Why is Buddhism the fastest growing religion in Australia?
Darren Nelson
The answer to this inquiry is multi-layered and complex. It is a tantalising
issue because it highlights the changing spiritual landscape of Australia and
provides an insight into just how multicultural we have really become.
Cultures that were foreign to Anglo-European Australians are now being adopted
by some of them - though not without some dissenting resistance. This level
of resistance in Australian society can be seen as a litmus test, used to measure
future political and religious tolerance in this country.
The story concerning the rise of Buddhism in Australia is a compelling tale
of a resilient religion that has survived despite the odds. How is it possible
for a 2,500-year-old philosophy, which began five hundred years before Christianity
and one thousand years before the Muslim faith, to be relevant to modern life
in Australia? Considering all the other ancient religions that have faded from
contemporary practice, such as the sun worshippers of Ancient Egypt, the human
sacrifices of the South American Mayans and the Druids from the Dark Ages of
England, Buddhism has outlasted them all.
It does not preach the dogma of a strange cult, nor seek converts with evangelistic
fervour. Those Australians who actively convert to Buddhism do so voluntarily,
and are usually well-educated middle-aged professionals who are attracted to
a sense of inner peace. This documentary therefore, seeks to immerse itself
in the substance of this seemingly magnetic Buddhist approach. Perhaps it will
be like seeing Australia for the first time, through ancient eyes.
It is interesting to note that in spite of the recent increase in Buddhist numbers
across Australia, Buddhism has actually played a part in Australian history
for some time. It did not just suddenly arrive in a recent wave of migrants.
Some anthropologists, in fact, have suggested that Buddhism was possibly the
earliest non-indigenous religion to reach Australia before white settlement.
Between 1405 and 1433 the Chinese Ming emperor, Cheng-Ho, sent sixty-two large
ships to explore southern Asia. Although there is evidence that several ships
from that armada landed on the Aru Islands to the north of Arnhem Land, it is
not known whether they reached the mainland.
One unproved hypothesis of Professor A.P. Elkin is that the belief of some Northern
Territory Koorie tribes in reincarnation, psychic phenomena and mental cultivation
is evidence of early contact with Buddhists. Despite certain rock paintings
that possibly depict Chinese junks weighing anchor or images of the Buddha,
actual material evidence remains to be seen.
The first documented arrival of Buddhists in Australia was in 1848 during the
gold rushes, when Chinese coolie labourers were brought into the country to
work on the Victorian gold fields. These workers represented a transient population
that usually returned home within five years. It was not until 1876 that the
first permanent Buddhist community was established by Sinhalese migrants on
Thursday Island. There the ethnic Sri Lankans built the first temple in Australia,
while they were employed on the sugar cane plantations of Queensland.
From the late 1870's onwards many Japanese Shinto Buddhists also arrived and
were active in the pearling industry across northern Australia, establishing
other Buddhist enclaves in Darwin and Broome. Buddhist cemeteries were kept
and festivals celebrated. Official government statistics compiled as part of
a national census in 1891 indicate that, at the time, there were slightly more
Buddhists in Australia (at 1.2%), than there are today (at 1.1%).
Buddhist numbers would have continued to increase if the Immigration Restriction
Act of 1901 had not been introduced to combat the 'yellow peril'. Alfred Deakin,
who was destined to be Prime Minister three times, drafted the legislation to
pacify a somewhat xenophobic Caucasian electorate. This bill later grew to represent
the more broadly implemented White Australia Policy.
For the next fifty years the benefits of mind training and meditation, as taught
by Buddhism, would be disregarded as some sort of obscure 'eastern mysticism'.
Except for some remote surviving pockets of Buddhists (such as Broome and Thursday
Island), the religion became virtually extinct in Australia.
