Ethnic Buddhism and Other Obstacles to the Dhamma in the West
by Dr V. A. Gunasekara
1. Some Preliminary Issues What is Buddhism?
This essay is concerned with some obstacles to the spread of the Dhamma in Western countries. This requires a consideration of some basic questions on the nature of Buddhism, and the institutional forms it has taken in the West. Buddhism is the name given to the teaching of Siddhatta Gotama, who is better known as the Buddha, and Buddhists are those who affirm the validity of his teaching. Buddhists themselves refer to the teaching by the Pali term Dhamma (or in some schools of Buddhism by its Sanskrit equivalent dharma). One of the root meanings of this word is "to uphold" (dhr in sanskrit), and in this sense is used to denote that which upholds the Universe. It has sometimes been translated as the Norm or the Law.
Whether the Dhamma constitutes a religion or not has been debated variously. It is certainly not a religion in the Judeo-Christian-Islamic sense because it is not based on the blind acceptance of the word of someone who claims to be a "prophet" or kinsman of a supreme God. On the other hand it cannot simply be equated with Science, Philosophy or Psychology as these secular disciplines are commonly understood. Two characteristics of the Dhamma separate it from these latter disciplines.
The Dhamma postulates a strict normative set of values including a moral code while secular, "non-religious", sciences tend to be positivistic and adopt a neutral stance on moral and ethical questions.
The Dhamma postulates survival after death in some form or other. On this question there are some differences of opinion. But the popular interpretations of the Dhamma do make it clear that some kind of future life could be expected for persons who have not fully liberated themselves. The status of the fully liberated one after death has been more problematical.
Because of these characteristics Buddhism falls into a broader definition of religion than the one traditionally used in the West. Indeed such a change of definition is coming into general use. As such Buddhism can, and indeed must, be considered a religion and compared with the other religions in the world. Buddhists should compare the claims of Buddhism against these other religious systems. A taxonomy of religious systems is necessary to do this effectively.
Universal and Particular Religions
Religions could be classified into those that are "universal" and those that are "particularistic" in scope. The requirements of a universal religion are stated later, but the distinction depends crucially on the eligibility of persons for membership either as ordinary followers or as some kind of elite within the religion concerned. Examples of religions that are generally considered "universal" are (in order of their appearance) Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. On the other hand we may regard Judaism and Hinduism as examples of particularistic religions because their membership is limited to certain people on the basis of some criteria whether national or ethnic.
As with most generalisations there are exceptions to this simple division of religions. Religions that have generally been considered particularistic and exclusive have attempted in recent times to broaden their appeal and relax some of the strict criteria relating to those who are allowed within their fold. On the other hand basically universalistic religions have developed national and ethnic variations which have considerably narrowed the scope of the religion when such ethnic variation is used in a given manifestation of the religion.
Thus some people who are not ethnic Jews (e.g. Ethiopians and even a few American Blacks) have been admitted into Judaism, and recently people of ethnic European descent have embraced the Hare Krishna version of Hinduism. In both cases they have not been universally accepted by their co-religionists. Many ethnic Jews oppose the validity of the conversion of non-Jews into Judaism, and the claim of Western Hare Krishna priests have been challenged by orthodox Hindus as they are not of the Brahmin caste by birth. The existence of such exceptions do not deny the basically ethnic character of these religions.
Another characteristic of particularistic religions is that they are confined largely or exclusively to people of a given nationality or ethnicity even though the beliefs of these religions may not require it. It is in this sense that Shinto and Sikhism can be considered to be ethnic religions. This is also true of the religious views of many so-called primitive peoples, tribes, etc. because these beliefs are part of the culture of the people concerned. We shall use the terms "particularistic religion", "ethnic religion" and "cultural religion" almost synonymously, and in every case in contradistinction to those religions that are considered universal religions.
When we are speaking of "ethnic Buddhism" we are referring to a manifestation of Buddhism which runs counter to its historic universalistic character. Cultural aspects may not be obvious in the national manifestations of Buddhism, but become quite distinct, and create problems, when they are transplanted into other cultures.
Characteristics of a Universal Religion
The characteristics which make a religion universal in scope are the following:
Universality of Principle. There must be nothing in the basic beliefs of the religion that confine it to a particular nation, race or ethnic group. Thus if there is a notion of a "chosen people" then this characteristic is violated.
Non-Exclusiveness of Membership. Any person could be an adherent of the religion concerned, and be entitled to the same privileges and obligations as every other person. This of course does not require every follower of the religion to be of the same level of achievement, but only that some external factor like race or caste prevents individuals from full participation in the religion.
Wide Geographical dispersion. The religion must have demonstrated an ability to find followers amongst a variety of nations or ethnic groups. Thus even if a religion satisfies the first two requirements but have not been able to spread beyond its region of origin it may not qualify to be a universal religion. Thus Jainism is not generally regarded as a universal although its principles are universal in scope and it is non-exclusive.
Non-Exclusiveness of Language. The practices of the religion which require verbal communication should be capable of being done in any language. The authoritative version of its basic texts may be maintained in the original language in which the original expositions were given, but translations of these should be valid, provided that they preserve the sense of the original texts.
Independence of Specific Cultural Practices. The practices of the religion should be free from the cultural practices of a particular group in such matters as food, dress, seating, etc.
Each one of these criteria raise problems but they have to be satisfied to a significant extent if the relgion is to be deemed a universal one.
On the basis of these characteristics Buddhism, as originally expounded by the Buddha, can be described as a universal religious system par excellence.
Practical Considerations
In practice however it has during the many centuries it has been practiced in different cultures have acquired some ethnic peculiarities. This is also true of some of the other religions that are generally considered universal in scope. Thus we can speak of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church or the Dutch Reformed Church which seems to present certain cultural variants of Christianity. The Sh'ite school of Islam may also be considered an ethnic variant of Islam as it is confined almost exclusively to people of Iranian descent.
Ethnic variants of universal religions are thus common, but so long as the cultural and ethnic content of these religions relate to secondary matters, and the ethnic variant is used only in the particular country where the cultural tendencies emerged there may not be any serious damage done. We have then the case of a religion adapting itself to a particular national or cultural milieu without sacrificing any of its fundamental universalistic precepts. Particularly when a religion is practiced in a country for several centuries, and there has been little contact with other nationalities that may practice the same religion, such ethnic and national variants can emerge. This explains why ethnic variants have emerged in all the three main universal religions we have mentioned.
The problem with the ethnic variants of universal religions arise when the followers of these religions migrate to a different country and carry with them not only the universalistic aspects of their religions but also the cultural elements. The correct attitude should be to give precedence to the universal aspects and discard those cultural aspects that have little relevance. Often however it is the cultural aspects that are given an overriding importance with the result that the religion is given a false image in the country into which the migrants have taken their religion.
The rapid development of means of transportation, the emergence of a global economy, and the standardisation of many aspects of life, has created an unprecedented movement of peoples in the world in recent decades. This mass migration has brought peoples professing various religions to live in areas where those religions have not been known widely. Countries like Australia which have traditionally relied on heavy migration from other countries provide very good examples but it is also seen in older settled areas like Europe and even Asia.
Australia has adopted the Multiculturalism as an official policy. It is however sad to see that Buddhism is sometimes also considered as part of this multi-culturalism. Strictly speaking the Dhamma is above cultural peculiarities and cannot be considered part of the baggage of "Multiculturalism".
2. The Universality of the Dhamma The Qualities of the Dhamma
It is not difficult to show the universality of Buddhism in terms of the characteristics we have identified. Traditionally Buddhists are those who "go for refuge" to the three "Gems" of Buddhism, viz. the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha. Of these three it is only the second, refuge in the Dhamma, that is most relevant for the contemporary practice of Buddhism .
We shall be concerned with the Dhamma as it is expounded in the Pali Canon which is generally considered to be the earliest of the Canons of Buddhism. The Buddha has always been regarded as a teacher for all humanity. Indeed the compass of his teaching may even exceed the human plane as one of the titles conferred to the Buddha is "teacher of humans and devas" (sattaa devamanussaana.m), and there are discourses that are said to have been given to non- human beings. Whatever the truth of this claim may be the bulk of the discourses of the Buddha given in the Pali Canon were delivered to humans, most of it to monks and some of it to laypersons.
In the Pali Canon there is an enumeration of the qualities of the Dhamma which establish clearly its universalist nature. The six qualities of the Dhamma that are mentioned in the traditional formulary are the following:
1. Clear Exposition (svakkhato). The clarity of the exposition means that it contains not esoteric element that might make it appropriate for a certain category of persons.
2. Self-realisation (sanditthiko). This reduces reliance on an established priesthood or authorised "teachers". Individuals who are prepared to devote the necessary time can acquire the Dhamma by personal study, practice and experience.
3. Timelessness (akaaliko). This has two meanings: (a) the results of the dhamma could be seen almost immediately and (b) the dhamma is not circumscribed in time, and would not become irrelevant by the mere passage of time. It is the second of these interpretations that give it universal significance.
4. Empiricism (ehipassiko). The validity of the Dhamma could be seen by experimentation and observation through practice. It is not merely a theoretical assertion about life, but a verifiable statement.
5. Practicality (opanayiko). The Dhamma could be practiced ("entered upon") by any interested person.
6. Apprehension by the wise (paccattam veditabbo vinnuhiti). Measure of wisdom is necessary for its clear apprehension.
The first five of these qualities contribute to the universality of the Dhamma. The sixth is not taken to mean that only "wise" people are capable of apprehending it, but that wise people will apprehend it more readily than others. The fact that the Dhamma has these qualities does not automatically make it universal. Other religious systems may also lay claim to some of these qualities, but not to the totality of these. What is true of the "particularistic" religions is that they are restricted in some sense to a particular grouping, usually on the basis on ethnicity. We must therefore investigate the principal aspects of ethnicity that may affect the practice of a religion and see whether they manifest themselves in the Dhamma.
Buddhism as a missionary religion
Another testimony to the universalist character of Buddhism was that Buddhism was the world's first missionary religion. There was no evidence that any religion before it was interested in spreading it on a world-wide basis. Indeed the opposite was the case. Pre-Buddhist religions were more interested in excluding others from its fold rather than welcoming them. This is true of most tribal religions of primitive peoples who confined their religion to their own group. It was also true of other early religions, like the ancient Egyptian, Babylonian religions as well as the Brahmanical religion of India. The latter jealously guarded who were to be admitted, especially to the brahmin caste. The emerging religion of Judaism in the present middle-east was also keen in keeping it confined to the "chosen people". There were several other religions all equally exclusive.
In contrast to this dominant view the Buddha sought to proclaim the dhamma universally once he had resolved the problem whether to proclaim it at all. There are several instances where this is clearly proclaimed, perhaps for the first time in religious history. The classic utterance on this subject is recorded both in the Vinaya and the Samyutta Nikaaya. Quite early in his dispensation, when the number of Bhikkhus was still a handful, he addressed them thus:
Go ye, O monks, wander around for the good of the many, for the happiness of the many, out of compassion for the world, for the benefit, good and happiness of humans and devas. Let not any two go in the same way. Proclaim, monks, the Dhamma which is beautiful in the beginning, good in the middle and good at the end. Be exemplars of the pure life perfected and purified in every respect. There are beings with little dust in their eyes who will surely perish without the Dhamma, but who can join those other Dhamma-farers. I myself, monks, will go to Uruvelaa to preach the Dhamma.(SN i, 104-5).
This quotation more than any other captures the universalist spirit of the Dhamma. The Buddha not only exhorts his disciples to spread the Dhamma but himself set an example, an example that was to last his whole his life. It is also in this spirit that the Dhammapada proclaims that the "Gift of the Dhamma is the best of all gifts" (v.354).
The Indian ruler who gave expression to the Buddha's wish for the universal propagation of the Dhamma was the Indian emperor Asoka. His missions to many parts of the world was perhaps the first systematic attempt to spread a religion to the limits of the known world. Asoka was only partly successful, and many of his missions did not have a lasting effort. In the West it is only in Greece that Asoka's efforts had some success even though it was extremely short-lived. But Buddhism was successful in penetrating the most parts of Asia, even though in the process it underwent some change. The decline of Buddhism has seen many of these "gains" lost, and now it is declining even further particularly through the spread of the three Western religions of Christianity, Islam and Communism.
Christianity and Islam are the other two missionary religions in the world. However there is a great difference in the missionary methods adopted by Buddhism on the one hand and the theistic religions on the other. Buddhism sought to "convert" by using argument and example, but the theistic religions not only used force and violence but resorted to every manner of propaganda, bribery, trickery and deceit. Far from abandoning these methods the theistic religions are refining these techniques that have brought them so much success in the past.
Modern Buddhists have been lethargic in carrying out the injunction of the Buddha with regard to the propagation of the Truth. The efforts of true Buddhist pioneers like the Anagarika Dharmapala has been forgotten. Indeed the retreat into ethnic Buddhism is precisely a statement that those who resort to it are no longer interested in Dhamma propagation. While there are now a large number of Sri Lankan monks in Western countries they are not engaged in dhamma-duta work, but in catering for the Sri Lankan communities abroad. In effect they are denying the universalist character of Buddhism are returning it to the particularistic mould of ethnic religion in contravention of the clear injunctions of the Buddha.
The Dhamma and Language
Perhaps the most important "ethnic" aspect that could influence the practice of a religion is language. The practice of a religion involves communication with other persons and the most powerful instrument of that communication is language.
Language impinges on religion in many ways. Firstly the doctrine of the religion has to be written down if it is to survive for posterity. Theravaada Buddhism uses the Pali language. There is a great deal of dispute on the origins of Pali. It belongs to the Indo-European family of languages but whether it was the language of the Buddha is uncertain. As a Saakyan the mother tongue would certainly not have been Pali. Most of the Buddha's activity took place in Magadha where the dominant language Magadhan would have been used by the Buddha. Some scholars claim that Pali was the language spoken in the Ujjain region which the Buddha is not recorded as having visited. Others claim that it is an artificial language designed specifically to record the Dhamma and was never the spoken language of a group of people. Whatever the truth of the matter be it is clear that the Buddha's original discourses (in whatever language they may have been given) have been rendered into Pali by the arhats of old, and today forms the definitive corps of the Buddha's teaching according to the Theravadins.
