstothe

knowledge

basisof

the

adaptations

and

challenges

in

disseminating

Buddhismina

country

inwhich

very

littlehasbeenwrittenon

the

subject.I

This

volumeendeavourstofillthis

gap.

Itaddressesseveral

aspects

ofthelocalizationof

Buddhismin

Australia,

suchas

changes

tothe

landscape

ofciticsandruralareasdueto

construction

ol‘temptes

and

stupas.

theordination

ofwomen.thecontribution

ofcngaged

Buddhism.theroleof

temples

assourcesof

suppon

forfirstandsecond

generation

migrant

communities

andthe

ways

inwhich

aboriginal

spirituality

interactswith

BuddhisminAustralia.

Buddhism inAustralia:

Traditionsin

Change

also contributes

to

comparative

analyses

onthe

spread

of

BuddhismintheWestassomeof

these

aspects

have

also

beenidentifiedasrelevantin

the

development

ofBuddhism

inotherWestern

countries.Tothis

end.

the

chapters

inthisvolumestrive

to

emphasize

thatthe

development

ofBuddhismin

Australiadoesnot

happen

ina

vacuum.butis

part

of

an

intenseflowof

ideas.teachers.

students.

practices

andmaterial

culturebetween

Australiaandothercountries.

This introduction

provides

the

historical,

political

and social

background

to

enable

understanding

ofthe

specifics

ofthe

development

of

Buddhism in

Australia.inadditiontothe

similaritiessharedwithotherWestern

nations.This

chapter

beginsbydetailing

the

history

of

BuddhisminAustralia

and,

subsequently,

Australia‘s

relationship

withAsia.Thisis

followed

by

adiscussiononhowthe

policy

of

multiculturalismhasresultedin

power

inequalities

between

Anglo

and

AsianBuddhistAustralians.

This

chapter

endswitha

discussionoflhcsimilarities

anddiITerencesbetween

BuddhisminAustraliaandtheWest.

History

ofBuddhismin

Australia

Historicalstudieson

BuddhisminAustraliaare

limited.butCmucher‘s

in—depth.

historical

study

of

BuddhisminAustraliafrom [848to

1988 isaseminalwork

(1989).

Abeyagunawardena

provides

amorerecentoverview

(2009)

and

Spuler‘s

(2000)analysis

ofBuddhism

inAustraliaidentifiessix

keyperiods

as

follows:

I.

Immigrantorigins.

In 1848

ChineseandSriLankan

immigrants

started

arriving

inAustralia

bringing

Buddhismwiththem.

2. The
   firstorganizations.

In

1925 thefirst

Anglo~AustraIianorganizations

were

established.Asinotherthe

Westerncountries.themembersot'these

organizations

Introduction 3

regarded

Buddhismasa

philosophy‘fully

consonantwithscientific

thinking‘

ratherthana

religion

(Croucher

1989:

54—5).

Thisisacharacteristicstillshared

with

contemporary

Americanand

European

Buddhism.

3. The

first

visits

by

teat-hens: lnl952 the first Buddhist teacher arrived in

Australia,

anAmerican-bumnun.Othervisitsfollowedandmore

organiz—

ationswere

established,

including

aSokaGakkai

group

afterthevisitofits

president.

Daisaku

Ikeda.

in 1964.Bowen's

chapter

inthisvolume

provides

an

updated

accountofthc

challenges

and

adaptations

the

group

has

undergone

sincethen.Inthis

period

women

played

a

strong

roleinthedisseminationof

ideasonBuddhismin

Australia.

anothercharacteristicofBuddhisminWestern

countries.

4. The

first

residentialteachersandestablishment

af

monasteries.In 1971 thefirst

Buddhist

monastery

wasestablishedin

Katoomba,

NewSouth

Wales.

withaSri

Lankanasitsresidentmonk.Othermonasteriessoonfollowed.

5.

Rapid/Luauimmigration

and

increasingdiversificationqf/ruditim.

Afterthe

WhiteAustralia

Policy

was

phased

outinthe 19705 andwiththeendofthe

VietnamWarin

19744.

refugees

from

Laos.

CambodiaandVietnaman'ived

in

large

numbers.AsmallnumberofTibetan

refugees

alsoarrivedaroundthis

time.In 1974 thefirstvisit

by

Tibetanlamastook

place.

Thefoundersofthe

Foundationfor thePreservation of

Mahayana

Tradition

(FPMT)

Tradition.

LamaThubtenYeshcandLamal‘hubten

Ztrpa.beganteaching

in

Queensland.

Sincethen.asinotherWesterncountri TibetanBuddhismhashada

dispro-

ponionaietystrong

influenceonAustralianBuddhismwhen

compared

toother

traditions

(MCDOnnelI

andBucknell1988:

224).

6, The

emergenceof

ecumenicalBuddhistsocieties.

Beginning

with theestab-

lishmentoftheBuddhistCouncilofBrisbanein1982.ccumcnicalsocieties

wereestablishedtoachievecommon

goals

andtocreateavisibleandactive

presence

inthe

community.particularly

with

regard

to

representation

tothe

variouslevelsof

government.

Ascanbeseenfromthehistorical

overview.

oneshouldbe

wary

ofcharacter-

izing

BuddhisminAustraliaa a

singleentity.

Australiawas

‘posed

toanintense

circulation of

ideas.teachers.

nunsandmonksbetweenAsiaandtheWest.in

additiontocirculationofthesewithinWesterncountries.MonasticssuchasChief

AbbotPhra

Rajsilapomexemplify

this.Chiet‘AbbotVenerablePhra

Rajsilapom

arrivedinAustraliain 1974 toleada

newly

establishedcentreoftheMahamakut

Foundation.The MahamakutFoundationwas

originally

establishedin 1893 in

Thailand

byKing

RamaVandstill

enjoyssupport

fromtheThai

government.

TheFoundationnowhas

eighttemples

inAustralia

catering

fora

range

ot'Asian

Buddhists,including

Burmese.

Sri

Lankan,Thai.

Malaysian

and

Singaporean.

Indeed.

Baumann

argues

foran

analysis

oftheflowsofBuddhismacrossthe

globe

(2001).According

to

Baumann.

itisnot

possible

tounderstand

develop-

mentsin

Buddhistin

the

West

by

investigating

isolated

cases.

CoxandGriffin

highlight

thedifficulties

ofnational

categories

intheir

study

ofBuddhism in

Ireland.

suggesting

that‘a

history

of

“Buddhismand

Ireland"is

inevitably

a

partial

__—g