A small group of committed western Buddhists formed the earliest known Buddhist
organisation in Australia, The Little Circle of the Dharma, in Melbourne in
1925. Progress was slow though, until after World War II when local enthusiasm
for the White Australia Policy began to decline. In 1951 the first Buddhist
nun visited Australia. Sister Dhammadinna, born in the USA, ordained and with
thirty years experience in Sri Lanka, came to propagate the Theravadin School
of Buddhist teaching. She received nation-wide media coverage.
Inspired by this visit, the next year the Buddhist Society of New South Wales
was formed under the presidency of Leo Berkley, a Dutch-born Sydney businessman.
This organisation is today the oldest Buddhist group in Australia. Its membership
was, and still is, compromised mainly of people from Anglo-European backgrounds.
In 1958 the Buddhist Federation of Australia was formed in order to co-ordinate
the growing Buddhist groups that had sprung up around the country in Western
Australia, South Australia, Queensland and Victoria.
The Buddhist presence in Australia had depended for the first hundred years
on lay people with only the occasional visits by ordained members of the Sangha
(the Buddhist clergy). But in the 1970's the growing number of Buddhists created
a need for resident monks, and a new phase in Australian Buddhism began.
In 1971 the Buddhist Society of New South Wales established the Sri Lankan monk,
Somaloka, in residence at a retreat centre in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.
This became the first monastery in Australia. A succession of monasteries representing
different aspects of Buddhism slowly became established around Australia; in
1975 at Stanmore in Sydney, in 1978 at Wisemans Ferry in country NSW and in
1984 at Serpentine in Western Australia.
The charismatic face of Buddhism, the Dalai Lama, (who was awarded the Noble
Peace Prize in 1989 and describes himself as 'a simple monk'), has travelled
the world constantly giving lectures and answering questions in 20,000 seat
pop concert halls. John Cleese speaks out for him in London, Henri Cartier-Bresson
records his teachings around France and Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys pop group
has even interviewed him in Rome for Rolling Stone magazine.
In the past few years he has opened eleven Offices of Tibet, everywhere from
Canberra to Moscow and last year alone provided prefaces and forewords for roughly
thirty books. The 14th Dalai Lama, who holds the titles of Ocean of Wisdom,
Holder Of The White Lotus and Protector Of The Land Of Snows, has even served
as the guest editor of French Vogue magazine.
The three visits of the Dalai Lama to Australia in 1982, 1992 and 1996 were
joyful occasions for Buddhists of all traditions, and huge crowds of Buddhists
and the general public gathered to hear him speak. On the third visit, and despite
virulent Chinese protests, the Dalai Lama met with and was photographed with
the Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard. It was now clearly evident at
this stage, that Buddhism had become a significant minority religion in Australia.
During this visit local celebrities contributed generously to fundraising activities.
For example, Kate Ceberano, Rachel Berger and Frente were just some of the 'star-studded
cast' to perform at the Dalai Lama Lounge Room. They helped to raise $14,000
over three nights. Mushroom Records released a benefit album called The Mantra
Mix CD, featuring Jenny Morris, Jimmy Barnes and Johnny Diesel. One local advertising
agency, providing their services for nothing, came up with the slogan "You
missed Jesus. You missed the Buddha. Do not miss the Dalai Lama". When
was the last time such hype accompanied the visit of a religious leader?
But Australians are not alone in their sympathy towards his cause. The issue
of Tibetan oppression has come to the attention of Hollywood and with two new
films about his life in the cinematic pipeline, the Dalai Lamas' profile has
not only moved into the mainstream, but has (much to the horror of the Chinese
Government) gone global.
The first to be released, Seven Years In Tibet, tells the story of Heinrich
Harrer, a mountain climber and Nazi party member who encounters his own sense
of enlightenment after becoming the tutor to the young Dalai Lama in Tibet in
the 1940's. The film has attracted healthy attention because it stars Brad Pitt.
The other film is Kundun, directed by Martin Scorcese. This epic tells the remarkable
tale of the Dalai Lama from his point of view, from his recognition as the reincarnated
Buddha of compassion at age two until his escape to India at twenty-four. Recently
released here in Australia, it was reviewed by Channel Nines' Sunday program
on June 14th and described as 'the most beautiful and important film released
this year'.