From the Pali the Dhamma has been translated into other languages. Unfortunately many of these translators took some liberties in their translation. This is also true of the English translations of the Pali Text Society. For this reason it is absolutely necessary to go to the original Pali texts if the true meaning of the Dhamma is to be discovered.
Whatever the language of the scriptures be there is the question of the popular dissemination of the Dhamma which cannot be done in a classical language which people do not understand. On this question there is a definitive pronouncement on the part of the Buddha. This occurs in the Vinaya Piaka when the two bhikkhu brothers Yameluketula question the Buddha on the appropriateness of using local languages for the exposition of the dhamma. In response to this the Buddha laid down the rule: anujaanaami bhikkave sakaaya niruttiyaa buddhavacana.m pariyaapunitun ti. (Vin I, 139). This could be translated as: "I order that the word of the Buddha be mastered in [your] own language". We shall refer to this as the "sakaaya niruttiyaa rule" or more simply as the "Language Rule" of Buddhism. The Buddha uses the imperative term anujaanaami ("I order") only when he made definitive pronouncements, and therefore the sakaaya niruttiyaa rule can be taken as a definitive injunction of the Buddha binding on all those who go to refuge in the Buddha. Our problem is to see how the sakaaya niruttiyaa rule can be used in the modern context.
The Application of the Sakaaya Niruttiyaa Rule
By and large Buddhists have used the Buddha's injunction embodied in the sakaaya niruttiyaa rule in the early centuries. In the course of its first millennium and half the Dhamma has been established in countries whose main languages have been Sinhalese, Burmese, Thai, Cambodian Lao, Tibetan, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, etc. In all these cases there was no hesitation in using these local languages for the propagation of the Dhamma.
It will be noticed that all the countries in which Buddhism spread initially were Asian countries. This is no mere coincidence. It was only in these countries that there existed a religious tolerance and curiosity prevailed. In Europe such tolerance existed before Christianity became the dominant religion. After the conversion of Constantine and the Christian capture of state power in Europe all other religions were ruthlessly put down. Only Judaism was allowed to exist, and that too under severe oppression of the Jews. Torture and death was the standard treatment for other religions, and even in the case of Christianity for heretics. It was only in the 19th Century that a measure of religious tolerance was secured, and the Dhamma could reach Europe. But the old tradition of religious oppression kept out many people from even experimenting with these religions, quit apart from the distortions they were subjected to.
The Theravada Canon in the Pali language and in roman script has been published by the London based Pali Text Society, but its circulation has not been great. The only European language into which the Dhamma has been translated substantially is English, but like all translations there is also a degree of interpretation involved. Some suttas have been translated into German, but the other European languages (even French and Italian) contain only very small amount of Canonical text. For the most part non- English speaking Europeans have to rely on expository material which contain an even greater measure of interpretation than the translations. What we have said of Europe also applies to America, Australasia and Africa as well.
The Dhamma and other Ethno-cultural aspects
In areas other than language the ethno-cultural tendencies have not been very influential in Buddhism, unlike other religions like Hinduism. However a brief comment may be made on some of these aspects.
Seating Arrangements. In most Asian Buddhist countries it is customary for persons engaged in Buddhist activities (veneration of the Buddha, chanting, listening to dhamma talks, participation in dhamma discussions, meditation, etc) to sit on the floor (sometimes on a mat). Indeed in many Asian countries (e.g. Japan) this is a general method of seating with houses being devoid of chairs. But sitting on the floor (whether on a mat or cushion) is not a requirement of the Dhamma. The stock phrase used in the Canon to describe the position adopted by those who engaged in discourse with the Buddha is "ekamanta nisidi" (i.e. sat on one side). There is no implication that the person sat on the floor, or even at a lower level that the Buddha's seat (which we are given to understand was a seat above the level of the floor). Now if people could discourse with the Buddha seated down on prepared seats perhaps on the same level as the Buddha, the insistence that assembly areas in Buddhist institutions like viharas in the West should be devoid of chairs is a remanant of a "cultural cringe" on the part of those who enforce these rules. Thus it is a manifestation of cultural or ethnic Buddhism, not the following a requirement of the Dhamma.
Attire. It is usual for Hare Krishna devotees in the West to don Indian attire (dhotis and saris). Buddhism has no specified dress code. The Vinaya prescribes only the required garments for monks, but this was determined by the climatic conditions in India. Even with regard to this Buddhist monks have been forced to make certain departures from the Vinaya dress rules in cold climates where the Indian form of monastic dress does not provide sufficient protection against the weather. Mahayana monks had already made such changes, and even Theravada monks are now doing so in cold countries. Lay persons have no dress specified for them, so any mode of attire that would be considered proper in a given society could be adopted by lay Buddhists. However in one respect is the Eastern custom insisted on. This is the practice of removing shoes on entering a Buddhist shrine. This practice too is a cultural one, and has no sanction in the Dhamma. In this respect curious compromises are seen. Thus some people wear socks, even though the logic for this seems to be obscure. The proper attitude to this is not to insist on such peculiarities relating to footwear where it is not a custom in the country in which the Buddhist institution is located. In Asia Asian customs may be adopted; and in the West western customs could be adopted. There is also a tendency to insist on a certain kind of dress during the "sil" observances on uposatha days determined by the lunar cycle. This white attire prescribed for this seems to be the perpetuation of a Sri-Lankan practice with only a very slender basis in the Canon.
3. Ethnic and non-Ethnic Buddhism in the West
As we have seen Buddhism in the West is a relatively recent development made possible by the breakdown in the State protection accorded to Christianity in Europe. When Buddhism became first known in the West it evoked great interest, especially as it came at a time when Darwinism and other areas of scientific discovery had considerably eroded the basis of Christianity. However this initial spurt of enthusiasm has not been kept up, and since then the Dhamma has been in regression in most of the West, at least amongst the native populations.
Two dangers confront the spread of Buddhism in the West in the present period. One is the spread of ethnic Buddhism which in some instances has transformed the universal message of the Buddha into a parochial cult. The other is the attempt to transform Buddhism into a minor meditation therapy by certain "teachers" who have not understood the role that "meditation" plays in the Buddha's scheme of liberation. In this work we shall be concerned primarily with the first of these developments, but some comments will be made on the latter as it is not unconnected with ethnic Buddhism as most of these "teachers" of Buddhism have learnt their "meditation" from Eastern gurus.
Buddhism in Western countries have taken up two main routes. One is the formation of Buddhist Societies mainly amongst lay-persons centered on the study of texts, and lectures by experts or exponents of Buddhism. The other route was to establish Viharas which have been the usual units around which Buddhists have congregated in Theravaada countries. In most Asian countries the institutional mode is almost exclusively the Vihara model, but in the West it was normal for secular Societies to be established. However both modes can and indeed should exist in the West, but the Viharas established in the West should be in the mainstream of Buddhism, not replicas of ethnic temples imported from the East. We shall consider both these modes of institutional Buddhism in the West, but with the greater emphasis on the Vihara mode.
The London Vihara and the Lankarama Models
Two models of Vihara Buddhism in the West have emerged which we may call the London Vihara and the Lankarama models. The London Vihara established in the 1920s provided a model of a Buddhist Vihara operating in a Western land. The Lankarama, which was established in Singapore in the 1940s by Sri Lankan Sinhalese migrants offers the alternative model of ethnic Buddhism transplanted from its original Sri Lankan context into a foreign land.
It was appropriate that the first Theravada Vihara to be established in the West should have been in London where the knowledge of Theravada Buddhism was the greatest. In the first decades of its existence this Vihara set a model that could have been adopted by other Buddhist groups in the West. It was centre for the study, practice and propagation of the Dhamma, primarily using the English language. Monks living in this Vihara distinguished themselves by their scholarly publications and by their contributions to the public discussion on religious issues. The vihara was concerned primarily with the propagation of the Dhamma as it has come down through the ages, and was not concerned with the propagation of the local ideosyncracies which characterised the Buddhist scene in Sri Lanka even though most of the people connected with the establishment of this Vihara came from Sri Lanka.
The Vihara was a centre for meditation, but there was no addiction to this activity as the principal way in which the Dhamma could be practiced in the West. In several other respects, like seating arrangements at the Vihara, the London Vihara sought to adhere the local customs rather than those prevailing in Sri Lanka.
These high ideals had not always been in evidence, and there have been periods of controversy, particularly after the predominant English patronage of the Vihara was replaced by the growing number of migrants from Sri Lanka. Despite these developments the Vihara provided a model on which other Viharas could be established. Unfortunately there were very few imitators. Some Viharas were established in some other European countries, and while they did adhere to some of the correct principles for the Buddhist Vihara in a Western country they were by no means exemplars in this area.
In Australia there has been no Vihara that could be considered to be in some respects the parallel of the London Vihara. To some extent the Brisbane Buddhist Vihara under the long-time incumbency of the late Ven Shanti Bhadra Maha Thera could be considered the nearest. But after the departure of Ven Shanti Bhadra the Vihara lost a lot of its ethnically oriented members who broke away to found an ethnic temple. There has been some regression from the high standards set by Ven Shanti Bhadra Maha Thera, and the pitfalls of ethnic Buddhism have not been entirely avoided.
The Lankaramaya Model stands very much in contrast to the London Vihara model. The first Lankarama was established in Singapore by Sri Lankans resident in that city-state. Since then several viharas based on the Singapore Lankarama Model have been established in many countries in the West, some even boasting the name Lankaramaya itself, others adopting different names but based on variations of the same model. We shall refer to these Viharas in the West as Lankaramaya viharas. There are other types of ethnic Buddhism based on the particular types of Asian Buddhism, both Mahayana and Theravada. These include temples based primarily on the Thai, Cambodian, Laotian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Tibetan and Japanese models. We cannot explore all these manifestations of ethnic Buddhism in the West but shall concentrate on the Lankarama model which is based primarily on Sinhalese Buddhism.
The dominant characteristics of the Lankarama model of the Theravada Vihara in the West are the following:
The membership of the Vihara is primarily Sinhalese. Even when this is not incorporated into the constitution of the Vihara, the actual practices undertaken preclude the active participation of others;
The principal medium of activity in the Vihara is the Sinhala language. It is in this language that most of the discourses are delivered, and the activities of the Vihara advertised.
The principal Buddhist activities of the Vihara are:
(a) dhamma-discourse in the Sinhalese style (bana),(b) the provision of alms and robes to monks,(c) chanting of "protection suttas" (pirit) tying of pirit-thread,(d) the veneration of the buddha-rupa (buddha-puja), the bodhi-tree and relics (if these are imported from Sri Lanka), and(e) teaching the Dhamma to Sinhala children (daham- paasaela).
The conduct of specifically cultural activities like the teaching of the Sinhala language, celebration of the Sinhala New Year, etc.
None of these activities of the Lankarama style of vihara belongs to the tradition of Buddhism as a universal religion. The bana-style of preaching generally excludes the old practice of Dhamma-discussion (dhamma-saakaccaa). There is little importance attached to the study of the Pali Canon, indeed the Canon is often unavailable in such monasteries, and even if available there is little opportunity for its intensive study.
In short Lankarama-style of viharas have little contact with the local population, and does not consider the propagation of the dhamma to the local habitants a primary objective. It is meant for Sri Lankan migrants to indulge in the traditional practices associated with Buddhism in their home country.
The Australian Experience
Australia had a racially biased migration policy between 1920 and 1968. This meant that few Sinhalese could settle here during this period, and as such no ethnic Buddhist institutions could have been established. There is some evidence of ethnically oriented Buddhist activity by migrants who came before the imposition of the racial immigration policy, but this activity soon ceased, and almost all the Buddhists who migrated at that time have been converted into Christianity. The first Buddhist presence in Australia was the Chinese Mahayana Buddhism, which also soon petered out after the imposition of the racial immigration policy.
However a few Buddhist visitors were allowed to come to the country on short visits often with several restrictions placed on their activity. These included Venerable Narada Maha Thera of Sri Lanka, one of the most enlightened Theravada monks of this century, and the American Theravada nun sister Dhammadina. As a result of their efforts small Buddhist groups were established in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. These Societies were established in the true spirit of international Buddhism and were completely free of ethnic traits. These institutions have suffered various vagaries, but they still exist.
In the 1980s the migration policy was further relaxed and large numbers of ethnic Buddhists from Sri Lanka and other Asian Buddhist countries were allowed in. They soon set about establishing ethnic temples in the traditional styles. Amongst the Theravadins the first to do so were the Thais, who established several Wats in the traditional style. These differed somewhat from the classic Lankarama style whose main characteristics we have identified earlier. The Cambodian, Laotian and Burmese temples (when they were finally established) followed the practice of the Thai wats.
The first ethnic Sri Lanka vihara appears to have been established in Melbourne as an alternative to the Buddhist Society of Victoria. Groups of ethnically orientated Sinhala Buddhists have also been in evidence in other places like Perth, Darwin, Adelaide and Canberra, and some of these places they have already established ethnic temples. But it was in Sydney that the first Sinhala temple with the name of Lankaramaya was established. For a long time the Sinhala Buddhists of Sydney had been patrons of Thai inspired Wats like Wat Buddhrangsee and Wat Buddha-Dhamma. But the establishment of the Lankayamaya in 1990 marks the decision to adopt a purely Sri Lankan style temple under Australian skies. In Brisbane a Sri Lankan Buddhist Monastery Association has been set up, which recently announced that it was going to construct the first Lankaramaya in Brisbane. Meanwhile another ethnic Sinhalese temple has been set by another group of Sinhalese in rooms rented from Zen centre operating in Brisbane.
Thus Sri Lankan ethnic temples are now firmly established in the major Australian cities. No doubt other states will soon follow suit to cater for the increasing demand for such temples by the increasing Sri Lankan migration. To man these temples a number of Sri Lankan monks have been brought to Australia by the various temples.
The Australian experience has been matched by the experience in other Western countries. In the U.K. also several Lankaramaya-type Sinhala temples have been set up although none has adopted that particular name. In the United States the dominant form of Buddhism is Mahayana Buddhism, and Theravada Buddhism is confined to a few viharas.
We must now consider the consequences of this development for Buddhism in Australia and the West generally.
4. Institutional Forms of Buddhism in the West
Institutional Types
On the basis of the above discussion we can identify the following institutional forms of Theravada Buddhism that have emerged in the West:
A. The Secular Buddhist Society Model. This is concerned with the intense study of the Dhamma in its original formulation as given in the Pali Canon, the development of norms of living in substantial conformity of the requirements of the Dhamma, and the encouragement of the observance of the Dhamma generally.
