In Australia, Buddhism is a minority religion. According to the 2021 census, 0.2 percent of the total population or 30,474 of Australia identified as Buddhist.[1] It was also the fastest-growing religion by percentage, having increased its number of adherents by 79 percent between the 1996 and 2001 censuses.[2] The highest percentage of Buddhists in Australia is present in Christmas Island, where Buddhists constitute 18.1% of the total population according to the 2016 Census.[3] Buddhism is the fourth largest religion in the country after Christianity, Islam and Hinduism.
People who are affiliated with Buddhism as a percentage of the total population in Australia divided geographically by statistical local area, as of the 2011 censusPeople who are affiliated with Buddhism as a percentage of the total population in Sydney divided geographically by postal area, as of the 2011 census
2011 census data showed the Buddhist affiliated population had grown from 418,749 to 528,977 people, an increase of 20.8%.[5] As Australia's population was estimated at 21.5 million at the time, according to the same census, the Buddhist population may be estimated at 2.46% of the population.
According to the 2016 census, the Buddhist population numbered 563,677 individuals, of whom 33% live in Greater Sydney, 30% in Greater Melbourne, and 8% each in Greater Brisbane and Greater Perth. The states and territories with the highest proportion of Buddhists are Victoria (3.07%) and New South Wales (2.78%), whereas those with the lowest are Queensland (1.51%) and Tasmania (0.79%).[6]
The highest percentage of Buddhists are present in Christmas Island, where Buddhism constitute 18.1% of the total population according to the 2016 Census. Buddhism was the largest religion in Christmas island till 2013, later Islam become the dominant religion there when Malays become biggest ethnic group in the island.[3]
History
The first clear example of Buddhist settlement in Australia dates to 1858. However, there has been speculation from some anthropologists that there may have been contact hundreds of years earlier; in the book Aboriginal Men of High Degree, A.P. Elkin cites what he believes is evidence that traders from Indonesia may have brought fleeting contact with Buddhism and Hinduism to areas near modern-day Dampier.[7] Elkin interpreted a link between Indigenous Australian culture and Buddhist ideas such as reincarnation.[7] He argued this link could have been brought through contact with Macassan traders.[7] There was also speculation due to reports of Chinese relics appearing in northern Australia dating to the 15th century, although it may have been brought much later through trade rather than earlier exploration.
In 1851, the first large group of Chinese to come to Australia came as part of the gold rush, most of them staying briefly for prospecting purposes rather than mass migration. In 1856, a temple was established in South Melbourne by the secular Sze Yap group. This temple was also used for Taoism, Confucianism, various cultural deities and even astrological activities. However, no clerics from China ever came to Australia. While numbers of worshipers at the See Yup temple in South Melbourne varied over time (primarily due to the White Australia Policy), it has been in continuous use as a temple ever since.[8]
The first Buddhist group to arrive in Australia was a troupe of acrobats and jugglers from Japan who toured in 1867.[citation needed] More arrived throughout the century, mostly involved in the pearling industry in northern Australia, reaching an estimate of 3600 on Thursday Island, and also in Broome and Darwin, Northern Territory.[citation needed]
The first Sinhalese Buddhists from Sri Lanka arrived in 1870 to work in sugarcane plantations. A community was believed to exist on Thursday Island in 1876. In 1882, a group of 500 left Colombo for Queensland, mostly in Mackay. The oldest remaining structure attesting to the establishment of Buddhism in Australia are two Bodhi Trees planted on Thursday Island in the 1890s, although the temple which once stood there no longer exists.
During the 20th century, the number of Buddhists gradually declined due to emigration and a lack of immigration caused by the White Australia Policy.
In 1891, the American Buddhist, Colonel Henry Steel Olcott, who was the co-founder of Theosophical Society came to Australia and participated in a lecture series, which led to a greater awareness of Buddhism in small circles of mainly upper-class society. One of the members of the Theosophical Society was future Australian Prime MinisterAlfred Deakin, who had spent three months in India and Sri Lanka in 1890 and wrote a book which discussed spiritual matters, including Buddhism.
The first instance of a monk arriving in Australia was in 1910, when U Sasana Dhaja, born E.H. Stevenson in Yarmouth, arrived from Burma. Over the years, various monks visited Australia, but it was not until the 1970s that a resident monk (named Venerable Somaloka) arrived from Sri Lanka.
