Wilhelm II.: "Völker Europas, wahrt Eure heiligsten Güter!"
mailto: payer@payer.de
Zitierweise / cite as:
Payer, Alois <1944 - >: Materialien zum Neobuddhismus. -- 16. Buddhismus in Australien. -- Fassung vom 2005-06-09. -- URL: http://www.payer.de/neobuddhismus/neobud1601.htm . -- [Stichwort].
Erstmals publiziert: 1996-07-18
Überarbeitungen: 2005-06-09 [Ergänzungen]; 2005-06-06 [Ergänzungen]; 2005-05-05 [überarbeitet]; 2003-07-25 [überarbeitet und stark erweitert]; 1998-07-18
Anlass: Lehrveranstaltung Neobuddhismus, Univ. Tübingen, SS 1987, SS 2003, SS 2005
Copyright: Dieser Text steht der Allgemeinheit zur Verfügung. Eine Verwertung in Publikationen, die über übliche Zitate hinausgeht, bedarf der ausdrücklichen Genehmigung des Verfassers.
Dieser Text ist Teil der Abteilung Buddhismus von Tüpfli's Global Village Library
Abb.: Karte von Australien (©MS Encarta)
Weiterführende Ressourcen
Adam, Enid <1936 - > ; Hughes, Philip J.: The Buddhists in Australia. -- Canberra : Australian Govt. Pub. Service, 1996. -- 71 S. : Ill. -- (religious community profiles). -- ISBN 0644459069
Croucher, Paul <1961 - >: Buddhism in Australia, 1848-1988. -- Kensington, NSW, Australia : New South Wales University Press, ©1989. -- 147 S. : Ill. -- ISBN 0-86840-195-1
Zur Geschichte von Australien:
Payer, Margarete <1942 - >: HBI - weltweit. -- 3. Australien. -- 3.03. Zur Geschichte von Australien. -- URL: http://www.payer.de/hbiweltweit/weltw303.html
Abb.: Buddhisten in Prozenten der australischen Bevölkerung 1891 bis 1991
[Bildquelle: Adam, Enid <1936 - > ; Hughes, Philip J.: The Buddhists in Australia. -- Canberra : Australian Govt. Pub. Service, 1996. -- 71 S. : Ill. -- (religious community profiles). -- ISBN 0644459069. -- S. 41]
1848
Erste chinesische Arbeiter kommen nach Australien und bringen mit ihrer Religion auch buddhistische Elemente (vor allem Kuan Yin) mit
1856
Die Sze Yap Geheimgesellschft baut den South Melbourne Temple
1870ff.
Japaner kommen als Arbeiter in der Perlenindustrie und Perlentaucher nach Broome, Darwin und Thursday Island. Am Ende des Jahrhunderts z.B. gibt es 3600 Japaner auf Thursday Islands. Man brauchte die japnischen Perltaucher so sehr, dass sie unter Umgehung der Immigrationsgesetze bis 1941 nach Australien kommen durften. Jedes Jahr zum Augustvollmond feierten die Japaner Obonmatsuri, das Laternenfest, eine Art buddhistischer Allerheiligen.
Abb.: Lage von Broome, Darwin, Thursday Island (©MS Encarta)
1870ff.
Singhalesen (Ceylon) kommen als Arbeiter und Fachkräfte in der Perlenindustrie nach Broome, Darwin und Thursday Island. Spätestens ab 1876 ist auf Thursday Island eine singhalesische buddhistische Gemeinschaft nachweisbar. In den 1890er Jahren besteht diese buddhistische Gemeinschaft aus ca. 500 Singhalesen, die u.a. zwei Schösslinge des Bodhi-Baums von Anuradhapura setzten.
1870-09 - 1954-10
Es erscheint die spriritualistische Zeitschrift:
The Harbinger of Light : a new monthly journal on zoistic science, free thought, spiritualism and the harmonial philosophy. -- Melbourne : W. H. Terry. -- September 1870 - Oktober 1954. -- Insgesamt 85 Bde.
Der Herausgeber William Henry Terry (1836 - 1913), ein Magnetheiler, Wahrsager und Kräuterheiler, hatte einen Spiritualist Bookstore in Melbourne, Russel Street. Dieser Buchladen führte ein volles Sortiment buddhistischer Literatur, z.B. auch "The sacred books of the Buddhists" sowie die Publikationen der Pali Text Society!
William H. Terry propagierte u.a. "the redemption from blind Christianity to rational Buddhism".
"William Henry Terry (1836-1913) was born in Islington, London, and arrived in Melbourne in 1853 with his father, brother and sister. In the late 1850s, the Terrys took up spiritualism, eventually giving up the family drapery business. William set up as a spiritualist bookseller, medium, trance and magnetic healer and clairvoyant-herbalist in Russell Street, Melbourne.
Even though spiritualism had its share of eccentric devotees, Terry appears to have been firm, hard working and level headed. In 1870 he launched the Harbinger of Light. The Journal of Spiritualism and continued to edit this Journal until his retirement in 1907. He advocated temperance and vegetarianism, and in 1872 founded a children’s Sunday School. His financial ability provided a means of survival for the Victorian Association of Progressive Spiritualists.
In 1880 he was elected an honorary member of The British National Association of Spiritualists and became an inaugural fellow of the Theosophical Society. In 1893 he visited the US as a representative of the Australian Spiritualist Movement. He also sponsored tours to Australia of mediums, including Dr Slade and Mr. Peebles."
[Quelle: http://www.antique-art.com.au/gallery/dealers/jlebovic/albums.htm. -- Zugriff am 2003-06-15]
1875
Aus einem Artikel des Australian Sketcher über den chinesischen South Melbourne Temple:
Religious ceremonies at the temple were usually carried out by members of the merchant class who, "being vested in the manner of invoking Buddha, at certain stated times every year attended at the Joss House habited in rich robes of Chinese silk to offer sacrifices and pray for luck to Buddha." [Zitat in: Croucher, Paul <1961 - >: Buddhism in Australia, 1848-1988. -- Kensington, NSW, Australia : New South Wales University Press, ©1989. -- 147 S. : Ill. -- ISBN 0-86840-195-1. -- S. 3]
1878
Die amerikanische Theosophin Emma Hardinge Britten (gestorben 1899) macht eine Vortragstour durch Australien. Unter anderen wird William Henry Terry (1836 - 1913) (siehe oben) Mitglied der Theosophica Society.
1878-07
Die australische spiritualistische Zeitschrift The Harbinger of Light berichtet über:
Migettuwatte Gunananda <1824-1891>: Buddhism and Christianity : being an oral debate held at Panadura between the Rev. Migettuwatte Gunananda, a Buddhist priest and the Rev. David de Silva, a Wesleyan clegyman / introduction and annotations by J. M. Peebles. - [Nachdr.] - Colombo : Siriwardhana, (1955). - 166 S.
Siehe: Payer, Alois <1944 - >: Materialien zum Neobuddhismus. -- 2. International. -- 1. Buddhismus und theosophische Bewegung. -- 1. Bis 1878. -- URL: http://www.payer.de/neobuddhismus/neobud02011.htm
1889
Gründung der ersten australischen Zweiggesellschaft der Theosophical Society in Tasmanien.
1890
In Melbourne gründet Elise Pickett, eine gebürtige Russin, eine Zweiggesellschaft der Theosophical Society. Frau Picket bezeichnet sich als Buddhistin.
1891-03-19 bis 1891-05-27
Aufenthalt des Theosophenführers Colonel Henry Steel Olcott (1832-1907) in Australien
Siehe: Payer, Alois <1944 - >: Materialien zum Neobuddhismus. -- 2. International. -- 1. Buddhismus und theosophische Bewegung. -- 3. Ab 1888. -- URL: http://www.payer.de/neobuddhismus/neobud02013.htm
1901
Immigration Restriction Act stoppt die Einwanderung von Asiaten. Die singhalesische buddhistische Gemeinde löst sich allmählich auf.
"At least one of these Sinhalese families stayed on in Queensland and retained its Buddhist identity, withstanding the strong pressures and inducements to convert to Christianity. The Mendis family for many years sold Buddhist literature through their jewellery shop and, in 1982, were instrumental in establishing the Brisbane Buddhist Vihara. Another jeweller, reputed to be the wealthiest man in Broome, was probably the only Buddhist in Australia with a national identity in the interwar years. Tudagala Badalge Ellias, known locally as T. B. Ellies, arrived in Broome in 1888 and was for over forty years considered the finest pearl-cleaner in the world. So adept was he at removing blemishes from pearls that he often made £100 commission on two hours' work. Much of the proceeds of his considerable wealth went in 1917 towards the erection of a temple and monastery complex in his native Bope district, near Galle in Sri Lanka. At a cost of £10000, the interior of the central shrine was constructed of white ebony, and housed a 306 kg solid silver Buddha Ellies himself had carved. A legendary figure, anecdotal material about him features prominently in every history of the pearling industry and of Broome."