B. The Original London Vihara Model. This model encompasses the objectives of the secular societies, but places greater emphasis on the necessity to accommodate ordained monks to expound the Dhamma. In its interpretation of the Canon it tends to place greater emphasis on Buddhaghosa's exegesis whereas the secular societies tend to go the original Canon itself.
C. The Lankarama Model. This is the ethnic Buddhist Model par excellence. Its main objective appears to be to cater to the spiritual needs of expatriate groups using the particular national models of Buddhism as practiced in their home countries without any consideration of its relevance to the universality of the Buddha's teaching or the external conditions in the host country.
D. The Meditation Centre Model. Here the Buddhist Institution is transformed into a centre for "meditation" under the guidance of a self-proclaimed "teacher". The meditation practiced is a simplified form of the first foundation of satipatthana ignoring all the preconditions which the Buddha was careful to lay down for the correct practice of this technique of mindfulness.
These four models or modes should be considered as pure types; in practice particular institutions may combine some of these features to some degree, but in almost every instance one of these will be the dominant feature. This will determine to which category the particular institution will fall.
It will be seen that only the Modes A and Mode B correspond substantially to the Dhamma as expounded in the Pali Canon, while Mode C and Mode D constitute distinct departures from it. In a sense the Mode A was not known in the Buddha's but is a Western institutional form which could be ideally adapted as a vehicle for the propagation of the Dhamma in the West. It is in this sense that it could be admitted into the permissible modes for Dhamma propagation in the West.
Roughly until the 1960s Buddhism in the West used the Modes A and B as the principal means of institutional expression of the Dhamma. Even though not widely used this gave the correct start to the Dhamma in Western societies. From the 1970s there was a migration of Buddhists from Asian countries (Sinhalese, Thais, etc.) to the West which has been unprecedented in history. This gave opportunity to a proliferation of institutions of Mode C. Mode D Buddhism was also spread by Western teachers who had learnt it either from certain teachers in the Asian Buddhist countries (Thailand, Sri Lanka and to a lesser extent Burma) or are the disciples of Western Buddhists who had undergone this kind of training.
We have shown that ethnic Buddhism tends to controvert the universalistic character of Buddhism. When ethnic Buddhism is introduced into a Western country it tends to shunt the particular manifestation of Buddhism into an ethnic ghetto. The danger here is that many people will perceive Buddhism as a ghetto religion. Indeed the mass media in Western countries have made it a fine art to present Buddhism as an ethnic religion and not a universal message of liberation. The activities of ethnic Buddhists in the West lend support to this propaganda of the mass media to the great detriment of the cause of Buddhism in the West.
A few words may be said on the subject of the Meditation Centre type of Buddhism. In recent decades the West has seen a vast proliferation of meditation systems of all types (e.g. transcendental, yogic, Zen, self-realisation, Hare Krishna, etc). This great upsurge in meditation is due to the fact that the increasing of pressure of life in the West has created many psychological neuroses, and conventional treatment through psychologists, psychiatrists, etc. has proven to be either too expensive or ineffective. The burgeoning meditation movement is particularly suited for the minor neuroses, not meriting conventional treatment. The proponents of the Meditation Centre mode of Buddhism have enthusiastically joined this band of meditation purveyors in the West. As with the other co-providers of meditation in the West they are no doubt doing much good, giving a measure of relief through calm and tranquillity to persons who require such therapy. But the danger lies in that they may be passing off their particular nostrums as the central discovery of the Buddha or as the means to Enlightenment and Liberation.
Central to this particular approach is a misunderstanding by many "teachers" of what meditation means in the Buddhist system. The Pali term they use to designate "meditation" is bhavana. Now while this term has crept into Buddhist terminology it was not a term used by the Buddha in anything like the meaning attached to it by the modern meditation exponents. The terms used in the Canon are samadhi, jhana and sati. Samadhi is the true concentration needed in Buddhism, and it is doubtful whether it could be "taught" by persons who had not reached not realised the fruit of arahantship. Indeed the Buddha instruction appears to be that samadhi could be achieved by individual effort alone, provided that the person has already achieved a measure of liberation from the asavas and satisfied some of the paramitas. Jhana is a purely yogic discipline, and while it is beneficial to those who can realise it, it is not a requirement of enlightenment. It will be recalled that the Buddha achieved the jhanas long before he was enlightened by learning how to do so from the yogic masters of the day. Some modern meditation exponents have been able to induce self-hypnosis in their followers, but this should not be confused with the attainment of any of the four jhanic states.
So sati seems to be only component that is within the reach of the typical meditation exponent. But what is usually done in the name of this worthy element of the Noble Eightfold Path is a gross simplification of the first foundation of mindfulness identified by the Buddha in the Satipatthana Sutta. The way this Sutta is expounded by "teachers" in the West ignores two fundamental pre-requisites laid down clearly by the Buddha in the preamble to this Sutta. These are:
(1) That the practitioner should have engaged in a substantial measure of renunciation from worldly entanglements ("vineyya loke abjia domnassa"). This does not necessarily mean that the person should have "gone forth" from the household life, even though this is strongly suggested because the Buddha gives this Sutta only to monks who have left the household life and would have satisfied this precondition. Certainly the current practice of giving lay persons who are steeped in attachment to family, wealth, and power, the impression that short periods of anapana sati gives them access to the satipatthana is not correct. (2) There cannot be congregational performance of the satipatthana. The Buddha says that the practitioner must go to an empty room (suagara) or if outdoors to the root of a tree (rukkham-la). However in many Meditation Centres the sole objective seems to be regular periodic communal meditation. Whatever these "meditators" may be doing they are certainly not following the instructions of the Buddha.
While the danger of the Meditation Centre approach may not be as great as that of the ethnic Buddhism approach the damage it could do the Dhamma in the West should not be underrated. One of the most pervasive criticisms of Buddhism in the West is that its practitioners confine all their loving-kindness and compassion to the comfort of their meditation mats and ignore all the opportunity that the real world presents to the lay persons concerned with the welfare of their fellow human (and non-human) beings. The Meditation Centre school of Buddhism in the West reinforces this public perception of Buddhism and no amount of protestations to the contrary will overcome the powerful evidence emanating from the Meditation Centre. The pity of it is that what the patrons of the Meditation Centre is doing has nothing whatsoever to do with what the Buddha was teaching.
Nothing that is said above should be taken to mean that samaadhi and satipa.t.thaana in the way that it is expounded in the Pali Canon is an inconsequential part of Dhamma-practice. Indeed they are of central importance in the search for enlightenment. All that we are objecting to is the misrepresentation of these difficult disciplines by the simplistic exercises called "meditation" in the West.
Concluding Remarks
We have attempted to outline in this short tract two obstacles confronting the spread of the Dhamma in the West (ethnic Buddhism and Meditation Buddhism). There are of course other factors which serve as formidable obstacles. But these other factors are usually created by external forces whereas the obstacles we have discussed are internal obstacles created by persons claiming to be Buddhists.
The consideration of the external obstacles must await another publication. Even if Buddhists in the West were to give up ethnic Buddhism and revert to correct practices in the realization of Dhamma there will still be formidable difficulties confronting the propagation of the Dhamma in the West. But there is no reason to add to these difficulties by taking on board practices which are quite alien to the Buddha's enlightening teaching.
NOTES
[1] We are only concerned with the internal obstacles, i.e. those ceated by Buddhists themselves, as these are the ones that are most easily corrected. Buddhism, of course, faces considerable external problems in the face of well-entrenched religions in the West. These matters are not considered in this Essay.
[2] Religions usually prescribe the dress of clergy or monks. But even here universal religions allow for adaptations due to climatic or other factors.
[3] The Buddha was directly relevant when he was alive and today has only symbolic significance. The Sangha originally meant only those who had made some progress on the Buddhist path by eliminating at least the lesser of the "fetters" recognised in Buddhism. Today it has a somewhat different meaning as comprising either the monkhood or even the totality of all practitioners. Thus of the three gems of Buddhism only the Dhamma has an unambiguous meaning as it is preserved in the various Canons of Buddhism.
[4] Europe before the advent of Christianity was a relatively tolerant. But when Constantine was converted to Christianity the Church used the power of the state not only to exclude anyone else but even to subject suspected Christian heretics to death and torture. It was only in the 19th century that Europe (and its offshoots) allowed a more liberal attitude, but even now religious despotism is common in many Christian countries.
[5] A brief comparison with other religions may be in order. The new Testament of Christianity was written in Greek a language which is far removed from the languages Jesus may have spoken (Hebrew, Aramaic). The distance between Greek and the original language of Jesus is much greater than the distance between Pali and Magadhan. In Islam the language of the Koran is the Arabic spoken by Mohammad. Both Christianity and Islam for a long time forbade the translation of their scriptures from Greek and Latin in the case of Christianity and Arabic in the case of Islam into other languages. This has never been the case with Buddhism.
[6] Many of the translators of the Pali texts never formally adopted Buddhism, and were keen to use Christian terminology for Buddhist terms. The repeated translation of citta by "heart" and metta by "love" are conspicuous instances, but in several other respects a Christian gloss was not on Buddhist constructs.
[7] For a fuller discussion of this problem in Western Buddhism see the BSQ publication Western Buddhism and a Theravada Heterodoxy by V. A. Gunasekara. Issue No. 29 of the Journal Vimamsa is also devoted to the question of meditation in Buddhism.
[8] Sri Lanka has had a wholesome tradition of propagating the Dhamma in the Buddha's true spirit. The spread of Theravaada Buddhism to South-East Asia was an outstanding achievement. This spirit was revived by the Anagarika Dharmapala in the closing decades of the last century. He first took the Dhamma back to its very cradle in India, and later turned his attention to its propagation in the West. The spirit of Anagarika Dharmapala was very much alive in those who were responsible for the establishment of the London Vihara.
[9] The Melbourne based group the Buddhist Society of Victoria has been the most successful mainly because of the role of its long-time President Ms E. Bell. Unfortunately there seems to be some evidence that this group is also coming under the attach of ethnic Buddhists. The NSW Society has abandoned Theravaada and gone over to Mahayana. The Brisbane group folded soon after, but has been revived and still operates though on a very small scale.
[10] The term "teacher" when used in a religious context means something different from what it means in the ordinary sense (like a kindergarten teacher or a university teacher). The Buddha claimed to be a teacher (satta), and Jesus is also referred to as a teacher in the New Testament. In the latter context a teacher is someone who has a special kind of knowledge. Most meditation teachers certainly do not fall into this category. Indeed it is doubtful whether anyone who is not an Ariyapuggala can be a teacher of the Dhamma.
This essay is concerned with some obstacles to the spread of the Dhamma in Western countries. This requires a consideration of some basic questions on the nature of Buddhism, and the institutional forms it has taken in the West. Buddhism is the name given to the teaching of Siddhatta Gotama, who is better known as the Buddha, and Buddhists are those who affirm the validity of his teaching. Buddhists themselves refer to the teaching by the Pali term Dhamma (or in some schools of Buddhism by its Sanskrit equivalent dharma). One of the root meanings of this word is "to uphold" (dhr in sanskrit), and in this sense is used to denote that which upholds the Universe. It has sometimes been translated as the Norm or the Law.
Whether the Dhamma constitutes a religion or not has been debated variously. It is certainly not a religion in the Judeo-Christian-Islamic sense because it is not based on the blind acceptance of the word of someone who claims to be a "prophet" or kinsman of a supreme God. On the other hand it cannot simply be equated with Science, Philosophy or Psychology as these secular disciplines are commonly understood. Two characteristics of the Dhamma separate it from these latter disciplines.
The Dhamma postulates a strict normative set of values including a moral code while secular, "non-religious", sciences tend to be positivistic and adopt a neutral stance on moral and ethical questions.
The Dhamma postulates survival after death in some form or other. On this question there are some differences of opinion. But the popular interpretations of the Dhamma do make it clear that some kind of future life could be expected for persons who have not fully liberated themselves. The status of the fully liberated one after death has been more problematical.
Because of these characteristics Buddhism falls into a broader definition of religion than the one traditionally used in the West. Indeed such a change of definition is coming into general use. As such Buddhism can, and indeed must, be considered a religion and compared with the other religions in the world. Buddhists should compare the claims of Buddhism against these other religious systems. A taxonomy of religious systems is necessary to do this effectively.
Universal and Particular Religions
Religions could be classified into those that are "universal" and those that are "particularistic" in scope. The requirements of a universal religion are stated later, but the distinction depends crucially on the eligibility of persons for membership either as ordinary followers or as some kind of elite within the religion concerned. Examples of religions that are generally considered "universal" are (in order of their appearance) Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. On the other hand we may regard Judaism and Hinduism as examples of particularistic religions because their membership is limited to certain people on the basis of some criteria whether national or ethnic.
As with most generalisations there are exceptions to this simple division of religions. Religions that have generally been considered particularistic and exclusive have attempted in recent times to broaden their appeal and relax some of the strict criteria relating to those who are allowed within their fold. On the other hand basically universalistic religions have developed national and ethnic variations which have considerably narrowed the scope of the religion when such ethnic variation is used in a given manifestation of the religion.
Thus some people who are not ethnic Jews (e.g. Ethiopians and even a few American Blacks) have been admitted into Judaism, and recently people of ethnic European descent have embraced the Hare Krishna version of Hinduism. In both cases they have not been universally accepted by their co-religionists. Many ethnic Jews oppose the validity of the conversion of non-Jews into Judaism, and the claim of Western Hare Krishna priests have been challenged by orthodox Hindus as they are not of the Brahmin caste by birth. The existence of such exceptions do not deny the basically ethnic character of these religions.
Another characteristic of particularistic religions is that they are confined largely or exclusively to people of a given nationality or ethnicity even though the beliefs of these religions may not require it. It is in this sense that Shinto and Sikhism can be considered to be ethnic religions. This is also true of the religious views of many so-called primitive peoples, tribes, etc. because these beliefs are part of the culture of the people concerned. We shall use the terms "particularistic religion", "ethnic religion" and "cultural religion" almost synonymously, and in every case in contradistinction to those religions that are considered universal religions.