Hollywood's fascination for Buddhism extends beyond these two screenplays, with
many stars expressing interest in the religion itself. In February 1997, the
karate-kicking action star Steven Seagall was recognised by the Nyingma lineage
of Tibetan Buddhism as the reincarnation of a 15th century lama. Adam Yauch
of the Beastie Boys pop group has organised two huge benefit concerts to publicise
the plight of Tibet.
Actor Richard Gere, together with Uma Thurmans father, Richard Thurman, has
opened Tibet House in New York, published books on the subject, and meditates
daily. Other practitioners that have come to attention include Tina Turner,
Harrison Ford (whose wife Melissa Mathison wrote Kunduns script), Oliver Stone,
Herbie Hancock, Courtney Love, composer Philip Glass (who also worked on Kundun)
and REM's lead singer Michael Stipe.
The momentum of Buddhism's' profile is driven by other, more subtle reminders
as well. A new make up is being advertised as Zen Blush, a new sitcom is called
Dharma and Greg, a designer fruit juice container has on its' label "Please
recycle this bottle. It deserves to be reincarnated too", and monks star
in television commercials and news items.
Such recent exposure does not take away the fact that Australians have been
quietly turning to Buddhism for some time. The statistics compiled in the 1986,
1991 and 1996 Commonwealth Government Census support the view that Buddhist
numbers have been steadily increasing. Between 1986 and 1991 the numbers of
practitioners rose from 80,387 to 139,847, a growth of 74%. Due largely to the
decrease in immigration numbers in recent years the percentage growth for Buddhists
slowed between 1991 and 1996 to 43%, from 139,847 to 199,812. This rate of increase
is still higher than that of any other religion.
The three census surveys also indicate that of the eight Christian denominations
listed in the analysis for New South Wales only three show an increase (Baptist,
Catholic and Orthodox), while five (Anglican, Church Of Christ, Lutheran, Presbyterian
and Uniting Church) have decreased in numbers.
Does the fluctuating demographic between Buddhism and Christianity point towards
dissatisfaction with traditional Australian religious beliefs? Is Buddhism more
competitive than Christianity or is one spiritual experience simply more meaningful
than the other?
Of the 199,812 Buddhists across Australia today, approximately thirty thousand
are Anglo-European's who have 'crossed over', by choice, to this alternative
philosophy. They have turned from 'Christian sinner' to 'Eastern Mystic'. The
slump in immigration figures from Buddhist countries is apparently not enough
to stall the continued growth in Australian Buddhism, especially now that local
support has been established. Back in 1938 a Japanese Shinto monk, noting that
it took China three centuries to adopt Buddhism from India, said introducing
it in the West would be like holding a lotus to a rock and waiting for it to
take root.
When the Age of Aquarius spread across the world in the form of the 60's alternative
hippie counter-culture, there appeared to be no shortage of poets, artists,
actors, writers and musicians interested in a voyage of inner peace through
Buddhist philosophy and meditative practices. John Lennon used Buddhist mantras'
in the lyrics of his music such as Across the Universe. Allen Ginsberg used
a mantra (Buddhist blessing) to bless the ground at Woodstock before the first
fans arrived. Zen meditation too, first embraced by the Beat poets in the 1950's
flourished across first world nations as a healthy alternative to LSD-induced
enlightenment.
More importantly the drug-fuelled 1960's, when the Vietnam War was at its height,
feminist protestors burnt their bras and man landed on the moon, saw a relaxation
of traditional middle class values that allowed a greater versatility in public
consciousness. During this time, people had greater access and freedom to experiment
with new schools of thought (feminism, civil rights, the peace movement, alternative
lifestyles etc) without suffering as many social ramifications as in the past.