[Croucher, Paul <1961 - >: Buddhism in Australia, 1848-1988. -- Kensington, NSW, Australia : New South Wales University Press, ©1989. -- 147 S. : Ill. -- ISBN 0-86840-195-1. -- S. 5f.]
1911
Im Census bezeichnen sich 3269 Personen als Buddhisten (dabei sind nicht mitgezählt die Personen, die sich als Anhänger chinesischer Religionen bezeichneten).
1919
Abb.: F. L. Woodward [Bildquelle: http://www.mahindaclub.org/profile_1.html. -- Zugriff am 2003-07-23]Frank Lee Woodward (1871 - 1952), u.a. Übersetzer für die Pali Text Society, kommt in Tasmanien an und lebt und wirkt dort bis zu seinem Tod.
"Frank Lee Woodward was born in Norfolk, England, in 1871, the third son of an Anglican clergyman. At school, and later at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, he was a renowned sportsman. But at around nineteen he went through a period of psychological 'distress', which led him in particular to the stoic philosophy of Marcus Aurelius, whom he described as 'a pillar of strength to those who live inwardly'. From 1898 he served as a schoolmaster at Stamford for five years, receiving a master's degree from Cambridge in 1901. During this period he discovered Theosophy, at first via the ideas of reincarnation in Plato. He joined the society in 1902, and soon developed a boundless faith in Colonel Olcott and his brand of Buddhism. Although already at this time something of an anachronism, as a Theosophical Buddhist Woodward believed implicitly in Madame Blavatsky's Himalayan brotherhood of Mahatmas; he later wrote to a friend: 'Do not repulse T. S. teachings because you cannot grasp them or because one side is prominent i.e. Hinduism . . . the Bodhisat (Maitreya) is watching over this world'. A Theosophist of the old school, he offered his services to Olcott, who in 1903 installed him as the principal of Mahinda College, administered by the Buddhist Theosophical Society of Galle, Sri Lanka.
Here he worked indefatigably for sixteen years, assuming a legendary status which approached that of the good Colonel himself. Drawing no salary, he ploughed much of his inheritance into the erection of new buildings — an act of generosity which resulted in his living in dire poverty towards the end of his life. Although he was a strict disciplinarian, the 350 boys of the college dearly idolised him. Woodward conducted the senior classes in Buddhist philosophy, and would personally wash the feet of many of the monks as they came to the school hall for almsgiving. For a time he edited the Buddhist, the leading Buddhist magazine on the island, and each year went to Madras for the annual convention of the Theosophical Society. The tropical climate was beginning to tell on his health, however, and in 1919, armed with literally a ton of books, and 'Buddha relics', courtesy of the monks of the Galle District, he retired to Tasmania to live out the remaining thirty-three years of his life translating the Pali Canon.Woodward bought a small apple orchard and cottage from a fellow Theosophist. Situated on the Tamar River 40 km from Launceston, his study afforded a magnificent view of Ben Lomond, one of the highest peaks in Tasmania, 65 km away. In this idyllic setting he began his real life's work, at the age of nearly fifty. Apart from contributing the occasional article on Buddhism to Theosophy in Australasia, Woodward's chief preoccupation was his translations for the Pali Text Society, established by Rhys Davids in 1881. From 1916 on, his contribution amounted to no fewer than sixteen volumes, though it is probably for his 1925 anthology, Some Sayings of the Buddha, that he is best remembered. Christmas Humphreys, that other renowned Theosophical Buddhist, writing in 1972, considered it still the finest anthology of the Pali Canon produced. It was also included in the World's Classics series, with an introduction by Sir Francis Young-husband. For many Westerners, including many later prominent Australian Buddhists, this book has been an entree to Buddhism, and although the style seems now somewhat florid, it earned Woodward a place alongside Rhys Davids and Nyanatiloka as a Pali scholar.
F. L. Woodward's life in Tasmania was characteristically unostentatious and rustic. He lived for his translations, and Tasmania afforded him the required isolation. Although he was thought of as a bit of an eccentric by the people of the district, he struck up close friendships with his nearest neighbours and was a favourite among the local children, who invariably received sweets from him on his visits to the store. He also drew up their astrological charts — another Theosophical pastime. A strict vegetarian and animal lover, he astounded his neighbours with his fondness for the snakes of the area, many of which he accorded nicknames. Although in his last years his orchard was neglected and his spartan lifestyle not that much more comfortable than a Buddhist monk's, making do on an annuity of around £70 a year, he is said to have been always 'cheery and boisterous'. Each night he practised yoga, and he became so oblivious to his appearance that on the few occasions he left the 'radius' of his 'ashrama', as he put it, he often did so clad only in 'a pair of pyjamas, a paper bag for a shirt and a white turban'. His neighbours relate that on one walk he bumped into Sir Robert Menzies, who was visiting friends in the area, and subsequently had him in for afternoon tea. Woodward only descended on Launceston two or three times a year, usually to take part in some activity of the local branch of the Theosophical Society. He claimed always to be 'confident of the goodness of whatever happens', and perhaps some of this enthusiasm rubbed off on the increasing number of Australian Buddhists with whom he was corresponding in the few years before his death in 1952."
[Croucher, Paul <1961 - >: Buddhism in Australia, 1848-1988. -- Kensington, NSW, Australia : New South Wales University Press, ©1989. -- 147 S. : Ill. -- ISBN 0-86840-195-1. -- S. 21 - 23]
1925
Max Tayler, Max Dunn und David Maurice gründen in Melbourne The Little Circle of the Dharma. Die Ausrichtung ist Theravada.
1938
Leonard Bullen gründet in Melbourne The Buddhist Study Group. Die Gruppe hatte nur kurzen Bestand.
1940er-Jahre
Marie Beuzeville Byles (1900 - 1979) kommt zum Buddhismus.
Abb.: Mary Byles"In 1951 Marie Byles was already well on the way to becoming a legendary figure. The first woman to graduate in law in New South Wales, she was also a pioneer conservationist, mountaineer, bushwalker, pacifist, feminist and Buddhist. In her unpublished autobiography, 'Many Lives in One', she writes that although she lived 'on amicable terms' with The Establishment, most of her other pursuits were geared towards 'unconsciously helping to undermine it'. Born 'a heretic', as she put it, to 'Unitarian-dissenting' parents near Manchester, England, in April 1900, she was brought to Australia ' in 1911. Her father was a Fabian socialist, and her mother raised her a staunch vegetarian, so that she claimed in 1957 never to have tasted meat.
Even as a child Marie Byles was strong-willed, and her father nicknamed her 'Mrs Mahabili Pushbar', the lady who gets things done'. As an adult her friends saw her as 'sufficient unto herself', and 'built for loneliness'. She described herself as 'a natural celibate', and thus all her energies were free to be directed towards various causes. After graduating from Sydney University in 1924 she helped form the Sydney Bushwalkers in 1927, and then played a pivotal role in having the Bouddi area declared a national park. In the 1930s she not only dedicated much of her time to mountaineering though she was only 5 ft 2 in (1.575 m) and always quite frail, but she also published her first book, By Cargo Boat and Mountain. In 1938 she set out on a long-planned expedition to conquer 20000 ft (6096 m) Mount Sansato in western China; but it conquered her, and a radical change in her life took place. For the first time she felt defeated and unsure, and within a short time found herself reading Gandhi and even going to church. Yet such conformist behaviour did not suit her; for she felt that 'no member of a respectable family starting to engage in the sly grog traffic could have been more afraid of being found out'.Being active in the pacifist movement in the late 1930s she had many Quaker friends and often attended their meetings, yet she seems never to have been able to believe in a God; as a journalist later put it, it was only ever 'the magnificence of the earth that held her spellbound'. Then in the spring of 1941 she suffered a further blow when her arches broke down, ruling out any more bushwalking. With many external vistas dosed off, she turned increasingly inward, reading F. L. Woodward's Some Sayings of the Buddha at a critical time, around Christmas 1941. She continued to attend Quaker meetings, and a friend there taught her how to meditate in the lotus posture; yet she often used such occasions as a forum to voice her Buddhist and Gandhian views. She applied to join the Quakers, but after six months of deliberations was one of the very few to be rejected. She considered that this was because 'as usual I was 20 years ahead of others'. Her Quaker friends, on the other hand, felt that it was in no small measure due to the fact that she wore slacks.
The result of this rejection was that she became more keenly interested in Buddhism, and began a serious study of the Pali Canon, as well as corresponding with F. L. Woodward, David Maurice and the Buddhist Society in London. Some have claimed that she never considered herself a Buddhist, but rather liked to discuss Buddhism when with Christians and Christianity when with Buddhists. It is true that she was eclectic, but her closest Quaker friends felt that she was always a Buddhist at heart. Certainly, when writing for Buddhist journals such as The Middle Way, she would refer to 'we Buddhists'; so one may attribute her bringing Christian and Gandhian notions into Buddhist discussions as primarily a plea for tolerance, in a circle where not a few people were rabidly anti-Christian. As we shall see, her year in India, three sojourns at Burmese meditation centres, two trips to Japan to study Zen and Ittoen, four books on Buddhism, and her pioneering role in establishing the Buddhist Society of New South Wales, would indicate that Buddhism was the single most important influence on her life, if not the only one.