The first specific Buddhist group, the Buddhist Study Group Melbourne, was formed in Melbourne in 1938 by Len Bullen, but it collapsed during the Second World War. The Buddhist Society of Victoria was formed in 1953, and in 1956 the Buddhist Society of New South Wales was formed. From the 1950s until the 1970s, the Buddhist Societies were lay organizations which self-discussed Buddhism.
In the late 1970s, Buddhism began to become more widespread, mainly due to immigration from South East Asia following the Vietnam War, as well as the spread to Western countries of Tibetan Buddhism, led by figures such as Lama Yeshe, who established religious institutions with resident monks, and Sogyal Rinpoche, during the 1980s, the founder of the Rigpa organization. This was supplemented by further immigration from Asia in the proceeding decades.
In 2009 in Australia four women received bhikkhuni ordination as Theravada nuns, the first time such ordination had occurred in Australia.[9] It was performed in Perth, Australia, on 22 October 2009 at Bodhinyana Monastery. Abbess Vayama together with Venerables Nirodha, Seri, and Hasapanna were ordained as Bhikkhunis by a dual Sangha act of Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis in full accordance with the Pali Vinaya.[10]
Buddhism used to have the highest percentage growth of all religions in Australia, having had an increase of 79 percent in the number of adherents from the 1996 to the 2001 census. Since the 1986 census, the number of adherents has increased from 80,387 to around 370,345 in 2001. However, it started to decline from 2.5 percent in 2011 to 2.4 percent in 2016, although there is still an increase of about 34,700 Buddhists in the number of adherents.
Theravāda is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed Theravādins, have preserved their version of Gautama Buddha's teaching or dhamma in the Pāli Canon for over two millennia.
Phra VisuddhisamvaratheraAM, known as Ajahn Brahmavaṃso, or simply Ajahn Brahm, is a British-born Buddhist monk. Ordained in 1974, he trained in the Thai Forest Tradition of Theravada Buddhism under his teacher Ajahn Chah. Currently, Ajahn Brahm is the abbot of Bodhinyana Monastery in Serpentine, Western Australia, as well as an adviser or patron of various Buddhist organizations in Australia, Singapore, and the UK.
Theravada Buddhism is the largest and official religion of Sri Lanka, practiced by 70.2% of the population as of 2012. Practitioners of Sri Lankan Buddhism can be found amongst the majority Sinhalese population as well as among the minority ethnic groups. Sri Lankan Buddhists share many similarities with Southeast Asian Buddhists, specifically Myanmar Buddhists and Thai Buddhists due to traditional and cultural exchange. Sri Lanka is one of five nations with a Theravada Buddhist majority.
The term American Buddhism can be used to describe all Buddhist groups within the United States, including Asian-American Buddhists born into the faith, who comprise the largest percentage of Buddhists in the country.
Buddhism in Thailand is largely of the Theravada school, which is followed by roughly 93.4 percent of the population. Thailand has the second largest Buddhist population in the world, after China, with approximately 64 million Buddhists. Buddhism in Thailand has also become integrated with folk religion (Bon), Hinduism from millennia of Indian influence, and Chinese religions from the large Thai Chinese population. Buddhist temples in Thailand are characterized by tall golden stupas, and the Buddhist architecture of Thailand is similar to that in other Southeast Asian countries, particularly Cambodia and Laos, with which Thailand shares cultural and historical heritages. Thai Buddhism also shares many similarities with Sri Lankan Buddhism. Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Laos are countries with Theravada Buddhist majorities.
Maechi or Mae chee, "respected mother", are female monastics in Thailand; Theravada Buddhist nuns. Ordained under The Eight or Ten Precepts, they formally occupy a position similar to sāmaṇerī and wear white robes, but are in practice resemblant of male Theravāda monastics - renunciants who have dedicated their life to Buddhist practice, meditation, vowing celibacy and ascetisicm.
Sri Lanka is officially a Buddhist country, while Sri Lankans practice a variety of religions. As of the 2012 census, 70.2% of Sri Lankans were Buddhists, 12.6% were Hindus, 9.7% were Muslims, 7.4% were Christians. Buddhism is declared as the State religion of Sri Lanka and has been given special privileges in the Sri Lankan constitution such as the government is bound for protection and fostering of Buddhist Dharma throughout the nation. However, the constitution also provides for freedom of religion and right to equality among all its citizens. In 2008 Sri Lanka was the third most religious country in the world according to a Gallup poll, with 99% of Sri Lankans saying religion is an important part of their daily life.