According to the Reverend Phillip Hughes, a Melbourne-based religious researcher,
"many people thought in the 1960's that science itself was not sufficient
to really explain existence, but then they were not keen to go back to the Judeo-Christian
tradition with its holy books, miracles and so forth. Also the need for a sense
of peace has become more apparent".
Potential Buddhists are attracted to the Dharma (Buddhist teachings) not only
to take refuge from a world of chaos and confusion, but also to re-invent their
own personal sense of a meaningful spirituality in a society of high-tech consumerism,
commercialism, violence and apathy. Compared to the Christian beliefs many Anglo-European
Australians grew up with, Buddhism does not require its adherents to remain
faithful to a specific dogma.
It is not a faith. It is not technically a religion either, though when discussing
systems of worship it is easier to work with that label. It is more a psychology
and a philosophy wrapped around a moral code of mind training.
The founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama (born in 563 B.C.), turned his back
on the royal family he had been born into, to live life as a simple ascetic
monk. At the age of thirty-five he became enlightened and 'saw things as they
really are', having achieved a mental state of absolute egolessness, where he
no longer felt any sense of narcissism or craving.
He became the first Buddha and was quick to teach his disciples that he was
not a god, should not be revered and no rituals should be developed around his
teachings. Heaven and hell, he taught, are not external places that we travel
to after we die; they do not in fact exist. Rather, both places dwell only in
the hearts of people. People are either good or bad, pious or evil. Paradise
exists within our spirit, it is here and now, and not some destination in the
after-life.
Meditation, he believed, is the process required for all adherents to achieve
Buddhahood. This is one of the main differences between Buddhism and other religions.
Practitioners are offered an ultimate goal, enlightenment itself, which is equivalent
to the level attained by the Buddha himself. He taught that everyone is capable
of achieving this, providing equality to all his followers.
This is a radical departure for born-Christians to realise when they first start
studying the principles of Buddhism. The best a faithful Christian could hope
to achieve with his devotion was entry to heaven as an angel where he is still
subject to the will of a greater being who could smite him anytime at will.
The Buddha teaches his disciples too become the same as he, which is why he
is not a god. In Buddhism there is no pecking order in the after life, because
that would require the presence of an ego, which is the Buddhists life work
to gradually eliminate.
Buddhism dispenses with the notion of a Supreme Being, as does science, and
explains the origins and workings of the universe in terms of natural law. All
of this certainly exhibits a scientific spirit. The Buddha advised that we should
not blindly believe him but rather question, examine, inquire and rely on our
own experience. This scientific approach of cause and effect was not overlooked
by Albert Einstein in the 1930's:
"The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion", he said, "it
should transcend a personal God and avoid dogmas and theology. Covering both
natural and spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from
the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, and a meaningful unity.
Buddhism answers this description. If there is any religion that would cope
with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism".
While the antipodean blossoming of Buddhism seems to have gone from strength
to strength since the 1980's, this has not always been the case. It is in the
Buddhist principle of godlessness that the journalist can find opposing and
dissenting voices to the Buddhist cause. This theological bone of contention
is the main source of friction with other religions.
On Wednesday, the 18th of January 1995, Pope John Paul II arrived in Sydney
and attended an Interfaith Gathering in the Sydney Domain. Representatives from
major religions, including Protestant, Orthodox and Coptic Christians, Jewish
and Muslim were invited to share the platform with him. Notable by its absence
was Australia's' third largest religion, Buddhism.
The organisers told SBS Radio that they were unaware that Buddhism was Australia's'
third largest religion and besides that there was no national leader of Buddhism,
so who were they to invite? The Sydney Morning Herald reported that "somebody
in the State Government had forgotten to invite the Buddhists". This is
unlikely, as the New South Wales Government is very aware of the presence of
Buddhists in this state and often invites Buddhist representatives to State
functions. A more likely explanation is that the Vicar of Rome holds Buddhism
in very low esteem as is evident from the following extract from his book, Crossing
The Threshold Of Hope:
"Buddhism is in large measure an 'atheistic' system. We do not free ourselves
from evil through the good which comes from God; we liberate ourselves only
through detachment from the world, which is bad. The fullness of such a detachment
is not union with God, but what is called nirvana, a state of perfect indifference
with regard to the world. To save oneself means, above all, to free oneself
from evil by becoming indifferent to the world, which is the source of evil.