As early as 1946 Marie Byles had plans to develop a Buddhist Retreat Centre with a Dr Chalmers, a Mount Stromlo astronomer, and his wife, who owned 900 acres (364 ha) of land on a 3000 ft (914 m) mountain plateau near Shelley in Victoria. They advertised their intentions to this effect in the May 1946 edition of The Middle Way, and Marie tried to recruit some of her bushwalking friends, but why the plan fell through is not known. Although the Chalmers, like Marie Byles, were keen naturalists, they were basically Zen-oriented, and so there may have been some friction on this count, given her Theravadin leanings. What is perhaps more likely is that the centre was conceived of only by correspondence, and when the Chalmers actually met her they were put off by her somewhat domineering personality.
It was probably not until 1951 that Marie Byles again made contact with Buddhists in Sydney. In a small notebook entitled 'Buddhism in NSW' among her boxes of unpublished papers in the Mitchell Library, the first entry mentions a 'Silent Retreat', with eight people present, on 20 May 1951, at a friend's house in Lindfield to commemorate vesak. Although Marie Byles at that time was probably not one for chanting, she may have read a passage from the suttas, making this the first vesak to be celebrated by a group of non-Asian Australians. The second entry, dated 9 September 1951, mentions a group of ten people, including Leo Berkeley, having gathered to meet David Maurice at her home in Cheltenham. Maurice features again, in November 1951, giving instruction in Burmese meditation to small groups of people."
[Croucher, Paul <1961 - >: Buddhism in Australia, 1848-1988. -- Kensington, NSW, Australia : New South Wales University Press, ©1989. -- 147 S. : Ill. -- ISBN 0-86840-195-1. -- S. 33 - 35]
1947
Im Census bezeichnen sich 411 Personen als Buddhisten.
1951
Abb.: Sr. Dhammadinna[Bildquelle: Croucher, Paul <1961 - >: Buddhism in Australia, 1848-1988. -- Kensington, NSW, Australia : New South Wales University Press, ©1989. -- 147 S. : Ill. -- ISBN 0-86840-195-1]
Der bedeutende ceylonesische Buddhismusgelehrte Dr. G. P. Malalasekera <1899 - 1973> zahlt für Sr. Dhammadinna (1881 - 1967) die Überfahrt nach Australien, damit sie dort Theravada-Buddhismus verbreiten kann.
1953
Gründung der Buddhist Society of Queensland. Sie geht nach drei Jahren ein.
1953
Gründung der Buddhist Society of Victoria [Webpräsenz: http://home.vicnet.net.au/~bsvmelb/. -- Zugriff am 2003-07-24]
1953-05
Gründung der Buddhist Society of New South Wales
Abb.: Treffen der Buddhist Society of NSW (ganz links: Leo Berkeley und Mary Byles"The year prior to Hawke's stay, a wealthy Sydney businessman named Leo Berkeley had been holding similar discussions with the Venerable Narada Thera at the Vajirarama Vihara in Colombo. Born in Holland in 1902, Leo Berkeley came to Australia in 1947 after more than twenty years running an antiquarian bookstore in London. In early 1951, while on board a ship back to England, he met Sir Lalita Rajapakse, the then minister of Justice in the Sri Lankan government, who introduced him to Buddhist thought. He was particularly impressed by the notion that in Buddhism you can control your own destiny, and when the ship stopped off at Colombo Rajapakse introduced him to Narada, who gave him some literature and invited him to visit again on his return to Australia. This he did two months later, growing enthusiastic at Narada's suggestion that he establish a Buddhist society in Sydney. Soon after his return, in mid-1951, he read an article about Marie Byles in the Sydney Morning Herald and contacted her about forming a society. At first she was reluctant, believing that Australia was not yet ready for Buddhism, but before too long gave way in the face of his not inconsiderable charm. The following Saturday Leo Berkeley placed an advertisement in the newspapers and within two weeks had ten members meeting at his home in East Roseville. Organised Buddhism on an ongoing basis in Australia had been born.
...
Meanwhile in Sydney, within two or three months of his advertising the formation of a society, Leo Berkeley's Sunday evening meetings were attracting up to thirty people. Thus, by late 1951, organised Buddhism was well under way in Australia. The generally received history, however, has been that Buddhism was brought here by an elderly American nun named Sister Dhammadinna in late 1952. All religious traditions naturally have their myths, and this is the one great myth in the history of Buddhism in Australia. It dearly arose because in 1956 a new faction, with a quite different approach to Buddhism, took control of the Buddhist Society of New South Wales, edging out Leo Berkeley and actually expelling Marie Byles. The early history of the society was rewritten, albeit perhaps unconsciously, and Sister Dhammadinna elevated to the undeserved status of 'Founder of Australian Buddhism'. This process of mythologisation was complicated by the fact that those who shaped it knew very little about Sister Dhammadinna or her past."
[Croucher, Paul <1961 - >: Buddhism in Australia, 1848-1988. -- Kensington, NSW, Australia : New South Wales University Press, ©1989. -- 147 S. : Ill. -- ISBN 0-86840-195-1. -- S. 33, 36]
1954
Der burmesische Theravadamönch U Ashin Titthila (geb. 1896) besucht die Buddhist Societies Australiens. Sein Besuch findet in den Medien ein großes Echo.
1955
Der berühmte ceylonesische Mönch Narada Mahathera (1898 - 1983) kommt auf Einladung der Buddhist Society of Queensland Australien. Narada besucht auch Tasmanien. Dies führt zur Gründung einer buddhistischen Vereinigung dort, die aber keinen Bestand hatte.
1956
Gründung einer buddhistischen Gruppe in Südaustralien.
1956
Bei den Olympischen Sommerspielen in Australien ist Max Dunn, der inzwischen Soto-Geistlicher geworden ist, offizieller buddhistischer Kaplan.
1957
Sr. Dhammadinna (1881 - 1967) kommt zum zweiten Mal nach Australien. Ihr Visum verbietet, dass sie öffentlich Buddhismus lehrt.
1958
Gründung der Buddhist Federation of Australia unter der Leitung von Charles Knight
1959ff.
Metta : official journal of the Buddhist Federation of Australia. -- [Sydney] : The Federation, 1959-1985. -- Vol. 1, no. 1 (July 1959) - Vol.. 27, no. 2 (Sept. 1985)
Ab 1986: Buddhism today : official journal of the Buddhist Federation of Australia. -- 1986 -Bis 1976 ist die Herausgeberin Natasha Jackson
1960/1961
Der chinesische Ch'an-Meister Hsuan Hua (1918 - 1995) lebt in Sydney. Er wird aber von den Chinesen wenig unterstützt. Mangelnde Sprachkenntnisse verhindern Wirksamkeit bei den Weißen. Sein Anspruch, wein Wundertäter zu sein, wird abgelehnt. So geht er in die USA, wo er in Kalifornien die City of Ten Thousand Buddhas gründet [Webpräsenz: http://www.drba.org/CTTB/cttb_e.htm. -- Zugriff am 2003-07-24]
1961
Gründung der Soto Zen Buddhist Society in New South Wales
1964
Soka Gakkai International President Daisaku Ikeda besucht Australien. Gründung des Melbourne Chapter, des 997. Chapter weltweit, mit 6 Mitgliedern. [Webpräsenz: http://home.vicnet.net.au/~sgia/index.htm. -- Zugriff am 2003-07-24]
1971-05-09
Der ceylonesische Theravadamönch Ratmalane Somaloka kommt nach Sydney. Er betreut vor allem Buddhisten europäischer Abstammung.
1973-04-05
Der englische Theravadamönch Phra Khantipalo (seit 1991-11 wieder als Laie Laurence Mills) (geb. 1932) kommt von Thailand nach Australien.
Abb.: Phra Khantipalo"Phra Khantipalo has himself, of course, been responsible for many hearkening to the forest tradition and going to Thailand. Along with Lama Yeshe and Robert Aitken, he ranks as one of the three most influential 'patriarchs' of recent Australian Buddhism.
Born Laurence Mills, just north of London in 1932, he recalls that the only school subject that really gripped him was Asian history. After two years at a horticultural college he served as an education instructor in the British army in Egypt. With little to do all day, he simply read, and when he happened upon Christmas Humphreys' Buddhism he felt as if he had 'come home'. In 1955 he returned to London to work in horticulture, joined the Buddhist Society, and was eventually ordained under the Venerable Dr H. Saddhatissa at the London Buddhist Vihara in 1959. The following year he went to India to study with the English monk, Sangharakshita, at Kalimpong. They travelled widely together, having some association with Dr Ambedkar's movement, before Phra Khantipalo decided on Thailand, where he lived from 1963 to 1973. There his base was Wat Bovoranives in Bangkok, interspersed with short periods in forest monasteries. The famous Catholic monk, Thomas Merton, met him in Bangkok in the late 1960s and was impressed by his 'great reputation for scholarship and fervour among the Thais'. He also described him as 'extremely thin, bones sticking out in all directions. He has the look of a strict observer. But sensible'.