Buddhism in Southeast Asia includes a variety of traditions of Buddhism including two main traditions: Mahāyāna Buddhism and Theravāda Buddhism. Historically, Mahāyāna had a prominent position in the region, but in modern times, most countries follow the Theravāda tradition. Southeast Asian countries with a Theravāda Buddhist majority are Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, all of them mainland countries.
The Sīladharā Order is a Theravada Buddhist female monastic order established by Ajahn Sumedho at Chithurst Buddhist Monastery, England. Its members are known as Sīladharās.
Bodhinyana is a Theravada Buddhist monastery in the Thai Forest Tradition located in Serpentine, about 60 minutes' drive south-east of Perth, Western Australia. Established in 1983, it is operated by the Buddhist Society of Western Australia.
Buddhism in the United Kingdom is the fifth-largest religious group in the United Kingdom. The 2021 United Kingdom census recorded just under 290,000 Buddhists, or about 0.4% of the total population, with the largest number of Buddhists residing in Greater London and South East England. According to a Buddhist organisation, the growth of Buddhism in the United Kingdom is mainly a result of conversions.
Dhammananda Bhikkhuni, born Chatsumarn Kabilsingh or Chatsumarn Kabilsingh Shatsena, is a Thai bhikkhuni. On 28 February 2003, Kabilsingh received full monastic ordination as a bhikkhuni of the Theravada tradition in Sri Lanka. She is Abbess of Songdhammakalyani Monastery, the only temple in Thailand where there are bhikkhunis.
Venerable Bhikkhunī (Ayya) Tathālokā Mahātherī is an American-born Theravada Bhikkhunī, scholar and Buddhist teacher. She is also the co-founder of the Dhammadharini monastic community in California, which includes Dhammadharini Monastery, and Aranya Bodhi Hermitage. She was the recipient of the 2006 Outstanding Women in Buddhism Award, a presenting scholar at the 2007 International Congress on Buddhist Women's Role in the Sangha, and was appointed Preceptor for the historically-significant 2009 Bhikkhuni Ordination held in Perth, Australia.
A bhikkhunī or bhikṣuṇī is a Buddhist nun, fully ordained female in Buddhist monasticism. Bhikkhunis live by the Vinaya, a set of either 311 Theravada, 348 Dharmaguptaka, or 364 Mulasarvastivada school rules. Until recently, the lineages of female monastics only remained in Mahayana Buddhism and thus were prevalent in countries such as China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Vietnam, while a few women have taken the full monastic vows in the Theravada and Vajrayana schools. The official lineage of Tibetan Buddhist bhikkhunis recommenced on 23 June 2022 in Bhutan when 144 nuns, most of them Butanese, were fully ordained.
Songdhammakalyani Monastery is a temple and monastery of Bhikkhuni in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand. It was founded in 1960 by Ven. Ta Tao Fa Tzu, the first modern Thai woman to ordain as a bhikkhuni. The monastery was originally known as Wat Songdhammakalyani ."
Mahanama was King of Anuradhapura in the 5th century, whose reign lasted from 412 to 434. He succeeded his brother Upatissa I as King of Anuradhapura and was succeeded by his son Soththisena.
The Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah is a Mahanikai monastic organization in the Thai Forest Tradition composed of the students of Ajahn Chah Subhaddo. Strictly speaking, the Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah denotes the institutions who have a branch affiliation with Wat Pah Pong, the administrative center of the organization.
Sujato, known as Ajahn Sujato or Bhikkhu Sujato, is an Australian Buddhist monk ordained into the Thai forest lineage of Ajahn Chah.
Ayya Nirodha is an Australian Buddhist nun. Her story was featured in the Buddhist Life Stories of Australia Project (2014–2015).
Spuler, Michelle (2000). Characteristics of Buddhism in Australia, Journal of Contemporary Religion 15 (1), 29-44
Spuler, Michelle (2002). The Development of Buddhism in Australia and New Zealand. In: Prebish, Charles S., and Baumann, Martin, (eds.) Westward Dharma: Buddhism beyond Asia. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA, USA, pp.139–151
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