This is the culmination of the spiritual process. Christian mysticism is born
of the Revelation of the living God. This God opens Himself to union with man,
arousing in him the capacity to be united with Him, especially by means of the
theological virtues - faith, hope and above all, love".
Graeme Lyall, Chairman of the Buddhist Council of New South Wales, strongly
refutes the Catholic position. "The Oxford Dictionary defines 'atheism'
as 'disbelief in the existence of God' ", he said, "the Buddha is
described as the teacher of 'gods and men', so how can Buddhism be an atheistic
system? Religious arguments often come down to the use of religious language.
We must ascertain to what we are referring to when we use the term 'God'.
What is a 'living God'? Anything that is living is subject to death and decay,
so why should we place ourselves in the hands of something, which, like ourselves,
is impermanent? If he is referring to the old man with a white beard who sits
in the sky taking notes in his little black book ready for the day of judgement,
then he is out of step with modern theological thinking and most other theologians.
Modern theologians, such as Paul Tillich, suggest that the term 'God' refers
to the 'ground of being' - the very fact of existence. No Buddhist would argue
with this, but they may be reluctant to use the term 'God' to describe it".
Lay's implication that the Pope is out of touch appears to be more than just
a knee-jerk defence, when you consider that the ranks of Catholics themselves
are split on the issue. Irish-born Father William Johnston, a Jesuit priest,
spoke of his sympathy to Buddhism when he visited Sydney in early January 1997.
Here to attend the Religion, Literature and Arts Conference at the Australian
Catholic University, Father Johnston spoke of the Christian churches need to
introduce aspects of Eastern Mysticism - such as meditation, yoga and Zen -
if they want to increase numbers attending weekly services.
"Some Catholics are very nervous about meditation but there is a lot to
learn from it and yoga and Zen", he said. "The Catholic Church has
always kept meditation very strongly in its religious orders; our problem is
that we didn't teach it to the laity, who are now looking for it".
Father Johnston, director of the Institute of Oriental Religions at Tokyos'
Sophia University, has lived in Japan since 1951 and believes Christianity has
become 'too legalistic', with 'too many do's and don'ts and not enough vision
and enlightenment'.
Besides the Catholic Churches' potentially bilateral reaction to Buddhism, local
opposition to the arrival of Eastern Mysticism has also occurred in the steel
manufacturing town of Wollongong, an hours drive south of Sydney. There the
Anglican Bishop of Wollongong, the Reverend Reg Piper has weighed into the debate
expressing his annoyance not only at the presence of Buddhism, but the presence
of a philosophy he sees as evil.
The contest began when a Taiwan-based Buddhist sect, Fokuangshan, opened a huge
fifty million-dollar temple just south of the steel city in Berkley. The monks
there planned to promote their style of 'humanistic' Buddhism, which emphasises
the 'oneness and co-existence of the global village'.
The Fokuangshan sect was founded in the mid-1960's and has more than one hundred
branches world-wide (including Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth) with 1.5 million
members and its own university, several schools, an organ donor bank, a retirement
home, even a cemetery. This growth is due to its' charismatic founding father,
the Venerable Hsing Yun. The size of the Wollongong temple, called Nan Tien,
is second only to their headquarters in Taipei.
Bishop Piper's concerns are not shared by other Christian churches such as the
local Uniting Church, which has adopted a user-friendly approach to the temple.
On Tuesday, the 18th of June 1996, Bishop Piper appeared on the ABCs' 7.30 Report
to voice his opposition.
Bishop Piper: See when you have the bible view of humankind, generally, if it
is outside the framework of the truth - the bible terms it as evil.