When we are speaking of "ethnic Buddhism" we are referring to a manifestation of Buddhism which runs counter to its historic universalistic character. Cultural aspects may not be obvious in the national manifestations of Buddhism, but become quite distinct, and create problems, when they are transplanted into other cultures.
Characteristics of a Universal Religion
The characteristics which make a religion universal in scope are the following:
Universality of Principle. There must be nothing in the basic beliefs of the religion that confine it to a particular nation, race or ethnic group. Thus if there is a notion of a "chosen people" then this characteristic is violated.
Non-Exclusiveness of Membership. Any person could be an adherent of the religion concerned, and be entitled to the same privileges and obligations as every other person. This of course does not require every follower of the religion to be of the same level of achievement, but only that some external factor like race or caste prevents individuals from full participation in the religion.
Wide Geographical dispersion. The religion must have demonstrated an ability to find followers amongst a variety of nations or ethnic groups. Thus even if a religion satisfies the first two requirements but have not been able to spread beyond its region of origin it may not qualify to be a universal religion. Thus Jainism is not generally regarded as a universal although its principles are universal in scope and it is non-exclusive.
Non-Exclusiveness of Language. The practices of the religion which require verbal communication should be capable of being done in any language. The authoritative version of its basic texts may be maintained in the original language in which the original expositions were given, but translations of these should be valid, provided that they preserve the sense of the original texts.
Independence of Specific Cultural Practices. The practices of the religion should be free from the cultural practices of a particular group in such matters as food, dress, seating, etc.
Each one of these criteria raise problems but they have to be satisfied to a significant extent if the relgion is to be deemed a universal one.
On the basis of these characteristics Buddhism, as originally expounded by the Buddha, can be described as a universal religious system par excellence.
Practical Considerations
In practice however it has during the many centuries it has been practiced in different cultures have acquired some ethnic peculiarities. This is also true of some of the other religions that are generally considered universal in scope. Thus we can speak of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church or the Dutch Reformed Church which seems to present certain cultural variants of Christianity. The Sh'ite school of Islam may also be considered an ethnic variant of Islam as it is confined almost exclusively to people of Iranian descent.
Ethnic variants of universal religions are thus common, but so long as the cultural and ethnic content of these religions relate to secondary matters, and the ethnic variant is used only in the particular country where the cultural tendencies emerged there may not be any serious damage done. We have then the case of a religion adapting itself to a particular national or cultural milieu without sacrificing any of its fundamental universalistic precepts. Particularly when a religion is practiced in a country for several centuries, and there has been little contact with other nationalities that may practice the same religion, such ethnic and national variants can emerge. This explains why ethnic variants have emerged in all the three main universal religions we have mentioned.
The problem with the ethnic variants of universal religions arise when the followers of these religions migrate to a different country and carry with them not only the universalistic aspects of their religions but also the cultural elements. The correct attitude should be to give precedence to the universal aspects and discard those cultural aspects that have little relevance. Often however it is the cultural aspects that are given an overriding importance with the result that the religion is given a false image in the country into which the migrants have taken their religion.
The rapid development of means of transportation, the emergence of a global economy, and the standardisation of many aspects of life, has created an unprecedented movement of peoples in the world in recent decades. This mass migration has brought peoples professing various religions to live in areas where those religions have not been known widely. Countries like Australia which have traditionally relied on heavy migration from other countries provide very good examples but it is also seen in older settled areas like Europe and even Asia.
Australia has adopted the Multiculturalism as an official policy. It is however sad to see that Buddhism is sometimes also considered as part of this multi-culturalism. Strictly speaking the Dhamma is above cultural peculiarities and cannot be considered part of the baggage of "Multiculturalism".
2. The Universality of the Dhamma The Qualities of the Dhamma
It is not difficult to show the universality of Buddhism in terms of the characteristics we have identified. Traditionally Buddhists are those who "go for refuge" to the three "Gems" of Buddhism, viz. the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha. Of these three it is only the second, refuge in the Dhamma, that is most relevant for the contemporary practice of Buddhism .
We shall be concerned with the Dhamma as it is expounded in the Pali Canon which is generally considered to be the earliest of the Canons of Buddhism. The Buddha has always been regarded as a teacher for all humanity. Indeed the compass of his teaching may even exceed the human plane as one of the titles conferred to the Buddha is "teacher of humans and devas" (sattaa devamanussaana.m), and there are discourses that are said to have been given to non- human beings. Whatever the truth of this claim may be the bulk of the discourses of the Buddha given in the Pali Canon were delivered to humans, most of it to monks and some of it to laypersons.
In the Pali Canon there is an enumeration of the qualities of the Dhamma which establish clearly its universalist nature. The six qualities of the Dhamma that are mentioned in the traditional formulary are the following:
1. Clear Exposition (svakkhato). The clarity of the exposition means that it contains not esoteric element that might make it appropriate for a certain category of persons.
2. Self-realisation (sanditthiko). This reduces reliance on an established priesthood or authorised "teachers". Individuals who are prepared to devote the necessary time can acquire the Dhamma by personal study, practice and experience.
3. Timelessness (akaaliko). This has two meanings: (a) the results of the dhamma could be seen almost immediately and (b) the dhamma is not circumscribed in time, and would not become irrelevant by the mere passage of time. It is the second of these interpretations that give it universal significance.
4. Empiricism (ehipassiko). The validity of the Dhamma could be seen by experimentation and observation through practice. It is not merely a theoretical assertion about life, but a verifiable statement.
5. Practicality (opanayiko). The Dhamma could be practiced ("entered upon") by any interested person.
6. Apprehension by the wise (paccattam veditabbo vinnuhiti). Measure of wisdom is necessary for its clear apprehension.
The first five of these qualities contribute to the universality of the Dhamma. The sixth is not taken to mean that only "wise" people are capable of apprehending it, but that wise people will apprehend it more readily than others. The fact that the Dhamma has these qualities does not automatically make it universal. Other religious systems may also lay claim to some of these qualities, but not to the totality of these. What is true of the "particularistic" religions is that they are restricted in some sense to a particular grouping, usually on the basis on ethnicity. We must therefore investigate the principal aspects of ethnicity that may affect the practice of a religion and see whether they manifest themselves in the Dhamma.
Buddhism as a missionary religion
Another testimony to the universalist character of Buddhism was that Buddhism was the world's first missionary religion. There was no evidence that any religion before it was interested in spreading it on a world-wide basis. Indeed the opposite was the case. Pre-Buddhist religions were more interested in excluding others from its fold rather than welcoming them. This is true of most tribal religions of primitive peoples who confined their religion to their own group. It was also true of other early religions, like the ancient Egyptian, Babylonian religions as well as the Brahmanical religion of India. The latter jealously guarded who were to be admitted, especially to the brahmin caste. The emerging religion of Judaism in the present middle-east was also keen in keeping it confined to the "chosen people". There were several other religions all equally exclusive.
In contrast to this dominant view the Buddha sought to proclaim the dhamma universally once he had resolved the problem whether to proclaim it at all. There are several instances where this is clearly proclaimed, perhaps for the first time in religious history. The classic utterance on this subject is recorded both in the Vinaya and the Samyutta Nikaaya. Quite early in his dispensation, when the number of Bhikkhus was still a handful, he addressed them thus:
Go ye, O monks, wander around for the good of the many, for the happiness of the many, out of compassion for the world, for the benefit, good and happiness of humans and devas. Let not any two go in the same way. Proclaim, monks, the Dhamma which is beautiful in the beginning, good in the middle and good at the end. Be exemplars of the pure life perfected and purified in every respect. There are beings with little dust in their eyes who will surely perish without the Dhamma, but who can join those other Dhamma-farers. I myself, monks, will go to Uruvelaa to preach the Dhamma.(SN i, 104-5).
This quotation more than any other captures the universalist spirit of the Dhamma. The Buddha not only exhorts his disciples to spread the Dhamma but himself set an example, an example that was to last his whole his life. It is also in this spirit that the Dhammapada proclaims that the "Gift of the Dhamma is the best of all gifts" (v.354).
The Indian ruler who gave expression to the Buddha's wish for the universal propagation of the Dhamma was the Indian emperor Asoka. His missions to many parts of the world was perhaps the first systematic attempt to spread a religion to the limits of the known world. Asoka was only partly successful, and many of his missions did not have a lasting effort. In the West it is only in Greece that Asoka's efforts had some success even though it was extremely short-lived. But Buddhism was successful in penetrating the most parts of Asia, even though in the process it underwent some change. The decline of Buddhism has seen many of these "gains" lost, and now it is declining even further particularly through the spread of the three Western religions of Christianity, Islam and Communism.
Christianity and Islam are the other two missionary religions in the world. However there is a great difference in the missionary methods adopted by Buddhism on the one hand and the theistic religions on the other. Buddhism sought to "convert" by using argument and example, but the theistic religions not only used force and violence but resorted to every manner of propaganda, bribery, trickery and deceit. Far from abandoning these methods the theistic religions are refining these techniques that have brought them so much success in the past.
Modern Buddhists have been lethargic in carrying out the injunction of the Buddha with regard to the propagation of the Truth. The efforts of true Buddhist pioneers like the Anagarika Dharmapala has been forgotten. Indeed the retreat into ethnic Buddhism is precisely a statement that those who resort to it are no longer interested in Dhamma propagation. While there are now a large number of Sri Lankan monks in Western countries they are not engaged in dhamma-duta work, but in catering for the Sri Lankan communities abroad. In effect they are denying the universalist character of Buddhism are returning it to the particularistic mould of ethnic religion in contravention of the clear injunctions of the Buddha.
The Dhamma and Language
Perhaps the most important "ethnic" aspect that could influence the practice of a religion is language. The practice of a religion involves communication with other persons and the most powerful instrument of that communication is language.
Language impinges on religion in many ways. Firstly the doctrine of the religion has to be written down if it is to survive for posterity. Theravaada Buddhism uses the Pali language. There is a great deal of dispute on the origins of Pali. It belongs to the Indo-European family of languages but whether it was the language of the Buddha is uncertain. As a Saakyan the mother tongue would certainly not have been Pali. Most of the Buddha's activity took place in Magadha where the dominant language Magadhan would have been used by the Buddha. Some scholars claim that Pali was the language spoken in the Ujjain region which the Buddha is not recorded as having visited. Others claim that it is an artificial language designed specifically to record the Dhamma and was never the spoken language of a group of people. Whatever the truth of the matter be it is clear that the Buddha's original discourses (in whatever language they may have been given) have been rendered into Pali by the arhats of old, and today forms the definitive corps of the Buddha's teaching according to the Theravadins.
From the Pali the Dhamma has been translated into other languages. Unfortunately many of these translators took some liberties in their translation. This is also true of the English translations of the Pali Text Society. For this reason it is absolutely necessary to go to the original Pali texts if the true meaning of the Dhamma is to be discovered.
Whatever the language of the scriptures be there is the question of the popular dissemination of the Dhamma which cannot be done in a classical language which people do not understand. On this question there is a definitive pronouncement on the part of the Buddha. This occurs in the Vinaya Piaka when the two bhikkhu brothers Yameluketula question the Buddha on the appropriateness of using local languages for the exposition of the dhamma. In response to this the Buddha laid down the rule: anujaanaami bhikkave sakaaya niruttiyaa buddhavacana.m pariyaapunitun ti. (Vin I, 139). This could be translated as: "I order that the word of the Buddha be mastered in [your] own language". We shall refer to this as the "sakaaya niruttiyaa rule" or more simply as the "Language Rule" of Buddhism. The Buddha uses the imperative term anujaanaami ("I order") only when he made definitive pronouncements, and therefore the sakaaya niruttiyaa rule can be taken as a definitive injunction of the Buddha binding on all those who go to refuge in the Buddha. Our problem is to see how the sakaaya niruttiyaa rule can be used in the modern context.
The Application of the Sakaaya Niruttiyaa Rule
By and large Buddhists have used the Buddha's injunction embodied in the sakaaya niruttiyaa rule in the early centuries. In the course of its first millennium and half the Dhamma has been established in countries whose main languages have been Sinhalese, Burmese, Thai, Cambodian Lao, Tibetan, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, etc. In all these cases there was no hesitation in using these local languages for the propagation of the Dhamma.
It will be noticed that all the countries in which Buddhism spread initially were Asian countries. This is no mere coincidence. It was only in these countries that there existed a religious tolerance and curiosity prevailed. In Europe such tolerance existed before Christianity became the dominant religion. After the conversion of Constantine and the Christian capture of state power in Europe all other religions were ruthlessly put down. Only Judaism was allowed to exist, and that too under severe oppression of the Jews. Torture and death was the standard treatment for other religions, and even in the case of Christianity for heretics. It was only in the 19th Century that a measure of religious tolerance was secured, and the Dhamma could reach Europe. But the old tradition of religious oppression kept out many people from even experimenting with these religions, quit apart from the distortions they were subjected to.
The Theravada Canon in the Pali language and in roman script has been published by the London based Pali Text Society, but its circulation has not been great. The only European language into which the Dhamma has been translated substantially is English, but like all translations there is also a degree of interpretation involved. Some suttas have been translated into German, but the other European languages (even French and Italian) contain only very small amount of Canonical text. For the most part non- English speaking Europeans have to rely on expository material which contain an even greater measure of interpretation than the translations. What we have said of Europe also applies to America, Australasia and Africa as well.
The Dhamma and other Ethno-cultural aspects
In areas other than language the ethno-cultural tendencies have not been very influential in Buddhism, unlike other religions like Hinduism. However a brief comment may be made on some of these aspects.
Seating Arrangements. In most Asian Buddhist countries it is customary for persons engaged in Buddhist activities (veneration of the Buddha, chanting, listening to dhamma talks, participation in dhamma discussions, meditation, etc) to sit on the floor (sometimes on a mat). Indeed in many Asian countries (e.g. Japan) this is a general method of seating with houses being devoid of chairs. But sitting on the floor (whether on a mat or cushion) is not a requirement of the Dhamma. The stock phrase used in the Canon to describe the position adopted by those who engaged in discourse with the Buddha is "ekamanta nisidi" (i.e. sat on one side). There is no implication that the person sat on the floor, or even at a lower level that the Buddha's seat (which we are given to understand was a seat above the level of the floor). Now if people could discourse with the Buddha seated down on prepared seats perhaps on the same level as the Buddha, the insistence that assembly areas in Buddhist institutions like viharas in the West should be devoid of chairs is a remanant of a "cultural cringe" on the part of those who enforce these rules. Thus it is a manifestation of cultural or ethnic Buddhism, not the following a requirement of the Dhamma.
