dominant voice in Australian Buddhism from 1955 to 1971.º (Croucher, 1989: 37)
During this period, Buddhism was still very secular in orientation. According
to Croucher, Natasha Jackson and Charles F. Knight (the ® rst chairman of the
Buddhist Federation of Australia) ª saw Buddhism as a triumph of rationalism
and used it as a foil in their attacks on Christianity. It was a strongly intellectualised
approach, going to great lengths to prove that Buddhism was fully
consonant with scienti® c thinking.º (Croucher, 1989: 54± 55) Jackson and Knight
were also concerned with the relationship between Buddhism and social ethics.
Both supported Aboriginal land rights and protests against the Vietnam War;
Jackson is quoted as saying: ª of what use is the empty chanting of the Metta
Sutta while nothing is done to banish poverty, illiteracy, lack of hygiene and
sanitation?º (Croucher, 1989: 76).
4) First residential teachers and establishment of monasteries: In 1971, the Buddhist
Society of New South Wales arranged for a Sri Lankan monk, Somaloka, to take
up residence. He established the ® rst Buddhist monastery in Australia in
Katoomba, New South Wales. In 1974, an English-born, Thai-trained monk,
Khantipalo Thera, established a second Theravada monastery, Wat Buddharangsee
in Stanmore, New South Wales.
36 M. Spuler
Table 4. Vajrayana Gelug Organisations in Australia in January 1998
Lineage: Gelug ACT NSW NT Qld SA Tas Vic WA Total
FPMT 0 3 0 3 2 0 4 3 15
IBLP and AITMP6 0 7 1 2 0 0 0 1 11
New Kadampa Tradition 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Tibetan Buddhist Society 0 3 0 1 0 0 1 2 7
Other Gelug 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 4
State Totals 0 13 1 7 2 2 5 7 38
5) Rapid Asian immigration and increasing diversi® cation of traditions present in
Australia: With the ending of the Vietnam War in 1974± 75, refugees from Laos,
Cambodia and Vietnam arrived in Australia in large numbers. Laotian and
Cambodian Buddhists tended to form Buddhist organisations together because
of shared Theravadan heritage, while the Mahayana Vietnamese Buddhists
established separate groups. The Vietnamese groups were further strengthened
by the arrival of resident Vietnamese monks in the early 1980s.
A small number of Tibetan refugees also arrived about this time. 1974 saw the
® rst visit by Tibetan lamas, Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Thubten Zopa, the
founders of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition
(FPMT), which is part of the Vajrayana Gelug tradition. During their visit the
two lamas held the ® rst Tibetan Buddhist retreat in Mooloolabi, Diamond
Valley, Queensland, a one-month meditation course attended by around two
hundred people (McKimm, 1975). The Chenrezig Institute for Wisdom Culture
was established soon after in Eudlo, Queensland, as the ® rst FPMT centre in
Australia. The FPMT is the largest of the Tibetan Gelug groups represented in
Australia, as shown in Table 4.
McDonnell and Bucknell note that while the Tibetan in¯ ux has been small, it
has had a disproportionately strong in¯ uence on Buddhism in Australia (Mc-
Donnell & Bucknell, 1988: 324). As Table 2 demonstrates, despite its relatively
recent establishment in Australia, Tibetan Buddhism currently accounts for 25%
of Australian Buddhist groups.
The variety of Buddhist traditions present in Australia continued to diversify
with the establishment of the ® rst Zen centre, the Sydney Zen Centre, in 1976.
The Sydney Zen Centre established close associations with the Diamond Sangha
when the head of the Diamond Sangha, Robert Aitken Roshi, arrived in 1979 to
lead the ® rst Australian Zen retreat. Since then a number of different Zen
Buddhist groups with Japanese origins have developed in Australia; however,
Table 5 demonstrates that the Diamond Sangha af® liates are the largest group.
6) Emergence of ecumenical Buddhist societies: The literature indicates that ecumenical
efforts between Australian Buddhist organisations are more common than
rivalry. To add to the already existing ecumenical body, the Buddhist Federation
of Australia, a number of other ecumenical bodies formed following the diversi
® cation of lineages present in Australia. These included the Buddhist
Council of Brisbane in 1982, which combined ten groups from different traditions
and lineages (McDonnell, 1986), and the Buddhist Council of New South
Wales in 1985. Ecumenical groups promote themselves as useful in assisting
Buddhism in Australia 37
Table 5. Japanese Zen Buddhist Organisations in Australia in January 1998
Lineage: Japanese Zen ACT NSW NT Qld SA Tas Vic WA Total
Zen Lineage of Master Deshimaru 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Diamond Sangha 1 2 0 0 1 0 1 1 6
Ordinary Mind Zen School 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 2
Open Way 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
Sanbo Kyodan 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2
Other Japanese Zen 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
State Totals 1 6 0 2 1 1 2 1 14
Australian Buddhists from different traditions to achieve common goals and to