Phra Khantipalo is perhaps in some ways an unlikely teacher of Nimbin hippies> but his life represents many of the things they respect: homelessness, poverty, meditation and an altruistic ethic. He arrived in Sydney on 5 April 1973, followed ten days later by Phra Chao Khun Pariyattikavee, despatched by the Mahamakut Foundation as the fruit of Charles Knight's long and tortuous negotiations. The Buddhist Society of New South Wales had in late 1972 purchased a small villa unit at Eastlakes, where the two monks stayed for a short time before other premises were found by the Thai Consulate. Phra Khantipalo gave talks and meditation classes at the society for several months but predictably, perhaps — given that the Jackson regime was still intact and that the two other key members of the committee, Malcolm Pearce and Bill Rait, were Mahayanists—this association was short-lived and Phra Khantipalo turned his attentions elsewhere.
The first invitation he had was to Nimbin, in late 1973, and thereafter he led a peripatetic existence, teaching meditation all over the country and coalescing interest which led to the formation of new societies in Perth, Canberra and Brisbane. One rains retreat he spent at Mullumbimby, in New South Wales, and another with Ilse Ledermann, later known as Ayya Khema, near Nambour, in Queensland. His strict adherence to the vinaya rules engendered confidence wherever he went, and he is very highly respected amongst Australian Buddhists for his refined scholarship and wealth of experience in the Dharma. Some people feel that his verse translations are a bit old-fashioned, but he is an accomplished prose writer. As to his teaching style, one of his ex-students, now a Zen nun, echoes the general sentiment that although 'outwardly he is fairly formal, underneath he has a way that is quite open'."
[Croucher, Paul <1961 - >: Buddhism in Australia, 1848-1988. -- Kensington, NSW, Australia : New South Wales University Press, ©1989. -- 147 S. : Ill. -- ISBN 0-86840-195-1. -- S. 90f.]
1973-05
Einweihung des ersten Klosters in Australien, des Australian Buddhist Vihara in Katoomba, in den Blue Mountains, westlich von Sydney.
"Despite the optimism which greeted the founding of Australia's first Buddhist Vihara, since then, all has not been a bed of roses. A sign on the gate of the Vihara, "Private Property", is a significant indicator of its policies. Despite the Sri Lankan origins of Venerable Somaloka, the local Sri Lankan Buddhist community was discouraged from visiting the Vihara. It was only after the arrival of Venerable Pemananda, another monk from Sri Lanka, who was invited to assist in the activities of the Vihara, that the Sri Lankan community was granted limited access. The Bhikkhu (monk) who followed Ven.Pemananda's stay, Ven.Suganananda, was most unimpressed with the exclusiveness of the Vihara's policies and threatened to leave unless visitors were granted freer access. Some Blue Mountain's residents who wished to study the Dhamma (the Buddha's teachings) and to practice meditation claim that they were actively discouraged from attending the Vihara. As the result of an alleged breach of a major Vinaya rule by Somaloka, many of the original supporters have since withdrawn from its activities. Currently, the majority of Sri Lankan Buddhists, who follow the Theravadin school, attend the Thai temple or the Australian Buddhist Mission." [Quelle: http://www.zip.com.au/~lyallg/Ethnicnsw12.htm. -- Zugriff am 2003-07-24]
1973
Gründung der theravadabuddhistischen Buddhist Society of Western Australia. [Webpräsenz: http://www.dhammaloka.org.au/. -- Zugriff am 2003-07-25]
1973(?)
Phra Khantipalo (geb. 1932) besucht Ilse Ledermann, geb. Kussel (später bekannt als Ayya Khema) (1923 - 1997) auf ihrer Farm "Shalom" in Queensland. Ayya Khema berichtet darüber:
"Eines Tages besuchte uns ein buddhistischer Mönch auf unserer Farm. Er hieß Phra Khantipalo und war Engländer. Er hatte keine Bleibe, und da haben wir ihn eingeladen, bei uns zu wohnen. Wir gaben ihm für eine Übergangszeit unser Fremdenzimmer, währenddessen bauten er und Gerd eine Holzhütte für ihn, mitten im Wald auf unserem Grund. Er hat mit uns gelebt, mit uns gegessen, und wir haben von ihm eine Menge gelernt.
Als Phra Khantipalo von der Lehre des Buddha erzählte, war mir klar. Das kann ich verstehen und praktizieren. Zum Beispiel die Lehre von den fünf Tugenden: man darf keine Lebewesen töten, nicht nehmen, was einem nicht gegeben wurde, nicht lügen, keine groben Worte benutzen, keinen sexuellen Missbrauch treiben, weder Drogen noch Alkohol zu sich nehmen.
Das Gegenteil sollte praktiziert werden: Liebende Güte, Freigebigkeit, Zuverlässigkeit und Treue, gute Reden, Achtsamkeit.
Es war das erste Mal, dass ich etwas gehört hatte, von dem ich sagen konnte: ich verstehe es vollkommen, ich brauche überhaupt nicht nachzudenken. Ich weiß, dass es stimmt, ich begreife, was ich anzustreben habe.
Hier war ein spiritueller Weg, der wirklich aufzeigte, wie man sich ändern kann, um innere Reinheit zu erlangen.
Ich organisierte dann auf unserer Farm Kurse, die der Mönch für interessierte Menschen gab. Auch andere Lehrer lud ich zu uns ein.
Wir haben beide weiter von Phra Khantipalo gelernt. Für mich war es ein beglückendes Erlebnis, endlich zu wissen, wohin ich wollte. Es wurde zu meinem beherrschenden Thema. "[Khema <Ayya> <1923 - 1997>: Ich schenke euch mein Leben : die Lebensgeschichte einer deutschen Buddhistin. -- Vollst. Taschenbuchausg. -- München : Droemer Knaur, 2003. -- 237 S. : Ill. -- (Knaur ; 87197 : Mens sana). -- ISBN 3-426-87197-1. -- S. 141]
"Ayya Khema wurde 1923 als Kind jüdischer Eltern in Berlin geboren. 1938 entfloh sie dem Nationalsozialismus und gelangte mit einem Kindertransport nach Schottland. 1940 kam sie nach China, wo sie während der japanischen Besatzung drei Jahre in Zivilgefangenschaft gehalten wurde. 1949 wurde Ayya Khema amerikanische Staatsbürgerin und lebte als Ehefrau und Mutter zweier Kinder in Kalifornien. 1964 siedelte die Familie nach Australien über und führte auf einer eigenen Farm ein autonomes Landleben. Auf ihren Reisen durch Asien kam Ayya Khema mit dem Buddhismus in Berührung. Nach Jahren der Ausbildung bei namhaften Lehrern in Burma, Thailand, Sri Lanka, USA und Australien begann sie 1975 Meditation und die Lehre des Buddha - in der Theravada Tradition - zu vermitteln. Inzwischen wurde sie in weiten Teilen der Welt eine gesuchte Meditationsmeisterin. 1978 gründete Ayya Khema unweit von Sydney das Waldkloster "Wat Buddha Dhamma". 1979 wurde sie in Sri Lanka als Nonne ordiniert. Zwei Jahre später gründete sie das "International Buddhist Women`s Centre" nahe Colombo.1984 schuf sie mit ihrem Frauenkloster und Meditationszentrum auf einer kleinen Insel - mit Namen "Parappuduwa Nuns Island" - im Südwesten Sri Lankas eine internationale Stätte für Studium und Praxis des Buddhismus. Auf Grund ihrer Inspiration entstand im Allgäu das Buddha-Haus sowie das erste buddhistische Waldkloster Deutschlands, mit Namen "Metta Vihara". Eine Woche vor ihrem Tod, am 2. November 1997, hat sie noch den "Orden der Westlichen Waldklostertradition" gegründet."