Attire. It is usual for Hare Krishna devotees in the West to don Indian attire (dhotis and saris). Buddhism has no specified dress code. The Vinaya prescribes only the required garments for monks, but this was determined by the climatic conditions in India. Even with regard to this Buddhist monks have been forced to make certain departures from the Vinaya dress rules in cold climates where the Indian form of monastic dress does not provide sufficient protection against the weather. Mahayana monks had already made such changes, and even Theravada monks are now doing so in cold countries. Lay persons have no dress specified for them, so any mode of attire that would be considered proper in a given society could be adopted by lay Buddhists. However in one respect is the Eastern custom insisted on. This is the practice of removing shoes on entering a Buddhist shrine. This practice too is a cultural one, and has no sanction in the Dhamma. In this respect curious compromises are seen. Thus some people wear socks, even though the logic for this seems to be obscure. The proper attitude to this is not to insist on such peculiarities relating to footwear where it is not a custom in the country in which the Buddhist institution is located. In Asia Asian customs may be adopted; and in the West western customs could be adopted. There is also a tendency to insist on a certain kind of dress during the "sil" observances on uposatha days determined by the lunar cycle. This white attire prescribed for this seems to be the perpetuation of a Sri-Lankan practice with only a very slender basis in the Canon.
3. Ethnic and non-Ethnic Buddhism in the West
As we have seen Buddhism in the West is a relatively recent development made possible by the breakdown in the State protection accorded to Christianity in Europe. When Buddhism became first known in the West it evoked great interest, especially as it came at a time when Darwinism and other areas of scientific discovery had considerably eroded the basis of Christianity. However this initial spurt of enthusiasm has not been kept up, and since then the Dhamma has been in regression in most of the West, at least amongst the native populations.
Two dangers confront the spread of Buddhism in the West in the present period. One is the spread of ethnic Buddhism which in some instances has transformed the universal message of the Buddha into a parochial cult. The other is the attempt to transform Buddhism into a minor meditation therapy by certain "teachers" who have not understood the role that "meditation" plays in the Buddha's scheme of liberation. In this work we shall be concerned primarily with the first of these developments, but some comments will be made on the latter as it is not unconnected with ethnic Buddhism as most of these "teachers" of Buddhism have learnt their "meditation" from Eastern gurus.
Buddhism in Western countries have taken up two main routes. One is the formation of Buddhist Societies mainly amongst lay-persons centered on the study of texts, and lectures by experts or exponents of Buddhism. The other route was to establish Viharas which have been the usual units around which Buddhists have congregated in Theravaada countries. In most Asian countries the institutional mode is almost exclusively the Vihara model, but in the West it was normal for secular Societies to be established. However both modes can and indeed should exist in the West, but the Viharas established in the West should be in the mainstream of Buddhism, not replicas of ethnic temples imported from the East. We shall consider both these modes of institutional Buddhism in the West, but with the greater emphasis on the Vihara mode.
The London Vihara and the Lankarama Models
Two models of Vihara Buddhism in the West have emerged which we may call the London Vihara and the Lankarama models. The London Vihara established in the 1920s provided a model of a Buddhist Vihara operating in a Western land. The Lankarama, which was established in Singapore in the 1940s by Sri Lankan Sinhalese migrants offers the alternative model of ethnic Buddhism transplanted from its original Sri Lankan context into a foreign land.
It was appropriate that the first Theravada Vihara to be established in the West should have been in London where the knowledge of Theravada Buddhism was the greatest. In the first decades of its existence this Vihara set a model that could have been adopted by other Buddhist groups in the West. It was centre for the study, practice and propagation of the Dhamma, primarily using the English language. Monks living in this Vihara distinguished themselves by their scholarly publications and by their contributions to the public discussion on religious issues. The vihara was concerned primarily with the propagation of the Dhamma as it has come down through the ages, and was not concerned with the propagation of the local ideosyncracies which characterised the Buddhist scene in Sri Lanka even though most of the people connected with the establishment of this Vihara came from Sri Lanka.
The Vihara was a centre for meditation, but there was no addiction to this activity as the principal way in which the Dhamma could be practiced in the West. In several other respects, like seating arrangements at the Vihara, the London Vihara sought to adhere the local customs rather than those prevailing in Sri Lanka.
These high ideals had not always been in evidence, and there have been periods of controversy, particularly after the predominant English patronage of the Vihara was replaced by the growing number of migrants from Sri Lanka. Despite these developments the Vihara provided a model on which other Viharas could be established. Unfortunately there were very few imitators. Some Viharas were established in some other European countries, and while they did adhere to some of the correct principles for the Buddhist Vihara in a Western country they were by no means exemplars in this area.
In Australia there has been no Vihara that could be considered to be in some respects the parallel of the London Vihara. To some extent the Brisbane Buddhist Vihara under the long-time incumbency of the late Ven Shanti Bhadra Maha Thera could be considered the nearest. But after the departure of Ven Shanti Bhadra the Vihara lost a lot of its ethnically oriented members who broke away to found an ethnic temple. There has been some regression from the high standards set by Ven Shanti Bhadra Maha Thera, and the pitfalls of ethnic Buddhism have not been entirely avoided.
The Lankaramaya Model stands very much in contrast to the London Vihara model. The first Lankarama was established in Singapore by Sri Lankans resident in that city-state. Since then several viharas based on the Singapore Lankarama Model have been established in many countries in the West, some even boasting the name Lankaramaya itself, others adopting different names but based on variations of the same model. We shall refer to these Viharas in the West as Lankaramaya viharas. There are other types of ethnic Buddhism based on the particular types of Asian Buddhism, both Mahayana and Theravada. These include temples based primarily on the Thai, Cambodian, Laotian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Tibetan and Japanese models. We cannot explore all these manifestations of ethnic Buddhism in the West but shall concentrate on the Lankarama model which is based primarily on Sinhalese Buddhism.
The dominant characteristics of the Lankarama model of the Theravada Vihara in the West are the following:
The membership of the Vihara is primarily Sinhalese. Even when this is not incorporated into the constitution of the Vihara, the actual practices undertaken preclude the active participation of others;
The principal medium of activity in the Vihara is the Sinhala language. It is in this language that most of the discourses are delivered, and the activities of the Vihara advertised.
The principal Buddhist activities of the Vihara are:
(a) dhamma-discourse in the Sinhalese style (bana),(b) the provision of alms and robes to monks,(c) chanting of "protection suttas" (pirit) tying of pirit-thread,(d) the veneration of the buddha-rupa (buddha-puja), the bodhi-tree and relics (if these are imported from Sri Lanka), and(e) teaching the Dhamma to Sinhala children (daham- paasaela).
The conduct of specifically cultural activities like the teaching of the Sinhala language, celebration of the Sinhala New Year, etc.
None of these activities of the Lankarama style of vihara belongs to the tradition of Buddhism as a universal religion. The bana-style of preaching generally excludes the old practice of Dhamma-discussion (dhamma-saakaccaa). There is little importance attached to the study of the Pali Canon, indeed the Canon is often unavailable in such monasteries, and even if available there is little opportunity for its intensive study.
In short Lankarama-style of viharas have little contact with the local population, and does not consider the propagation of the dhamma to the local habitants a primary objective. It is meant for Sri Lankan migrants to indulge in the traditional practices associated with Buddhism in their home country.
The Australian Experience
Australia had a racially biased migration policy between 1920 and 1968. This meant that few Sinhalese could settle here during this period, and as such no ethnic Buddhist institutions could have been established. There is some evidence of ethnically oriented Buddhist activity by migrants who came before the imposition of the racial immigration policy, but this activity soon ceased, and almost all the Buddhists who migrated at that time have been converted into Christianity. The first Buddhist presence in Australia was the Chinese Mahayana Buddhism, which also soon petered out after the imposition of the racial immigration policy.
However a few Buddhist visitors were allowed to come to the country on short visits often with several restrictions placed on their activity. These included Venerable Narada Maha Thera of Sri Lanka, one of the most enlightened Theravada monks of this century, and the American Theravada nun sister Dhammadina. As a result of their efforts small Buddhist groups were established in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. These Societies were established in the true spirit of international Buddhism and were completely free of ethnic traits. These institutions have suffered various vagaries, but they still exist.
In the 1980s the migration policy was further relaxed and large numbers of ethnic Buddhists from Sri Lanka and other Asian Buddhist countries were allowed in. They soon set about establishing ethnic temples in the traditional styles. Amongst the Theravadins the first to do so were the Thais, who established several Wats in the traditional style. These differed somewhat from the classic Lankarama style whose main characteristics we have identified earlier. The Cambodian, Laotian and Burmese temples (when they were finally established) followed the practice of the Thai wats.
The first ethnic Sri Lanka vihara appears to have been established in Melbourne as an alternative to the Buddhist Society of Victoria. Groups of ethnically orientated Sinhala Buddhists have also been in evidence in other places like Perth, Darwin, Adelaide and Canberra, and some of these places they have already established ethnic temples. But it was in Sydney that the first Sinhala temple with the name of Lankaramaya was established. For a long time the Sinhala Buddhists of Sydney had been patrons of Thai inspired Wats like Wat Buddhrangsee and Wat Buddha-Dhamma. But the establishment of the Lankayamaya in 1990 marks the decision to adopt a purely Sri Lankan style temple under Australian skies. In Brisbane a Sri Lankan Buddhist Monastery Association has been set up, which recently announced that it was going to construct the first Lankaramaya in Brisbane. Meanwhile another ethnic Sinhalese temple has been set by another group of Sinhalese in rooms rented from Zen centre operating in Brisbane.
Thus Sri Lankan ethnic temples are now firmly established in the major Australian cities. No doubt other states will soon follow suit to cater for the increasing demand for such temples by the increasing Sri Lankan migration. To man these temples a number of Sri Lankan monks have been brought to Australia by the various temples.
The Australian experience has been matched by the experience in other Western countries. In the U.K. also several Lankaramaya-type Sinhala temples have been set up although none has adopted that particular name. In the United States the dominant form of Buddhism is Mahayana Buddhism, and Theravada Buddhism is confined to a few viharas.
We must now consider the consequences of this development for Buddhism in Australia and the West generally.
4. Institutional Forms of Buddhism in the West
Institutional Types
On the basis of the above discussion we can identify the following institutional forms of Theravada Buddhism that have emerged in the West:
A. The Secular Buddhist Society Model. This is concerned with the intense study of the Dhamma in its original formulation as given in the Pali Canon, the development of norms of living in substantial conformity of the requirements of the Dhamma, and the encouragement of the observance of the Dhamma generally.
B. The Original London Vihara Model. This model encompasses the objectives of the secular societies, but places greater emphasis on the necessity to accommodate ordained monks to expound the Dhamma. In its interpretation of the Canon it tends to place greater emphasis on Buddhaghosa's exegesis whereas the secular societies tend to go the original Canon itself.
C. The Lankarama Model. This is the ethnic Buddhist Model par excellence. Its main objective appears to be to cater to the spiritual needs of expatriate groups using the particular national models of Buddhism as practiced in their home countries without any consideration of its relevance to the universality of the Buddha's teaching or the external conditions in the host country.
D. The Meditation Centre Model. Here the Buddhist Institution is transformed into a centre for "meditation" under the guidance of a self-proclaimed "teacher". The meditation practiced is a simplified form of the first foundation of satipatthana ignoring all the preconditions which the Buddha was careful to lay down for the correct practice of this technique of mindfulness.
These four models or modes should be considered as pure types; in practice particular institutions may combine some of these features to some degree, but in almost every instance one of these will be the dominant feature. This will determine to which category the particular institution will fall.
It will be seen that only the Modes A and Mode B correspond substantially to the Dhamma as expounded in the Pali Canon, while Mode C and Mode D constitute distinct departures from it. In a sense the Mode A was not known in the Buddha's but is a Western institutional form which could be ideally adapted as a vehicle for the propagation of the Dhamma in the West. It is in this sense that it could be admitted into the permissible modes for Dhamma propagation in the West.
Roughly until the 1960s Buddhism in the West used the Modes A and B as the principal means of institutional expression of the Dhamma. Even though not widely used this gave the correct start to the Dhamma in Western societies. From the 1970s there was a migration of Buddhists from Asian countries (Sinhalese, Thais, etc.) to the West which has been unprecedented in history. This gave opportunity to a proliferation of institutions of Mode C. Mode D Buddhism was also spread by Western teachers who had learnt it either from certain teachers in the Asian Buddhist countries (Thailand, Sri Lanka and to a lesser extent Burma) or are the disciples of Western Buddhists who had undergone this kind of training.
We have shown that ethnic Buddhism tends to controvert the universalistic character of Buddhism. When ethnic Buddhism is introduced into a Western country it tends to shunt the particular manifestation of Buddhism into an ethnic ghetto. The danger here is that many people will perceive Buddhism as a ghetto religion. Indeed the mass media in Western countries have made it a fine art to present Buddhism as an ethnic religion and not a universal message of liberation. The activities of ethnic Buddhists in the West lend support to this propaganda of the mass media to the great detriment of the cause of Buddhism in the West.
A few words may be said on the subject of the Meditation Centre type of Buddhism. In recent decades the West has seen a vast proliferation of meditation systems of all types (e.g. transcendental, yogic, Zen, self-realisation, Hare Krishna, etc). This great upsurge in meditation is due to the fact that the increasing of pressure of life in the West has created many psychological neuroses, and conventional treatment through psychologists, psychiatrists, etc. has proven to be either too expensive or ineffective. The burgeoning meditation movement is particularly suited for the minor neuroses, not meriting conventional treatment. The proponents of the Meditation Centre mode of Buddhism have enthusiastically joined this band of meditation purveyors in the West. As with the other co-providers of meditation in the West they are no doubt doing much good, giving a measure of relief through calm and tranquillity to persons who require such therapy. But the danger lies in that they may be passing off their particular nostrums as the central discovery of the Buddha or as the means to Enlightenment and Liberation.