Reporter: Is it a deception?.
Bishop Piper: In that respect, yes. While ever it is not based in the truth
of Christ, it would be a deception. Because Buddhism is basically an atheistic
religion. There is no god.
Reporter: Why is that a problem?.
Bishop Piper: Because God has revealed himself through Christ. Christ has been
raised from the dead. He said he is God. There is no other way to the truth
and no other way to really live except through Christ.
The growing curiosity about Buddhism has so worried Bishop Piper that he has
made a video called In Search Of Paradise - A Biblical Response To Buddhism.
It is to warn all Christians of the evil deception of Buddhism, that has arrived
to convert them.
Reverend Shin of the Nan Tien temple remains perplexed with Bishop Pipers attitude.
"We don't convert people to Buddhism or change their religion", he
said. " As long as they feel comfortable with any of the practices or any
of the beliefs and it is good for the society, good for them and good for the
family, that is the most important thing. Whether they decide to become Buddhists
or not - that is not our concern".
Local opposition to Buddhism also extends beyond the Christian clergy. A survey
by the Federal Office Of Multicultural Affairs, conducted in 1988, found that
41% of the general population did not wish to have a Buddhist as a workmate.
Only Muslims fared worse.
Despite this, on Sunday 8th February this year Australian Buddhists were delighted
to learn they had a friend in a high place when the Governor-General, Sir William
Deane, expressed his support at the opening of the Rahula Community Lodge in
Canberra.
"A report from the Bureau of Immigration, Multicultural and Population
Research a couple of years ago, showed that over the ten years to 1991 Buddhism
was by far the largest growing religion in our country: an increase in the order
of some 300%" he said. "To a significant extent, of course, the figures
reflect the substantial increase in migration from south-east Asia over that
period.
But the second largest national group were Australian-born Buddhists - many
from non-Asian cultures attracted by both the philosophy and the practice of
Buddhism, with its emphasis upon the search for inner peace and understanding.
I offer my very best wishes for the success of all that you hope to achieve
in the years ahead as future stages of the centre are completed. May all your
endeavours prosper and bring joy to those whom they are intended to help".
Buddhism continues to maintain a steady trickle of recruitment at the grass
roots level. According to the Venerable Pannyavaro, a monk based in Surry Hills
in Sydney, young people are still attracted to Buddhism because they are looking
for an alternative to established Christian churches and they can explore Buddhism
without feeling obliged to join.
"A lot of young people in the twenty to mid-thirty age group are coming
because they don't feel imposed upon", he said, " and there are deeper
meditative techniques they can draw upon". The Buddhist website he operates
(http://www.buddhanet.net) gets an average 50, 000 'hits' a day. Venerable Pannyavaro
offers cyber-nirvana at this site in the form of online meditation sessions
where people can log on, meditate and contemplate the infinite.
There are now more than ninety Buddhist temples and organisations in New South
Wales, sixty-five of them in Sydney. The bulk of the two hundred people who
each week visit the Buddhist Library, Meditation and Information Centre in Camperdown
in Sydney are in the thirty to fifty age group. About eighty-percent are from
a non-Asian background.
Much to the horror of the Christian clergy (if they ever find out), Buddhism
is even being taught in one New South Wales primary school during religious
scripture classes. In early 1995 at Blackheath Primary School a group of parents
approached the principal, Kate Allan, asking the school to provide Buddhist
instruction as well as the traditional Catholic and Protestant options. Now,
forty-five of the schools three hundred and fifty students attend classes in
Buddhism.
"The move came from the community", Allan says. "In the mountains
we have quite a diverse community and it was the choice of the parents to have
these classes - it was not something imposed on the whole school".
Answering the question of Buddhism's growing popularity in is clearly going
to be a rich and involved conclusion. This religion seems to have, at first
glance, a vigorous influence on the world stage. Just when you think you have
examined the issues thoroughly, you suddenly discover that you are still only
looking at the tip of the iceberg.