[Quelle: http://www.buddha-haus.de/site/html/ayya_khema/frame.htm. -- Zugriff am 2003-07-25]
1975-05-25
Abb.: Wat Buddharangsee, 1999 [Bildquelle: http://watthai.net/watbuddharangsee/photos.htm. -- Zugriff am 2003-07-24]Einweihung des thailändischen Klosters Wat Buddharangsee in Stanmore (NSW) [Webpräsenz: http://watthai.net/watbuddharangsee/. -- Zugriff am 2003-07-24]
"In 1975, a magnificent Victorian house, now known as Wat Buddharangsee, was purchased in the inner city suburb of Stanmore. The opening ceremony, on Vesak Day, 25th of May, 1975, was performed by His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, in the presence of His Highness Ven.Somdet Phra Nyanasamvara, the Buddhist Patriarch and ten visiting Bhikkhus (monks) from Thailand. Although Wat Buddharangsee is essentially a Thai monastery, Ven.Phra Khru Sukumaphirak, the abbot, has ensured that it serve the needs of the Lao, Khmer, Malaysian and Sri Lankan communities as well as a significant group of Anglo- Europeans who regularly attend the nightly meditation sessions. Wat Buddharangsee has proved to be one of the most popular Buddhist meeting places, in the true spirit of multiculturalism, in the Sydney area. Such has been its success, that it has rapidly become too small to adequately serve its large congregation so, a large tract of land was purchased at Leumeah, south of Sydney, where a traditional Thai-style forest monastery, Wat Pa Buddharangsee, was opened in May, 1988. The Stanmore premises has been retained to serve the needs of the inner city Buddhist community." Quelle: http://www.zip.com.au/~lyallg/Ethnicnsw12.htm. -- Zugriff am 2003-07-24]
1978
Abb.: Meditationshalle [Bildquelle: http://www.buddhanet.net/WBD/. -- Zugriff am 2003-07-25]Ilse Ledermann, geb. Kussel (später bekannt als Ayya Khema) (1923 - 1997) stiftet für Phra Khantipalo Wat Buddha Dhamma in Wisemans Ferry, New South Wales [Webpräsenz: http://www.buddhanet.net/WBD/. -- Zugriff am 2003-07-25] Ayya Khema schreibt darüber:
"Dann wachte ich eines Morgens auf der Farm auf, und es fiel mir wie Schuppen von den Augen, was für ein Unsinn es war, dass ich mich selber unglücklich machte. Ich musste doch einfach nur sagen (oder denken): es ist, wie es ist, und so ist es okay.
In diesem Augenblick habe ich alles fällengelassen, was sich an Arger und Frustration in mir angesammelt hatte. Ich bin sozusagen ausgestiegen aus den negativen Gefühlen. Seither habe ich mich nie mehr selbst wissentlich unglücklich gemacht. Und ich war und bin in der Lage, das auch anderen Menschen zu vermitteln. Ich kann es ihnen zumindest erklären. Ob sie es dann auch fertigbringen, liegt an ihrer Fähigkeit, Willenskraft zu mobilisieren.
Schließlich konnte ich unsere Farm «Shalom» doch verkaufen. Wir — die Gemeinschaft und ich — bekamen etwas Geld, nicht viel, es war kein gutes Geschäft. Aber immerhin, ich war die Sorge los.Ich zog nun ganz nach Sydney. Phra Khantipalo wollte gern ein Waldkloster aufmachen, und ich hatte ja nun etwas Geld und hatte auch etwas von meiner Mutter geerbt, die im Jahr davor gestorben war. Alles, was ich hatte, investierte ich in das Kloster Wat Buddha Dhamma. Phra Khantipalo und ich fänden nach monatelanger Suche einen geeigneten Platz mitten in einem Nationalpark. Siebzig Hektar, ungefähr die Größe, die «Shalom» gehabt hatte.
Phra Khantipalo war der Abt, ich kümmerte mich um die Organisation, und gemeinsam haben wir gelehrt. Viele Gebäude entstanden, zum Beispiel eine herrliche Meditationshalle. Für mich wurde eine sehr hübsche Kuti auf einem Felsen gebaut. Nach und nach entstanden immer mehr Kutis (Hütten) für die Menschen, die an diesen Platz kamen, um ein spirituelles Leben zu erfahren, zur inneren Einkehr zu gelangen.
Es waren genug, um Wat Buddha Dhamma zu einer gesicherten Existenz zu verhelfen. Sie beteiligten sich alle an den Baukosten. Die Einrichtung gibt es nun schon länger als zwanzig Jahre. Zuerst waren Phra Khantipalo und ich die Treuhänder. Heute haben wir vier Treuhänder, ich werde durch einen meiner Schüler vertreten."[Khema <Ayya> <1923 - 1997>: Ich schenke euch mein Leben : die Lebensgeschichte einer deutschen Buddhistin. -- Vollst. Taschenbuchausg. -- München : Droemer Knaur, 2003. -- 237 S. : Ill. -- (Knaur ; 87197 : Mens sana). -- ISBN 3-426-87197-1. -- S. 147f.]
1982-10
Erster Besuch des Dalai Lama in Australien, hauptsächlich in Melbourne.
1983
Abb.: Luftbild des Bodhinyana Klosters [Bildquelle: http://www.bswa.org/gallery/photos/thumbnails.php?album=7. -- Zugriff am 2003-07-25]Die theravadabuddhistische Buddhist Society of Western Australia gründet in Serpentine, Western Australia, das Bodhinyana Buddhist Monastery
"Bodhinyana Buddhist Monastery was established in 1983 and is now a fully developed Buddhist monastery with approxamately 20 resident monks. The Monastery functions as a training monastery for newly ordained monks and novices, and it has four rooms for 'Anagarikas', lay-men desiring to take up the monastic training. The Monastery also has facilities for lay guests, with three rooms for women and three rooms for men. The Monastery daily routine is simple. A small breakfast is served between 6.30 and 7.00 am. Four days of the week all residents and visitors do about 2 1/2 hours maintenance work. The main meal of the day is at 10.30 am and a hot drink is avalable at 6.00 pm. A talk is normally given by the Abbot to the residents of the monastery on Wednesday evenings. There is no group meditation in the Monastery, but the Monastery atmosphere is very peaceful and very conducive to individual meditative practice.
People who wish to stay at the Monastery would normally be required to be Theravada Buddhists, and preferably members of the Buddhist Society of W.A. if living in the Perth area. They should be in good physical and mental health. We usually require visitors to do a meditation retreat prior to staying at the Monastery. While staying at the Monastery guests are asked to dress modestly and observe the Monastery rules, in particular the eight precepts which include celibacy and refraining from food after midday. Smoking is prohibited in the Monastery. If room is available visitors can stay for up to two weeks at a time or up to four weeks if coming from outside W.A.
The current abbot of the Monastery is Ajahn Brahmavamso. He spent his early years as a monk (1975-1983) in Thailand under the guidence of the renowned meditation master Ajahn Chah. Ajahn Brahmavamso is also the Spritual Director of the Buddhist Society of W.A, the Spiritual Advisor to the Buddhist Society of Victoria, and the Spiritual Director of the Cittabhavana Buddhist Hermitage in Bundanoon, N.S.W."
[Quelle: http://www.bswa.org/about.php. -- Zugriff am 2003-07-25]
1983
Gründung des Soto Sydney Zen Centre [Webpräsenz: http://www.szc.org.au. -- Zugriff am 2003-07-24]
"History of the Sydney Zen Centre In the mid-seventies, a small group began regular zazen in Sydney and, hoping for some direction, wrote to several Zen teachers, including Robert Aitken Roshi, based in Hawai'i. He visited Sydney for the first time in 1979 to lead sesshin, then annually until 1988.
Sesshin means "to touch the heart mind" and is a time of intensive Zen training. Subhana Barzaghi is now the teacher for the group. She lives in Sydney, leads sesshin, offers dokusan (interviews) and Dharma talks, and is financially supported in this work by members of the group. She has invited Gillian Coote to train as an apprentice teacher; senior students, or practice leaders, offer introductions to Zen practice and talks.
The Sydney Zen Centre was legally established in l983, and we have a current membership of around 80 people. Membership of the SZC is open to everyone, but you don't have to be a member to sit with us, in fact we encourage people to practice with the group for some time before applying for membership. Newcomers can meet the teacher in personal interviews, and attend sesshin, dokusan and other activities. When you feel ready to take the step of becoming a member, your pledges will contribute to the rental of the Annandale Zendo, the teacher and generally finance the activities of the group.
The SZC has a library and tape collection for the use of members, and several students live in the Zendo. In the mid-eighties, we bought rural land near St. Albans at Gorricks Run, and over the years, the sangha has built a cottage, teacher's house, and Zendo, where we hold retreats and sesshin. This work continues.