Central to this particular approach is a misunderstanding by many "teachers" of what meditation means in the Buddhist system. The Pali term they use to designate "meditation" is bhavana. Now while this term has crept into Buddhist terminology it was not a term used by the Buddha in anything like the meaning attached to it by the modern meditation exponents. The terms used in the Canon are samadhi, jhana and sati. Samadhi is the true concentration needed in Buddhism, and it is doubtful whether it could be "taught" by persons who had not reached not realised the fruit of arahantship. Indeed the Buddha instruction appears to be that samadhi could be achieved by individual effort alone, provided that the person has already achieved a measure of liberation from the asavas and satisfied some of the paramitas. Jhana is a purely yogic discipline, and while it is beneficial to those who can realise it, it is not a requirement of enlightenment. It will be recalled that the Buddha achieved the jhanas long before he was enlightened by learning how to do so from the yogic masters of the day. Some modern meditation exponents have been able to induce self-hypnosis in their followers, but this should not be confused with the attainment of any of the four jhanic states.
So sati seems to be only component that is within the reach of the typical meditation exponent. But what is usually done in the name of this worthy element of the Noble Eightfold Path is a gross simplification of the first foundation of mindfulness identified by the Buddha in the Satipatthana Sutta. The way this Sutta is expounded by "teachers" in the West ignores two fundamental pre-requisites laid down clearly by the Buddha in the preamble to this Sutta. These are:
(1) That the practitioner should have engaged in a substantial measure of renunciation from worldly entanglements ("vineyya loke abjia domnassa"). This does not necessarily mean that the person should have "gone forth" from the household life, even though this is strongly suggested because the Buddha gives this Sutta only to monks who have left the household life and would have satisfied this precondition. Certainly the current practice of giving lay persons who are steeped in attachment to family, wealth, and power, the impression that short periods of anapana sati gives them access to the satipatthana is not correct. (2) There cannot be congregational performance of the satipatthana. The Buddha says that the practitioner must go to an empty room (suagara) or if outdoors to the root of a tree (rukkham-la). However in many Meditation Centres the sole objective seems to be regular periodic communal meditation. Whatever these "meditators" may be doing they are certainly not following the instructions of the Buddha.
While the danger of the Meditation Centre approach may not be as great as that of the ethnic Buddhism approach the damage it could do the Dhamma in the West should not be underrated. One of the most pervasive criticisms of Buddhism in the West is that its practitioners confine all their loving-kindness and compassion to the comfort of their meditation mats and ignore all the opportunity that the real world presents to the lay persons concerned with the welfare of their fellow human (and non-human) beings. The Meditation Centre school of Buddhism in the West reinforces this public perception of Buddhism and no amount of protestations to the contrary will overcome the powerful evidence emanating from the Meditation Centre. The pity of it is that what the patrons of the Meditation Centre is doing has nothing whatsoever to do with what the Buddha was teaching.
Nothing that is said above should be taken to mean that samaadhi and satipa.t.thaana in the way that it is expounded in the Pali Canon is an inconsequential part of Dhamma-practice. Indeed they are of central importance in the search for enlightenment. All that we are objecting to is the misrepresentation of these difficult disciplines by the simplistic exercises called "meditation" in the West.
Concluding Remarks
We have attempted to outline in this short tract two obstacles confronting the spread of the Dhamma in the West (ethnic Buddhism and Meditation Buddhism). There are of course other factors which serve as formidable obstacles. But these other factors are usually created by external forces whereas the obstacles we have discussed are internal obstacles created by persons claiming to be Buddhists.
The consideration of the external obstacles must await another publication. Even if Buddhists in the West were to give up ethnic Buddhism and revert to correct practices in the realization of Dhamma there will still be formidable difficulties confronting the propagation of the Dhamma in the West. But there is no reason to add to these difficulties by taking on board practices which are quite alien to the Buddha's enlightening teaching.
NOTES
[1] We are only concerned with the internal obstacles, i.e. those ceated by Buddhists themselves, as these are the ones that are most easily corrected. Buddhism, of course, faces considerable external problems in the face of well-entrenched religions in the West. These matters are not considered in this Essay.
[2] Religions usually prescribe the dress of clergy or monks. But even here universal religions allow for adaptations due to climatic or other factors.
[3] The Buddha was directly relevant when he was alive and today has only symbolic significance. The Sangha originally meant only those who had made some progress on the Buddhist path by eliminating at least the lesser of the "fetters" recognised in Buddhism. Today it has a somewhat different meaning as comprising either the monkhood or even the totality of all practitioners. Thus of the three gems of Buddhism only the Dhamma has an unambiguous meaning as it is preserved in the various Canons of Buddhism.
[4] Europe before the advent of Christianity was a relatively tolerant. But when Constantine was converted to Christianity the Church used the power of the state not only to exclude anyone else but even to subject suspected Christian heretics to death and torture. It was only in the 19th century that Europe (and its offshoots) allowed a more liberal attitude, but even now religious despotism is common in many Christian countries.
[5] A brief comparison with other religions may be in order. The new Testament of Christianity was written in Greek a language which is far removed from the languages Jesus may have spoken (Hebrew, Aramaic). The distance between Greek and the original language of Jesus is much greater than the distance between Pali and Magadhan. In Islam the language of the Koran is the Arabic spoken by Mohammad. Both Christianity and Islam for a long time forbade the translation of their scriptures from Greek and Latin in the case of Christianity and Arabic in the case of Islam into other languages. This has never been the case with Buddhism.
[6] Many of the translators of the Pali texts never formally adopted Buddhism, and were keen to use Christian terminology for Buddhist terms. The repeated translation of citta by "heart" and metta by "love" are conspicuous instances, but in several other respects a Christian gloss was not on Buddhist constructs.
[7] For a fuller discussion of this problem in Western Buddhism see the BSQ publication Western Buddhism and a Theravada Heterodoxy by V. A. Gunasekara. Issue No. 29 of the Journal Vimamsa is also devoted to the question of meditation in Buddhism.
[8] Sri Lanka has had a wholesome tradition of propagating the Dhamma in the Buddha's true spirit. The spread of Theravaada Buddhism to South-East Asia was an outstanding achievement. This spirit was revived by the Anagarika Dharmapala in the closing decades of the last century. He first took the Dhamma back to its very cradle in India, and later turned his attention to its propagation in the West. The spirit of Anagarika Dharmapala was very much alive in those who were responsible for the establishment of the London Vihara.
[9] The Melbourne based group the Buddhist Society of Victoria has been the most successful mainly because of the role of its long-time President Ms E. Bell. Unfortunately there seems to be some evidence that this group is also coming under the attach of ethnic Buddhists. The NSW Society has abandoned Theravaada and gone over to Mahayana. The Brisbane group folded soon after, but has been revived and still operates though on a very small scale.
[10] The term "teacher" when used in a religious context means something different from what it means in the ordinary sense (like a kindergarten teacher or a university teacher). The Buddha claimed to be a teacher (satta), and Jesus is also referred to as a teacher in the New Testament. In the latter context a teacher is someone who has a special kind of knowledge. Most meditation teachers certainly do not fall into this category. Indeed it is doubtful whether anyone who is not an Ariyapuggala can be a teacher of the Dhamma.
Seminar on "The Necessity for Promoting Buddhism in Europe," held on Colombo, Sri Lanka 2nd July 2000.
The topic of this seminar is very timely, for in many Western countries today Buddhism is the fastest growing religion. In North America, Western Europe, and Australia-New Zealand, hundreds of Buddhist centres have sprung up almost overnight, offering teachings and meditation retreats even in remote regions. Today Buddhism is espoused not only by those in the alternative culture, as was the case in the 1960s, but by businessmen, physicists, computer programmers, housewives, real-estate agents, even by sports stars, movie actors, and rock musicians. Thousands of books on Buddhism are now available, dealing with the teachings at both scholarly and popular levels, while Buddhist magazines and journals expand their circulation each year.
What is characteristic of Western Buddhism in its present phase of development is the focus on Buddhist practice, especially the practice of meditation. In this phase it is not the academic study of Buddhist texts and doctrines that dominates, or the attempt to interpret the Dhamma through the prism of Western thought, but the appropriation of Buddhism as a practice that can bring deep transformations in one's innermost being as well as in the conduct of everyday life. This does not necessarily mean that Buddhist practice is being taken up in accordance with canonical or traditional Asian models. Adaptations of the Dhamma to Western culture and ways of thinking are commonplace, but Buddhism is viewed principally as a path to awakening, a way that brings deep understanding of the mind and makes accessible new dimensions of being.
The Need for a Living Transmission
Today, as Western interest in Buddhism increases, it is left to those of us who continue Asoka Weeraratna's legacy to find a systematic way to establish the Theravada Sasana in the West. Here I must stress an important point. It is not merely texts and ideas that Westerners are looking for, not merely the Buddhism of the books, but persons who display the truth of the teaching in their lives. Thus when we consider how to establish Buddhism in the West, we should not think merely of the pure canonical Dhamma, but of a living transmission.
This takes us to the heart of the issue. Theravada Buddhism, in its orthodox mould, has always looked upon the monastic order, the Sangha, as the bearer of the Buddhist heritage. Thus, if Theravada is to take hold in the West, it seems it should come about through a monastic transmission, guarded and upheld by lay support. Without this, we would probably wind up with a watered down version of the Dhamma.
The need for a monastic transmission, however, immediately runs up against a practical problem. In Sri Lanka today there is a severe shortage of monks who exemplify the personal qualities needed by a Buddhist "messenger of Dhamma" (dhammaduta). This shortage has negative repercussions for the whole project of propagating Theravada Buddhism abroad, making the Theravada something of a still backwater on the otherwise lively Western Buddhist frontier.
The Problem of Monastic Education
Although I do not have an easy solution to this problem, it would be wise to make a preliminary diagnosis of its origins. I would suggest that the fault lies partly with the system of monastic education that prevails here in Sri Lanka. This system is extremely inadequate and needs drastic revision with respect to the aim, depth, and breadth of monastic training. If a monk is to go abroad to spread the Dhamma, he must have not only a thorough knowledge of his own Theravada tradition, but some acquaintance with other subjects too. These include the history and schools of Buddhism, comparative religion, and English. He should also know, or be ready to learn, the language of the country in which he will work.
Beyond these specific areas of competency, he will need the intellectual openness and acuity to comprehend the dispositions, attitudes, and worldviews of people from a different culture and relate to them in meaningful ways. He must have some grounding in the practice of the Dhamma, too, for knowledge of books and doctrines, however wide, will be fruitless if not coupled with dedication to the practice. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to find a monastic institute that can impart the necessary training, and the Buddhist prelates, due to their conservatism, are resistant to changes.
The Need for Revitalization
This problem may also be aggravated by the sharp distinction found in the Theravada monastic tradition between the so-called "village and town monks," devoted to preaching and community service, and the forest monks, devoted to full-time meditation. Thus we face this dichotomy: educated town monks without deep personal insight into the Dhamma or experience in meditation, and meditation monks without much inclination to propagate the teaching.
Since it would be inappropriate to prevail upon monks devoted to full-time meditation to take up a more active vocation, the remedy needed to redress this imbalance seems to require a revitalization of meditation practice within the bhikkhu training institutes. But meditation practice does not occur in a vacuum. It occurs under the impetus given by a clear understanding of the foundations and objectives of the Buddhist spiritual life. Thus what we really need is a rejuvenation of the spiritual challenge at the heart of Buddhist monasticism.
Personally, I do not think it is prudent to try to create institutions expressly for the purpose of training monks as dhammadutas. Such institutions could well attract monks keen to go abroad for the wrong reasons -- to gain prestige, to become popular, perhaps to find employment and disrobe. It is wiser, I feel, to strengthen programmes in the existing bhikkhu training centres. At the same time, we should keep an eye open for capable bhikkhus enrolled in these programmes who display the qualities needed to propagate the Dhamma in the West.
A Quiet Service
Despite the shortage of qualified dhammaduta monks, scattered across the West there are a few Theravada viharas and Buddhist centres whose incumbents, in their own quiet and non-assertive way, are working to spread the Dhamma. Prominent among them we find Sri Lankan monks, who often must take up this task with much hardship and self-sacrifice. Such monks generally do not have large organizations behind them, or financial backing from home, but through their dedication to the Dhamma and compassionate concern for others, they actively seek to help Westerners find their way to the Buddha's path. Their selfless work deserves appreciation and support from all sincere Buddhists in this country.
The topic of this seminar is very timely, for in many Western countries today Buddhism is the fastest growing religion. In North America, Western Europe, and Australia-New Zealand, hundreds of Buddhist centres have sprung up almost overnight, offering teachings and meditation retreats even in remote regions. Today Buddhism is espoused not only by those in the alternative culture, as was the case in the 1960s, but by businessmen, physicists, computer programmers, housewives, real-estate agents, even by sports stars, movie actors, and rock musicians. Thousands of books on Buddhism are now available, dealing with the teachings at both scholarly and popular levels, while Buddhist magazines and journals expand their circulation each year.
What is characteristic of Western Buddhism in its present phase of development is the focus on Buddhist practice, especially the practice of meditation. In this phase it is not the academic study of Buddhist texts and doctrines that dominates, or the attempt to interpret the Dhamma through the prism of Western thought, but the appropriation of Buddhism as a practice that can bring deep transformations in one's innermost being as well as in the conduct of everyday life. This does not necessarily mean that Buddhist practice is being taken up in accordance with canonical or traditional Asian models. Adaptations of the Dhamma to Western culture and ways of thinking are commonplace, but Buddhism is viewed principally as a path to awakening, a way that brings deep understanding of the mind and makes accessible new dimensions of being.
The Need for a Living Transmission
Today, as Western interest in Buddhism increases, it is left to those of us who continue Asoka Weeraratna's legacy to find a systematic way to establish the Theravada Sasana in the West. Here I must stress an important point. It is not merely texts and ideas that Westerners are looking for, not merely the Buddhism of the books, but persons who display the truth of the teaching in their lives. Thus when we consider how to establish Buddhism in the West, we should not think merely of the pure canonical Dhamma, but of a living transmission.
This takes us to the heart of the issue. Theravada Buddhism, in its orthodox mould, has always looked upon the monastic order, the Sangha, as the bearer of the Buddhist heritage. Thus, if Theravada is to take hold in the West, it seems it should come about through a monastic transmission, guarded and upheld by lay support. Without this, we would probably wind up with a watered down version of the Dhamma.