Our group is affliliated with Aitken Roshi's Diamond Sangha, one of many such affiliate centres throughout the world. In Australia, there are DS affiliate groups in Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne, and in Nelson, New Zealand. We are a lay Zen community, not monastic. Our lineage is in the Sanbo Kyodan tradition, or the Order of the Three Treasures, which although it has its roots in the Soto school, incorporates strong Rinzai elements, such as koan study. "
[Quelle: http://www.szc.org.au/szc_about.htm. -- Zugriff am 2003-07-24]
1985-06-10
Gründung des Buddhist Council of Sydney (jetzt: Buddhist Council of New South Wales). [Webpräsenz: http://www.buddhistcouncil.org. -- Zugriff am 2003-07-23]
"In the early 1980's, during a meeting between the Khmer Community and a representative of the Department of Immigration, he raised a problem that Government Departments were having when wanting to inquire about Buddhism and the Buddhist community generally. As there was such a diversity of Buddhist organisations in Sydney, which organisation should they contact for such information? This made me feel that there was a need for some form of central Buddhist information centre or council which was not ethno-specific and non-sectarian. However the initial stimulus for the formation of such a Council was the visit in December, 1984, of the President of the Buddhist Missionary Society of Kuala Lumpur, the late Mr.Teh Thean Choo, who was also an Executive Member of the World Fellowship of Buddhists. He was keen to establish more Regional Centres of the W.F.B. in Australia and so, a meeting was called to discuss this proposal. The meeting decided that, rather than establishing a W.F.B. Regional Centre, that, as there were over twenty five Buddhist organisations then operating in Sydney, many of whom were completely unaware of each other's existence, that moves might be made to foster friendship and co-operation between these groups. We decided that an organisation to initiate such a movement be formed with the interim title of the Sydney Regional Buddhist Council. A simple questionnaire was formulated, outlining some advantages of such an organisation, and sent to all Buddhist groups to assess their feelings. The response was very positive. A letter from the then Phra Khantipalo (now Lawrence Mills), Abbot of Wat Buddha Dhamma, said in part: Yes, I approve as perhaps the greatest benefit that a Council could have, besides the obvious Government connection, is that it could assist in breaking down sectarian barriers and prejudice possibly by arranging some pilgrimages between different centres giving participants a chance to see a different style of Dhamma. I cannot imagine that anyone will be against it and I hope that none of the ethnic Buddhists will be apathetic about it.
History has shown that his apprehensions about the ethnic Buddhist communities were completely unfounded. The ethnic Buddhist communities have proved to be the Council’s strongest supporters and the group who call on the Council’s services most regularly. Phra Khantipalo’s wish that the Council be instrumental in breaking down sectarian prejudices has also been realised to a greater or lesser degree. Apart from the contacts made between the various traditions at Council meetings, the Council has organised Combined Vesak Celebrations which have exposed both Buddhists and the general public to the rich tapestry of Buddhist schools and culture. Due to the overwhelming support for the formation of such a Council, interim meetings were held to thrash out a Constitution which was acceptable to all groups and the Sydney Regional Buddhist Council eventually became the Buddhist Council of Sydney at the inaugural Annual General Meeting held at the Australian Buddhist Library on Monday, 10th of June, 1985. About a year later, following requests from intrastate Buddhist organisations that they also be included as members, it was decided that we be less parochial and become a State wide body - hence the name change to the Buddhist Council of New South Wales.
During the first twelve months of its operation, the Buddhist Council liaised with the Department of Immigration to try to familiarise the Department with the specific needs of Buddhists. Up until that time, the Department had been unaware of the functions of the Sangha as well as the diversity of ethnic and doctrinal divisions within the community and it was a constant battle to gain visas for Buddhist teachers. The Department was made aware that Buddhist needs could no longer be measured against the Christian standard that they had been applying up until that time. Our monks were a community rather than priests or ministers serving a specific parish. The then Minister for Immigration, Chris Hurford, detailed an officer from the Department to compile a report on the specific needs of the Buddhist community. As a result of these efforts, it is now much easier to get visas for Buddhist clergy to enter Australia. The Buddhist Council of New South Wales is often called upon to supply a letter to support such visa applications. This is mainly to verify the bona fides of the sponsoring organisation.
The Council was barely a month old when it was confronted by an example of commercial insensitivity to the feelings of, particularly, ethnic Buddhists. It was Dental Health Week and all television stations ran an advertisement which many Buddhists found grossly offensive. It opened with a shot of the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It then showed two comedians picking the teeth of an image of the Happy Buddha, Mi Lo Fwo. The commentary stated that the Buddha’s tooth had lasted for over two thousand years due to proper care. When this television commercial was drawn to my attention, I contacted all television stations, the advertising agency responsible, the Federation of Australian Commercial Television Stations and the Advertising Standards Council. The A.B.C. , S.B.S. and Channel Ten immediately took the commercial off air. Channel Seven refused to withdraw the commercial unless FACTS directed all other television stations to do so. Channel Nine didn’t even have the courtesy to respond at all. Channel Ten wrote to us saying:
We thank you for bringing this matter to our attention and we offer our apologies to the members of Buddhist organisations in the Sydney region who may have been offended by our telecast of this announcement.
The partial success in our endeavour to have this offensive commercial taken off air was a tremendous morale booster to the Council and made us recognise the worth of its formation. In 1990, we were again confronted with commercial insensitivity in an advertisement for Qantas appearing in a German magazine. This was a cartoon depicting a Thai style Buddha image looking towards the sky apparently at a Qantas ‘plane flying overhead. The advertisement was for a new direct flight from Frankfurt to Bangkok. The Council contacted both Qantas and a Member of the New South Wales Upper house, the Honorable Franca Arena who wrote: I have contacted some friends of mine at Qantas management and I have complained to them bitterly about the advertisements -------- . I can assure you that will never happen again - I think they have learnt their lesson. The advertisement was withdrawn and, Ian Gay, Assistant Deputy Chief Executive of Qantas wrote:
As I hope you will understand, it would never be our intention to deliberately place advertising that could be found offensive politically, culturally or morally. Our ethics in this regard are clearly set out in our advertising policy, and I regret that it was inadvertently overlooked on this occasion. Steps have been taken to ensure that this does not happen again and our management in Frankfurt are keenly aware of the ramifications of the unfortunate incident.
Most people regard the term ‘honest politician’ as an oxymoron but Franca Arena, a former member of the N.S.W. Legislative Council, was an exception. I wrote a detailed account of the racist opposition encountered by a Chinese Buddhist group when they attempted to gain local government approval to erect a temple at Homebush, a copy of which I handed to Franca. A pamphlet circulated in the suburb at that time stated:
If this type of development is allowed in A2 Class residential area, your street may be next, or even the back garden next door. The value of your home possibly, your most valuable asset will be eroded. What some people or organisations would like to put in our garden suburb!!! It was called the “Oasis in the West” in our Council’s Centenary just three years ago!!! I know that most of us have worked all of our adult life to own a place to relax in, in the evening of our life. Not to be faced with a fight to maintain our peace and tranquility and protect our landscape and view, and the sight of native birds feeding in our garden and nestled in the many trees, that would be affected by this proposed development. Please act now. You only have until 4 p.m. Friday, 19th of August, to protest in writing. You may view the plan and model as suggested in the letter (From the Strathfield Council), but your own intelligence will paint in your mind’s eye this hideous development to a back garden suburb.
The Strathfield Council rejected the Development Application, so an appeal was made to the Land and Environment Court. During the Court proceedings, the protesting residents were asked by the Judge if their protest would have been as great had the application been for the construction of a Christian Church. They said “no”, so the judge found in favour of the Chinese Buddhists. The local State Member of Parliament, called a meeting of the residents and suggested an appeal to the Minister for Local government to over-rule the judge’s decision. The Minister, to his credit, refused to do so. When this was drawn to the attention of Franca Arena, she read my account of the incident in Parliament so that it was recorded in Hansard. As a result of this, the Government instituted an inquiry into the difficulties encountered, especially by ethnic non-Christian organisations in establishing their places of worship. Guidelines were established for local councils so that future Development Applications were free of discrimination and racist biases.
Another incident of prejudice occurred following the opening of the Fo Kuang Shan’s Nan Tien Temple in Wollongong, south of Sydney. This gigantic $50 million temple really put Buddhism on the map, especially in New South Wales, where it attracts nearly one thousand visitors each day. This displeased the Anglican Bishop of Wollongong, Reg Piper, to the extent that he went on national television to proclaim that ‘Buddhism is evil’ and that ‘Christians and Buddhists cannot live together in Australia’. The Chairman of the Ethnic Affairs Commission of New South Wales, Stephan Kerkyasharian, was outraged. He contacted me suggesting that the Bishop’s utterances were divisive of our multi-cultural community and that a meeting should be arranged between the Commission, the Buddhist Council, the Archbishop of Sydney and Bishop Piper to try to resolve the matter. Incidentally, two Uniting Church Ministers and an Anglican nun wanted to attend this meeting to support the Buddhist community, but Stephan Kerkyasharian disallowed it. The Bishop, however, refused to recant, so, little was gained other than to let him know that his bigoted attitude was not appreciated.
In 1991, the Government of New South Wales passed legislation known as the Charitable Fundraising Act. This Act replaced the Charitable Collections Act which acted as a de facto recognition of a charitable organisation without adequate safeguards for the general public that their donated money was actually being used for its intended purpose. Under this former Act, many charitable funds were often absorbed in administration with little going to benefit the community. This new Act, the Charitable Fundraising Act was intended to ensure that the collecting body was more accountable and that the bulk of the funds actually reached their intended target. However, each time a charitable appeal was proposed by any organisation, they were faced with having to complete several forms to gain permission from the Department. The gaining of this permission was necessary for each intended charitable appeal which loaded each organisation with a bureaucratic burden. The Buddhist Council was very fortunate in that, by Government Regulation, the Buddhist Council of New South Wales was prescribed as a religious body under section 7(1)(b) of the Charitable Fundraising Act, sharing this distinctive honour with the British and Foreign Bible Society. This Government regulation means that, any Buddhist organisation, that is a financial member of the Buddhist Council, may gain blanket approval from the Council to fundraise without resort to gaining Government approval. This has proved to be a great incentive to organisations to gain Council membership.