The need for a monastic transmission, however, immediately runs up against a practical problem. In Sri Lanka today there is a severe shortage of monks who exemplify the personal qualities needed by a Buddhist "messenger of Dhamma" (dhammaduta). This shortage has negative repercussions for the whole project of propagating Theravada Buddhism abroad, making the Theravada something of a still backwater on the otherwise lively Western Buddhist frontier.
The Problem of Monastic Education
Although I do not have an easy solution to this problem, it would be wise to make a preliminary diagnosis of its origins. I would suggest that the fault lies partly with the system of monastic education that prevails here in Sri Lanka. This system is extremely inadequate and needs drastic revision with respect to the aim, depth, and breadth of monastic training. If a monk is to go abroad to spread the Dhamma, he must have not only a thorough knowledge of his own Theravada tradition, but some acquaintance with other subjects too. These include the history and schools of Buddhism, comparative religion, and English. He should also know, or be ready to learn, the language of the country in which he will work.
Beyond these specific areas of competency, he will need the intellectual openness and acuity to comprehend the dispositions, attitudes, and worldviews of people from a different culture and relate to them in meaningful ways. He must have some grounding in the practice of the Dhamma, too, for knowledge of books and doctrines, however wide, will be fruitless if not coupled with dedication to the practice. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to find a monastic institute that can impart the necessary training, and the Buddhist prelates, due to their conservatism, are resistant to changes.
The Need for Revitalization
This problem may also be aggravated by the sharp distinction found in the Theravada monastic tradition between the so-called "village and town monks," devoted to preaching and community service, and the forest monks, devoted to full-time meditation. Thus we face this dichotomy: educated town monks without deep personal insight into the Dhamma or experience in meditation, and meditation monks without much inclination to propagate the teaching.
Since it would be inappropriate to prevail upon monks devoted to full-time meditation to take up a more active vocation, the remedy needed to redress this imbalance seems to require a revitalization of meditation practice within the bhikkhu training institutes. But meditation practice does not occur in a vacuum. It occurs under the impetus given by a clear understanding of the foundations and objectives of the Buddhist spiritual life. Thus what we really need is a rejuvenation of the spiritual challenge at the heart of Buddhist monasticism.
Personally, I do not think it is prudent to try to create institutions expressly for the purpose of training monks as dhammadutas. Such institutions could well attract monks keen to go abroad for the wrong reasons -- to gain prestige, to become popular, perhaps to find employment and disrobe. It is wiser, I feel, to strengthen programmes in the existing bhikkhu training centres. At the same time, we should keep an eye open for capable bhikkhus enrolled in these programmes who display the qualities needed to propagate the Dhamma in the West.
A Quiet Service
Despite the shortage of qualified dhammaduta monks, scattered across the West there are a few Theravada viharas and Buddhist centres whose incumbents, in their own quiet and non-assertive way, are working to spread the Dhamma. Prominent among them we find Sri Lankan monks, who often must take up this task with much hardship and self-sacrifice. Such monks generally do not have large organizations behind them, or financial backing from home, but through their dedication to the Dhamma and compassionate concern for others, they actively seek to help Westerners find their way to the Buddha's path. Their selfless work deserves appreciation and support from all sincere Buddhists in this country.
Asoka Weeraratna was a man of vision who had the drive and stamina to translate his vision into fact. He once told me that his favourite saying of the Buddha was, "Do not become discouraged and give up, and do not rest satisfied with partial achievements." He himself took this piece of advice to heart. Whenever he set himself a goal, he did not merely dream about it and sing praises to its glory. Rather, he worked with incredible foresight and energy to make the goal a reality.
Because he followed these guidelines, Asoka Weeraratna’s life was crowned by three great achievements: the establishment of the German Dharmaduta Society in Sri Lanka; the founding of the Berlin Buddhist Vihara in Germany; and the creation of the Nissarana Vanaya Hermitage at Mitirigala.
Already in the 1950s, he foresaw the potential for establishing Buddhism in the West, and to make his own contribution to the westward movement of the Dhamma, in 1952 he founded the German Dharmaduta Society. He started the Society in the back room of the family shop, though later it moved to premises purchased with funds he acquired through a zealous fund-raising drive.
Asoka realized that if Buddhism was to send down roots in Germany, it was not enough to set up a base for German Buddhist missions here in Sri Lanka. He saw the need to have a Buddhist centre right in the heart of Germany itself. Thus he personally searched for suitable premises throughout Germany, and he found the ideal site in the lovely Frohnau district of Berlin. The place he discovered was Das Buddhistische Haus, an old Buddhist compound built by Paul Dahlke in 1924. Under his initiative the German Dharmaduta Society purchased the compound, renovated it, and in 1957 brought it back to life as the Berlin Buddhist Vihara. In the same year, Asoka Weeraratna organized the first Buddhist mission to Germany, led by three Sri Lankan Bhikkhus accompanied by himself. From that time to the present, monks from Sri Lanka and elsewhere have lived at the Berlin Vihara, helping to maintain a Theravada presence in Germany.
Asoka Weeraratna later turned his attention to the construction of the Nissarana Vanaya Hermitage at Mitirigala, which became one of Sri Lanka’s most respected meditation monasteries. He equipped the monastery with all the facilities conducive to the meditative life, found an accomplished meditation master, Ven. Matara Sri Gnanarama Mahathera, to direct the meditation training, and then, his mission accomplished, he himself entered the Buddhist order under the name Ven. Dhammanisanthi Thera. Even by establishing Nissarana Vanaya, Asoka continued to make Buddhism available to Westerners, for the hermitage has accommodated Western monks resident in Sri Lanka since 1977.
Asoka and the German Theras
I myself first met Asoka in the early 1980s, when he was known as Ven. Dhammanisanthi. I immediately felt a close bond with him through his commitment to disseminating Buddhism in Germany. Though I am not German myself, my spiritual mentor was the great German scholar-monk Ven. Nyanaponika Mahathera, with whom I lived at the Forest Hermitage for twelve years. Ven. Nyanaponika and his teacher, Ven. Nyanatiloka Mahathera, also German, always had a keen interest in the spread of Buddhism in their native country. In this respect they shared a common vision with Asoka, which they expressed by their support for the German Dharmaduta Society. Ven. Nyanatiloka served as the first patron of the Society during the early 1950s, and through the years Ven. Nyanaponika was always ready to give advice. Before he left for Germany in 1982 to take up residence at the Berlin Vihara, Ven. Dhammanisanthi came to the Forest Hermitage in Udawattakele, Kandy to meet Ven. Nyanaponika. The two monks spent several hours, spread over two days, discussing prospects for the spread of Buddhism in Germany. I still recall that the discussion presented an interesting contrast between Ven. Dhammanisanthi’s enthusiastic optimism and Ven. Nyanaponika’s pragmatic realism and restraint.
An Opportune Time
The topic of this seminar, "The Necessity for Promoting Buddhism in Europe," is quite appropriate for commemorating Ven. Dhammanisanthi, and reminds us of his life’s mission of trying to bring the Sasana to the West. The topic is also very timely, for the opportunity for disseminating Buddhism in the West is much more ample today than it was fifty years ago when the German Dharmaduta Society was born. At the same time, however, we should not assume that Buddhism is barely known in Europe and has to be introduced almost from scratch. To the contrary, in the past two decades public awareness of Buddhism in the West has increased sharply. In many Western countries today Buddhism is the fastest growing religion. In North America, Western Europe, and Australia-New Zealand, hundreds of Buddhist centres have sprung up almost overnight, offering teachings and meditation retreats even in remote regions. Thus the challenge we face is not that of discussing how to introduce Buddhism to Europe as though it were an utterly unfamiliar creature, but of discovering how to promote the healthy growth of a Buddhism already sending down roots into European soil.
I will deal with my topic in three major parts. First, I will present a short survey of the historical development of Buddhism in Europe. This will necessarily be oversimplified and thus inadequate, but my aim is not so much to lay out all the facts as to show how Buddhism has arrived at its present stage of development in the West. Second, I will raise the question why Buddhism, at just this particular time, is exerting such a strong appeal on Westerners. Then, in the third place, I will briefly discuss a few special problems we face in trying to make our own Theravada form of Buddhism accessible to the West as a living and relevant tradition.
I. Historical Overview
I divide the history of the Western engagement with Buddhism into three major phases. These phases are not totally discrete, for they intersect and overlap, but the threefold division provides a useful way of determining general trends.
Phase I: The Discovery of Buddhism
Phase I consisted in the academic study of Buddhist texts, aimed at discerning the broad contours of Buddhist history and doctrine. This project took place during the peak of the colonial period, when European countries were busy subjugating Asian peoples and incorporating their nations into their hungry empires. In many cases European interest in Buddhism was bound up with the Christian missionary enterprise of converting the native populations to Christianity.
Although reports about Asian Buddhist beliefs and practices had been drifting back to Europe since the thirteenth century, a clear picture of Buddhism as a unitary whole did not take shape in Europe until the middle of the nineteenth century, just a little more than 150 years ago. Before then, the sundry reports that had reached scholars in Europe were generally haphazard, inaccurate, and conjectural, if not utterly fantastic. The first person to comprehend Buddhism as a unitary tradition and establish its historical origins was the brilliant French philologist Eugne Burnouf. Burnouf had studied Pali, Sanskrit, and Tibetan manuscripts that had been sent to him in Paris from the East. Based on these texts, with barely no other clues, he wrote his 600-page tome, Introduction to the History of Indian Buddhism (1844), in which he traced in detail Indian Buddhist history and surveyed its doctrines and texts. Though later generations of scholars have greatly expanded upon Burnouf’s work and filled in many missing pieces, they regard as essentially accurate the outline of Indian Buddhism he proposed in his groundbreaking study.
In the decades following Burnouf, there appeared throughout Europe a galaxy of brilliant scholars who opened up the treasures locked away in all the different branches of Buddhism. These scholars fall into three main schools. The scholars of the "Anglo-Germanic School" focused on the Pali tradition. Their work emanated from the Pali Text Society, founded by T.W. Rhys Davids, and their ranks included Caroline Rhys Davids, Oldenberg, Woodward, Hare, and Horner; the Danish scholars Trenckner, Fausboll, and Anderson; and the Swede Helmer Smith. The "Franco-Belgian School" investigated Indian Buddhism both Hinayana and Mahayana in Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese texts; its luminaries were de la VallŽe Poussin, Sylvain Levy, and Lamotte. The "Russian School" -- represented by Stcherbatsky, Rosenberg, and Obermiller -- concentrated on scholastic Indian Buddhism as preserved especially in Tibetan texts. Although these scholars usually remained reticent about their own religious beliefs, by collecting Asian manuscripts, publishing modern editions of these texts, and providing translations and scholarly studies of Buddhist thought, they laid the indispensable foundation stone for the spread of the Dhamma in the West, namely, access to the original Buddhist sources.
The academic study of Buddhism initiated by these pioneers has continued through to the present time, despite the setback of two world wars and frequent shortages in funding. In Western universities and institutes, scholars map in ever finer details and with broader sweep the entire Buddhist heritage -- from Sri Lanka to Mongolia, from Gandhara to Japan. Thus what I call "Phase I" in the history of Western Buddhism is not so much a temporary stage superceded by its successors as a preparation for the further evolution of Buddhism in its Western setting.
Phase II: Elite Appropriation
Phase II in the European encounter with Buddhism I shall call "elite appropriation." By this, I mean the adoption of Buddhism as a living creed by an increasing number of intellectuals, writers, artists, and professionals. In the German-speaking world the catalyst for the transition from the mere academic investigation of Buddhism to its active appropriation was the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. Schopenhauer published the first edition of his philosophical masterpiece, The World as Will and Representation, in 1819, before he had come across reliable accounts of Buddhist thought. However, his philosophical intuitions showed such striking parallels to the Dhamma that several decades later, when Schopenhauer did gain access to accurate material on Buddhism, he at once recognized the affinity of his own thought to the Buddha’s doctrine. Thus, in the second edition of his book, he hailed Buddhism as "the most perfect" of all the world's religions. Such was his admiration for the Buddha that he kept a small statue of the Master on his mantle alongside a bust of his philosophical hero, Immanuel Kant.
Schopenhauer did not become a Buddhist himself, which would have been almost unthinkable in the Europe of his day, but his writings had a profound impact on later European thinkers and guided many to the Dhamma. At least three major figures owed their discovery of Buddhism to Schopenhauer's influence: the Austrian Indologist K.E. Neumann, who translated the Digha and Majjhima Nikayas and other Pali texts into German; the Bavarian judge George Grimm; and the Berlin homeopath Paul Dahlke. The last named pair, through their writings and promotional work, became the two leading proponents of Buddhism in Germany during the early part of the twentieth century. Their writings did not simply analyse Buddhism in terms of objective, impersonal categories, but tried to explain it from the inside, as experienced by one who had made the personal leap of faith.
Arnold and the Theosophists
In the English-speaking world, the primary impetus for the adoption of Buddhism by educated Westerners came from Sir Edwin Arnold's inspirational poem on the Buddha's life, The Light of Asia. Arnold depicted the Buddha as a figure of heroic stature whose personality combined deep compassion for all humanity with a masterly capacity for rational thought. These two characteristics dovetailed perfectly with the intellectual milieu of the period and aroused in Arnold’s readers a new respect for the Buddha and interest in his teachings. Though conservative Christians were indignant at the poem’s success, the British intelligentsia of the period were liberal enough not to feel constrained by Christianity’s claims to sole possession of the truth. The Theosophical movement, founded by Madame Blavatsky and Henry Steele Olcott, also gave Buddhism a profile in the Anglo-American world. While their interpretation of Buddhism as a popular expression of esoteric wisdom bordered on the chimerical, the Theosophists helped to make Buddhism fashionable among those attracted to alternative ways of thought.
The First Flowering
Inspired by the Dhamma, a few adventurous spirits, not content with mere book knowledge, left their homelands to travel to the East to learn Buddhism at its sources. Others like Childers and Rhys Davids, working in colonial administrations in Asia, already had access to native authorities on the Dhamma. By the turn of the century several Westerners took the decisive step of coming to the East to enter the Sangha. The pioneers in this development were the Englishman Allen Bennett, who became Ven. Ananda Metteyya in Burma (1901), and Anton Gueth, who became Ven. Nyanatiloka (1903). Though Ven. Ananda Metteyya later disrobed after a tentative mission to Britain, Ven. Nyanatiloka settled permanently in Sri Lanka, where in 1911 he founded Island Hermitage as a monastery especially for Western monks.