In 1994 in Bangkok, Thailand, at the 19th General Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists, the Buddhist Council of New South Wales was accepted as a Regional Centre of the world body. This meant that we were the third Australian Regional Centre, the other two being the United Vietnamese Congregations of Australia and New Zealand and John Hughes’s Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey). The first Australian Regional Centre of the W.F.B. was the Buddhist Federation of Australia which, unfortunately, no longer exists. Membership of the W.F.B. puts a Buddhist organisation on the world map and enables networking with leading Buddhists throughout the world as well as providing a forum to discuss matters affecting Buddhism on a global scale. The 20th General Conference was held at the Nan Tien Temple, Wollongong, New South Wales, in November 1998. This Conference attracted nearly 500 of the world’s leading Buddhists.
Apart from the Council’s providing assistance on immigration and local government matters, the Council has undertaken the responsibility for organising religious instruction to Buddhist students in State schools. This, perhaps, gives the Council its greatest headache as we can never satisfy the demand for teachers. Currently, we have fifteen volunteer teachers covering twenty schools in the Sydney metropolitan area but we have a further fifteen schools requiring teachers. It is extremely difficult to find volunteers who have free time during school hours who are prepared to offer religious instruction to our young people. This is a very serious matter as it is, perhaps, the only exposure to the Dharma that these young people will ever receive. The future of Buddhism in Australia lies with our young people and, unfortunately, very few temples and Buddhist organisations offer activities which are attractive to our youth. Many of our young people feel that any form of religion is irrelevant to everyday life in Australia. It is up to all of us to remedy this situation by showing them that Buddhism is as relevant to life now as to some future life. Special Religious Education in State schools is an opportunity that we should take seriously and take full advantage of the opportunity to provide it.
Four years ago, the Council established a presence on the World Wide Web - the Internet. The Council’s Site features a listing of all known Buddhist organisations throughout Australia as well as numerous articles and useful information for Buddhist organisations such as a model constitution, sample letters for obtaining taxation and rate exemption as well as a statistical survey of the last three Commonwealth censuses. This Site is proving very popular as an average of two thousand people throughout the world consult it each day.
One of the most important achievements of the Council has been the establishment of useful contacts in the bureaucracy and with politicians. Such contacts are valuable in providing services to our member organisations as well as making those in power aware of the presence of Buddhists in the Australian community - a more and more significant group to be reckoned with if they are to stay in power. Several years ago, the then Premier of New South Wales, Barry Unsworth, held a reception for the Buddhist Community and in 1997, the New South Wales Opposition Leader, Peter Collins, organised a similar reception at Parliament House. These valuable contacts enable matters of concern to our community to be brought to their notice as has been noted earlier in the matter of Franca Arena’s taking up the matter of the Chinese temple’s problems. As a result of matters raised at the Premier’s reception, a Buddhist information night was organised through the Ethnic Affairs Commission to provide information from experts in their field on such matters as taxation and local government. Establishing such networks can enable our community to take full advantage of the rights to which they are entitled as well as providing a channel for complaint when our community is disadvantaged or discriminated against.
As we live in a multi-cultural and multi-religious society, the Council has realised the importance of establishing cordial relations with other faiths. As mentioned earlier, some members of other faiths, such as the Bishop of Wollongong, are still living in the past and imagine that Australia is a Christian society. However, there are some whose eyes are not completely covered with dust who are willing to join with us in inter-faith understanding and mutual respect. For some years now, it has been my privilege to participate in the Annual Religious Founders’ Day organised by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association. In this meeting, representatives of many religions are invited to the mosque to give a talk on some topic from their religion’s point of view. This meeting also provides an opportunity to meet people from other faiths and establish contact. Another inter-faith meeting is the biennial Heads of Faith Meeting at the New South Wales Parliament House, organised by the World Conference on Religion and Peace. This meeting is attended by leaders of the Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Baha’i and Jewish faiths and provides an opportunity to exchange information and engender greater understanding between us.
The Council was also involved in the planning of the Inter-faith Chapel for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
The Buddhist Council organises a Combined Vesak Celebration each year. The 2001 Celebration was at the University of N.S.W., with many traditions and ethnic groups attending. We invited representatives of other faiths to join us and offer prayers for world peace. We had a good response and, possibly, made history with verses of the Holy Koran being chanted by an Imam at a Buddhist ceremony. More than 1,000 people attended with over 60 monks and nuns representing Buddhist traditions from Burma, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Thailand, Tibet and Vietnam.
The Council regularly receives shipments of Buddhist books provided for free distribution by the Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai in Japan and the Corporate Body of the Buddha Education Foundation in Taiwan. We usually receive up to 10,000 books in each shipment which we distribute to our Buddhist organisations in New South Wales. The head of the Corporate Body, Venerable Master Chin Kung, informed me that he prints 5 million free books each year which he distributes throughout the world. We distribute copies of the "The Teaching of Buddha" in Burmese, Chinese, English, French, Khmer, Korean, Sinhalese, Spanish and Thai and Vietnamese languages.
The Buddhist Council of New South Wales is well known throughout Australia and is respected by both Government and the community at large."
[Quelle: http://www.buddhistcouncil.org/aboutus_1.htm. -- Zugriff am 2003-07-23]
1992-05
Zweiter Besuch des Dalai Lama in Australien: er besucht die Hauptstädte aller Staaten mit Ausnahme von Darwin
1996-09
Dritter Besuch des Dalai Lama in Australien: elftägige Kalachakra-Zeremonie in Sydney mit 3.500 Teilnehmern.
1996-09-22
Abb.: Bob Dent
[Bildquelle: http://www.exitinternational.net/bob_dent.htm. -- Zugriff am 2005-06-06]Bob Dent, ein ehemaliger Missionar der Church of England, der Buddhist geworden war und an Prostata-Krebs erkrankte, begeht als erster begleiteten Freitod (assisted suicide) gemäß dem neuen Gesetz des Northern Territory.
"Bob Dent, aged 66, died in the presence of his wife, Judy, and his doctor, Philip Nitschke, a well-known euthanasia crusader, after Mr Dent pressed a key on a computer that administered a lethal dose of drugs. Mr Dent had gone to the Northern Territory as a Church of England missionary in 1959, but after he became disillusioned with Church politics, he left the Church and became a building estimator. He converted to Buddhism soon after he was diagnosed with cancer five years ago. " [Quelle: http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/acnsarchive/acns0900/acns980.html. -- Zugriff am 2005-06-06]
Der Theravada-Mönch Dhammavihari von der Buddhist Society of Victoria kritisiert den Entscheid von Bob Dent in einem längeren Artikel. Zu Bob Dent schreibt er im Prologue:
"The religious, moral and social correctness of Euthanasia [or more precisely of legalized voluntary euthanasia] and its justifiability became a subject of serious inquiry and judgment, at least with us, only after the death of Mr. Robert [Bob] Dent of Darwin in Australia a few months ago. The newspaper THE AGE of Melbourne, in its story of the death of Bob Dent, made out that he had derived from Buddhism a great deal of inspiration in his tormented life as a cancer patient. This report immediately refreshed my memories of having met the late Mr. Bob Dent as far back as the early months of 1994 in Darwin itself. He visited us in the Buddhist Vihara of Darwin, told us of his recovery from a cancer which his doctors had diagnosed he was suffering from. He insisted that he achieved it through the combined practices of Chi kung [= the Chinese meditation method] and traditional Indian Buddhist meditation techniques. He appeared to be thoroughly reassured and in high spirits. He did not think there were even lingering traces of cancer within him. Apparently his cancer was totally submerged and sent underground. He drove us through the town several days and visited us many times at the temple. We profusely thanked him for his services, wished him well and the story ended at that. But the story of the Northern Territories Euthanasia Bill seems to have continued unabated over the years. If my memory is correct, I recollect reading in a Sydney newspaper in March or April 1995, during my second visit to Australia the following year, a comment that Buddhist teachings [certainly not of the Theravada tradition] make allowances for acts of suicide. It was probably a provincial version from a sectarian tradition. At that time we took it for no more than a passing comment. [We gather that such comments are being made even today.]
Assuming that Bob Dent was by then completely cured of his cancer, I had no reason to suspect any impact of this line of thinking on him. But his choice of legalized voluntary euthanasia in 1996 as a solution to the lamentable situation into which he had finally slipped makes me now think different. Hence this endeavor to clarify the Buddhist position, primarily from the Theravada religious angle. These situations of taking or making life-involving decisions, we believe, cannot be totally divorced from one's regular philosophy of life which may be derived through one's religious beliefs or from anywhere else. But on the continuity of a philosophy of life, in spite of the complexity of life in the world today, we insist. I would also attempt to make a few observations on the moral and social impacts of the issue of suicide and euthanasia on the human community at large. As to who makes these judgments to terminate life, [over whom, in what contexts and on what basis] would continue to be relevant questions."
[Quelle: http://www.buddhistinformation.com/euthanasia.htm. -- Zugriff am 2005-06-06]
1998
Die theravadabuddhistische Buddhist Society of Western Australia erwirbt Land zur Errichtung des Nonnenklosters Dhammasara Nun's Monastery in Gidgegannup, Western Australia [Webpräsenz: http://www.bswa.org/about.php. -- Zugriff am 2003-07-25]
"BACKGROUND
Dhammasara Nuns’ Monastery is a training monastery for nuns in the Forest tradition of Theravada Buddhism.
It is being established by the Buddhist Society of WA on 583 acres of natural bushland in the hills outside Perth, just a forty-five minute drive from the centre of the city.
The Buddhist Society of WA already sponsors a highly esteemed forest monastery for monks, Bodhinyana Monastery, at Serpentine. The aim of Dhammasara is to give women the same opportunity to train in Dhamma-Vinaya (the Buddha’s teachings and monastic life), in supportive conditions.
As such this is fulfilling one of the original aims of the constitution of the Buddhist Society of WA i.e. to provide monastic facilities for both men and women.
The Nuns’ Monastery is being established with the full support of the Spiritual Director of the Society, and Abbot of Bodhinyana Monastery, Ajahn Brahmavamso.
The function of the monasteries is not to provide a venue for public teaching of the Dhamma or for group meditation retreats.
The Buddhist Society operates Dhammaloka Buddhist Centre in the suburb of Nollamara for this purpose. Dhamma teaching by the senior monks and nun, meditation classes, library facilities and cultural events, all of which are available to the lay members and the general public, take place there. Residential meditation retreats conducted by the senior monastics are held at regular intervals throughout the year in rented premises.
The purpose of the monasteries is to allow committed Buddhists to taste the monastic lifestyle firsthand, and if they wish, to be able to undertake the training all the way to becoming an ordained monk or nun. And thereafter to be able to live the Holy Life for its ultimate purpose, its essence, the attainment of the unshakeable deliverance of the mind; for the attainment of Nibbana.
Daily life in the monastery emphasises quiet, seclusion, meditation practice and the study of the Buddha’s teachings.
PRACTICE AT DHAMMASARA
In contemporary Theravada Buddhism there is no standard form, number of precepts, or training rules that nuns universally follow. This is because the original order of nuns (bhikkhunis), established by the Buddha himself, had been deemed to have died out centuries ago. Attempts are currently being made in Sri Lanka to restore the full ordination for women in the Theravada tradition, and this is an ongoing issue.
Generally however, women in the various Theravada countries who wish to live the Holy Life, have taken on varying numbers of precepts and adopted a way of life that follows as closely as possible the original rule for female renunciants laid down by the Buddha.
At Dhammasara the Ten Precepts are the foundation for our practice of surrender to the training, and renunciation of the worldly life. At the core of these are the third precept, celibacy, and the tenth precept, not to accept, use or have control over money of any kind for one’s own use. Ten Precept nuns are alms-mendicants, completely dependent on lay supporters for their material needs.
The community will follow a discipline based on guidelines established by the Buddha, particularly those rules pertaining to the practice of the Ten Precepts, and around the acquisition and use of the four requisites of the monastic, namely food, robes, shelter and medicine.
Women who wish to ordain at Dhammasara as a Ten Precept nun will be required to have spent at least two years in the monastery continuously keeping the Eight Precepts. These Eight Precepts include celibacy and not eating between 12 noon and dawn of the following day, but permit the use and control over one’s own money.
During the first six months of residency the aspirant will keep their hair, but dress in white, follow the routine of the monastery, and serve the monastic community by doing those things that the nuns cannot do because of their precepts, such as preparing food, driving and handling money. If they wish to continue further with the training, they may then make a formal request for acceptance as a novice. As a novice they would shave their head and wear white clothing closer in style to the monastic robes.
After at least a further eighteen months serving the community as a novice, the candidate may then request ordination as a Ten Precept Nun. At this stage they would have to be prepared to relinquish their material wealth, and become completely dependent on the lay community for the essentials of life.
Dhammasara’s first candidate for training is a local woman who will take up residency once the Nuns’ Cottage is fully completed, probably January 2001.
DEVELOPMENT SO FAR
The abbot of Dhammasara is Ajahn Vayama, an Australian Ten-Precept nun who was ordained in Sri Lanka in 1985, and who spent the first ten years of her monastic life there. She afterwards spent a year with the community of Ven. Ajahn Sumedho in England, before returning to live in Australia.
In 1998 the Buddhist Society of WA invited her to take up the position of abbot of the Nuns’ Monastery, and she has been living on the land in temporary accommodation since December 1998. The life of the monastery, the daily offering of the meal by devoted lay supporters, and teaching of the Dhamma, has been going on since then.
Also since then a substantial amount of infrastructure work has been done on the property, including the excavation of three dams, the connection of electricity to the site, upgrading roads within the property, and developing and implementing a bushfire hazard reduction plan.
Work has just finished on the first permanent building, the Nuns’ Cottage. This will provide interim accommodation and facilities for the resident nun and novice, and a place for the lay people to offer the meal and receive teachings each day.
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE
In addition to this cottage, as funds allow, it is planned to build a main amenities block, meditation hall, and accommodation for short term female guests in an area of the monastery to which the lay people will have access, and up to twenty small huts or kutis, with a communal ablution block, in the forest for the monastic residents.
This means that the size of the resident community will never exceed twenty-five people at any one time. This is considered to be the maximum number of people to have living together before the community loses its intimacy, and it becomes difficult for the abbot to keep in touch with what is happening for people within the community.
The pace of Dhammasara’s further growth depends on funds donated. As this is a project that, like the monks’ monastery, will serve aspirants from around the world, we are inviting donations from people with goodwill, worldwide. Ideally we would like to have several kutis built for the start of the Rainy Season Retreat in July 2001, so we can offer two more women the opportunity to begin their training. "[Quelle: http://www.bswa.org/about.php. -- Zugriff am 2003-07-25]
1991-11
Abb.: Laurence Mills [Bildquelle: http://www.evaminstitute.org.au/teachers/Laurence_Mills.htm. -- Zugriff am 2003-07-25]Phra Khantipalo (Laurence Mills) (geb. 1932), der seit 1959 Theravadamönch gewesen war, tritt in den Laienstand zurück. Er war Schüler des tibetischen Dzogchen-Meisters Chogyal Namkhai Norbu (geb. 1938) geworden, heiratet und ist Mitbegründer des Bodhi Citta Buddhist Centre in Cairns, Queensland.
"Bodhi Citta Buddhist Centre Inc. is a non-sectarian Buddhist Centre for all traditions and lineages of Buddhism - Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana. Making the teachings of the Buddha Dharma from all traditions available to the people of Far North Queensland." [Quelle: http://cairns.cisci.org.au/shr-cgi-bin/Jon/crf.exe. -- Zugriff am 2003-07-25]
2000
Abb.: EinbandtitelEs erscheint:
Lourie, David: Dharma the cat : philosophy with fur / cartoons by David Lourie and Ted Blackall. -- East Roseville, N.S.W. : Simon & Schuster, 2000. -- 80 S. : Ill. ; 11 cm. -- ISBN 073181035X.Webpräsenz: http://www.dharmathecat.com/. -- Zugriff am 2005-06-09. -- Mit vielen Cartoons!
Beispiel:
Abb.: Tolerance
2002-04
Statistik buddhistischer Gruppen und Organisationen in Australien:
Abb.: Number of Buddhist Organisations/Groups in Australia, as at April 2003 is 378
Abb.: Statistical history of of Buddhist Organisations/Groups in Australia, July 1995 to April 2002
Mahyana Theravada Vajrayana Non-Sectarian Total 115
The Buddhist traditions as represented by their respective organisations have increased in number by 211 (126.0%) in 6 years and 9 months, in the period from June 1995 to April 2003.
Abb.: Prozentualer Anteil der Gruppen der einzelnen Richtungen des BuddhismusThe Mahayana form the largest representation of Buddhism in Australia with 36.5 % of the National Total of 378 Buddhist organizations, followed by the Vajrayana at 24.5%, the Theravada at 24.0%, and the Non-Sectarian 15.0%
[Quelle: Compiled by Dean Jones. -- URL: http://www.buddhanet.net/aus_dir/badstats.htm. -- Zugriff am 2003-07-23]
2002-05
Vierter Besuch des Dalai Lama in Australien: Melbourne, Geelong, Sydney und Canberra.
ENDE