Within Europe, starting early in the twentieth century, Buddhist societies began to sprout, Buddhist journals commenced publication, and numerous books on Buddhism, of varying degrees of authenticity, attempted to bridge the gap between classical Buddhism and the Western intellectual heritage. During this phase of "elite appropriation" most proponents of Buddhism favoured the Pali tradition, as being far closer to the Buddha's original teachings than the baffling and ornate Mahayana sutras. What these thinkers emphasized in Buddhism was its rationality and realism, its ethical purity, its tolerance, its non-dogmatic approach to truth, and its compatibility with modern science. In this phase, with a few exceptions, the meditative, communal, and devotional aspects of Buddhism were left quietly on the sidelines. In other words, theory prevailed over practice.
Phase III: The Popularization of Buddhism
Phase III in the spread of Buddhism in the West began roughly in the 1960s and continues through to the present. This third phase might be described as the popularization of Buddhism. During this phase, Buddhism comes to exert its appeal on an increasing number of people of different lifestyles and its following proliferates rapidly. At the beginning of this phase Buddhism was largely a counter-cultural phenomenon, adopted by those in rebellion against the crass materialism and technocratic obsessions of modern society: hippies, acid heads, disaffected university students, artists, writers, and anarchists. But as these youthful rebels gradually became integrated into the mainstream, they brought their Buddhism with them.
Today Buddhism is espoused not only by those in the alternative culture, but by businessmen, physicists, computer programmers, housewives, real-estate agents, even by sports stars, movie actors, and rock musicians. Perhaps several hundred thousand Europeans have adopted Buddhism in one or another of its different forms, while many more quietly incorporate Buddhist practices into their daily lives. The presence of large Asian Buddhist communities in the West also enhances the visibility of the Dhamma. Thousands of books on Buddhism are now available, dealing with the teachings at both scholarly and popular levels, while Buddhist magazines and journals expand their circulation each year. Buddhist influences subtly permeate various disciplines: philosophy and ecology, psychology and health care, the arts and literature, even Christian theology. Indeed, already three years ago Time magazine devoted a full-length cover story to the spread of Buddhism in America, and at least five books on the subject are in print.
Facilitating Factors
The transition in Western Buddhism from Phase II to Phase III was facilitated by two main factors. One was the increasing number of Asian Buddhist teachers who travelled to the West -- Theravada bhikkhus, Japanese Zen masters, Tibetan lamas -- either to give lectures and conduct retreats, or to settle there permanently and establish Buddhist centres. The second factor was the return to the West of the young Westerners who had trained in Asia in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and now came back to their home countries to spread the Dhamma. From the mid-1980s on we see even a new sub-phase of Phase III, or perhaps an incipient Phase IV: the emergence of a generation of Western Buddhist teachers who have never been to Asia but have received their full training in the West.
What is characteristic of Western Buddhism in Phase III, in distinction from the earlier phases, is the focus on Buddhist practice, especially the practice of meditation. In this phase it is not the academic study of Buddhist texts and doctrines that dominates (as in Phase I), or the attempt to interpret the Dhamma through the prism of Western thought (as in Phase II), but the appropriation of Buddhism as a practice that can bring deep transformations in one's innermost being as well as in the conduct of everyday life. This does not necessarily mean that Buddhist practice is being taken up in accordance with canonical or traditional Asian models, nor that it is pursued to attain Nibbana in the sense upheld by classical Buddhist doctrine. Often Western Buddhists give their own twist to Buddhist concepts, sometimes in ways that depart drastically from canonical standards and from an Asian standpoint might border on "heresy." But in Phase III, Buddhism is viewed as in some sense a path to awakening, a way that brings deep understanding of the mind and makes accessible new dimensions of being. Hence at this stage Buddhism becomes a means of spiritual transformation through direct experience, through insights not arrived at by mere conceptual reflection.
A Variety of Schools
In Phase III, we also find the arrival of various schools of Asian Buddhism, which peacefully coexist, pursuing their own growth and cooperating with each other to secure common aims. With the passage from Phase II to Phase III a noticeable shift takes place in the type of Buddhism generally adopted by Western Buddhists. In Phase II, Pali Buddhism was dominant, though I must stress that this adherence to the Pali heritage did not entail a commitment to any form of Theravada Buddhism as practised in Asian lands. In fact, the elite Buddhists often looked upon Asian Theravada as a degeneration from the pristine canonical doctrine, which they believed was a unique possession of their own. But with the rise of Phase III the focus of attraction shifts away from the Pali tradition: first to Zen Buddhism in the 1960s and 1970s; and then to Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism in the 1980s and 1990s. Further, new types of Buddhism come onto the scene, schools peculiar to the West, such as Thich Nhat Hanh’s Order of Interbeing (based in France, but with a strong American chapter), the Arya Maitreya Mandala (centred in Germany), and the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (based in Britain, but with several Continental chapters). These are partly syncretistic, partly innovative attempts to create new styles of Buddhist practice conformable to the Western temperament. Also the age range of Buddhist followers varies between the schools. Today in Germany most followers of the Pali tradition are in their 50s and 60s, while the followers of Zen and Tibetan Buddhism are in their 30s and 40s. This development is critically important for us, as followers of the Theravada, to understand, and I will therefore return to it later.
II. The Western Receptivity to Buddhism
At this point, I want to raise the question: How are we to understand the surge of interest in Buddhism among Westerners in recent years? How do we account for the eagerness with which so many today are ready to explore the Dhamma and often to deeply embrace it? It is necessary to address this question in order to begin to see the needs that we must fulfil as we try to make our own contribution to the spread of the Dhamma in Europe.
Nature Abhors a Vacuum
I think the answer to this question unfolds in roughly two distinct stages, corresponding to the last two phases in the Western adoption of Buddhism that I spoke of just before. During Phase II, "the phase of elite appropriation," intellectuals were drawn to Buddhism because it filled a vacuum that had been growing ever wider in Europe since the seventeenth century. This vacuum was the absence of any comprehensive body of wisdom teachings that could offer a key to the deeper meaning of human existence. The responsibility for shedding light on the meaning of existence had traditionally been assigned to philosophy, but from the seventeenth century onwards philosophy came to renounce this task in favour of other concerns. Besides, such guidance that philosophy did offer, as in Spinoza's Ethics, was usually embedded in systems of thought so subtle and complex that few people could understand them.
Of course, Christianity too staked out for itself a claim to hold the key to the riddle of existence, but the main thrust of orthodox Christianity has not been to show the way to wisdom. Its purpose is to offer the prospect of an eternal afterlife in heaven through faith in God and Christ the Saviour, and it was just such faith that was coming into question. Further, Christianity’s own record as a defender of human values was far from impressive. Its legacy of crusades, inquisitions, forced conversions, and intolerance repelled rather than attracted ethically sensitive minds, while its alliance with the colonial regimes confirmed suspicions about its imperialistic designs. Moreover, as science strode boldly into one arena of knowledge after another, often in the face of staunch resistance from the Church, it discredited Christian claims to the infallibility of revelation. Thus for a growing number of independent thinkers the Christian religion had become irrelevant.
When translations of Buddhist texts and expositions of Buddhist thought began to appear in the late nineteenth century, they seemed to offer the West exactly what it was lacking: a system of spiritual wisdom that could give illumination and moral guidance yet did not demand unquestioning faith in theological dogmas. Instead, it rested its claims upon human reason and personal insight into fundamental truths and universal laws. The way Buddhism impinged on the Western mind during this period reveals both the strength and weakness in the Western perception of Buddhism. The strength lay in a deep and clear grasp of the doctrinal principles of the Dhamma, expressed in works that were utterly compelling in their insights, logic, and literary eloquence. The weakness was the understanding of Buddhism as primarily a rational, ideational system, to replace the tottering belief system of the Christian churches. Another limitation was that Buddhism in this phase still appealed mainly to the educated elite and thus could attract only those astute enough to break away from the cultural and religious mainstream, which was still predominantly Christian.
The Conditions for Popularization
For the transition to Phase III to take place, that is, for Buddhism to spread more widely through the general population, certain additional conditions were necessary, and these only became sufficiently widespread in the second half of the twentieth century. One was the triumph of liberal democracy over autocratic political systems. Under the heading of democracy we must include not only political democracy, but also the democracy of the mind, an openness to new ways of thought and tolerance for viewpoints that differ radically from those of one's own intellectual heritage. This openness was encouraged by a partial change in the attitude of the Christian churches towards other faiths, which in the West after the Second Vatican Council (1963–65) swung towards greater respect and tolerance for non-Christian religions.
A second preparatory factor was a fair degree of economic affluence, which freed Europeans from excessive concern with material security and gave them the leisure to explore new avenues of thought. The rise of the consumerist society also helped them see the limitations to material development as a final solution to our quest for happiness.
A third factor was the relatively high standard of liberal education established in the 1960s, enabling a large proportion of young people to attend the university. Higher education exposed them to multiple viewpoints in all the domains of human knowledge, and also trained them to think critically and deeply about new ideas.
A fourth preparatory factor was improved means of transportation and communication, which facilitated contacts between East and West. Now curious Westerners could easily travel to the East to experience Buddhism first hand in its own native setting, while Buddhist teachers from Asia could move West to propagate the Dhamma.
The fifth factor, following naturally from the fourth, was the actual arrival in the West of Buddhist teachers, both Asians and Westerners trained in Asia. These teachers brought Buddhism as a dynamic faith that they embodied in their lives through years of serious training.
The Great Transition
While the above five factors constituted the necessary conditions for Buddhism to become accessible to a sizable number of Europeans, they are not a sufficient explanation for the rapid escalation of Western interest in Buddhism. To pinpoint the decisive cause for this phenomenon, I must refer back to the vacuum or void that had opened up right beneath the feet of European civilization, that is, the absence of a solid, authoritative spiritual tradition that could give guidance in the mastery of life. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries this void was acutely felt only by the more discerning Western minds, disenchanted with both doctrinaire Christianity and economic materialism. Ordinary people were somehow able to balance their ancestral Christian faith with a bright optimism about the coming Golden Age, to be achieved through science and technology.
By the late 1950s, however, the picture had drastically changed. After two world wars and a prolonged cold war that threatened the whole world with thermonuclear destruction, countless people found their trust in the intrinsic goodness of human nature crumble into dust. Such horrors as the Nazi Holocaust and the Hiroshima atom bomb not only undermined faith in a benevolent God guiding the whole creation, but also brought to light the dangers in mere rationality not illuminated by a higher wisdom and staunch commitment to ethics. The most brilliant minds of the West, relying on the rational intellect, had twice plunged the whole world into barbaric irrationality, with death tolls numbering in the tens of millions. Now, with even more lethal weapons of destruction at hand, they threatened to do so again. Thus the void that sensitive nineteenth century thinkers had seen on the horizon had expanded until it had swallowed up almost everyone. And not only had it expanded, but for many it had acquired a sharp and compelling urgency that could not be quenched by any system of ideas, however noble. What they needed was a programme of action, which in many cases meant a deep personal engagement in the spiritual quest.
At the same time that the fear of nuclear war cast long shadows over the entire globe, unprecedented material affluence in the West brought into easy reach the comforts, conveniences, and sensory delights that earlier generations had only dreamt about. Yet while this consumerist paradise mesmerized many (and still continues to do so), at least a few people "with little dust in their eyes" realized that such mundane pleasures could bring no lasting peace to the heart. At this point, for such spiritually sensitive Westerners, the message embedded in the Four Noble Truths was no longer a splendid system of ideas, to be admired in the comfort of an armchair. The message had become, rather, a medicine for curing a terrible disease, the disease of suffering, and the one sensible thing to be done with it, as with any medicine, was to take it. Hence for the Buddhists in Phase III of Western Buddhism, the Dhamma presented itself as a path of practice pivoting on the training and mastery of the mind. As teachers and centres became available, growing numbers of Westerners took up the practice eagerly, ready to follow it wherever it might lead.
The Need for a Social Ethic
But Buddhism offered not only a method of mind training that could bring inner peace and deeper self-knowledge, it also fulfilled another profound need of the Western soul. As part of its deep intellectual heritage, Western civilization was committed to the idea that human happiness largely depends on the reformation of the social order in ways that eliminate political tyranny, economic oppression, and social injustice. The commitment to this premise was responsible for the rise of democracy in the West, as well as for less successful experiments with various forms of socialism. However, the experience of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries had shown that without some code of ethical guidance, mere aspirations for freedom and democracy could easily give birth to their opposites. Thus the French Revolution, launched under the motto of "liberty, equality, and fraternity," ended up with the guillotine. The Bolshevik Revolution, with its promise of a "dictatorship of the proletariat," culminated in the Soviet police state. Western idealists saw in Buddhism the foundations for a lofty social ethic devoted to world peace, social justice, and ecological sanity, yet internally protected by its moral code against the deformities to which secular political utopianism was prone.
The Search for Community
To understand the appeal of Buddhism to many present-day Westerners, another factor we must consider is the general breakdown of community in modern Western culture. With increasing industrialization and urbanization, the older human-scale social structures that allowed each person to find a meaningful place in the whole gave way to huge, monstrous institutions that reduced individuals to mere cogs in an impersonal social order. People have come to feel isolated, alienated, cut off from the bonds of social solidarity, trapped in a system that fuels ruthless individualism. These destructive values have provoked a widespread psychological crisis marked by chronic stress, anxiety, and depression. The escape routes people seek are promiscuous sex, violent entertainment, alcoholism, and drugs; but these, of course, do not offer a real solution.
When Buddhism arrived on the scene it seemed to offer a counterweight to the loneliness and isolation so many people felt even in their overcrowded cities. For one thing, it stressed such values as universal love, compassion, cooperation, and altruism, half-forgotten ideals of the Christian legacy. But just as importantly, it ushered in a new sense of community. As Buddhist groups sought their own organizational forms, they gradually evolved towards the model of the Buddhist centre, where fellow practitioners meet regularly in a spirit of friendship to practise and study the Dhamma together, usually under the guidance of a teacher. Many Buddhist societies now have residential facilities where the more dedicated members live either temporarily or permanently. Some have urban centres accessible to people during the working week, and country centres some distance away to which members can resort for longer meditation retreats.
The Shift among Traditions
As I mentioned earlier, when Buddhism in the West enters Phase III, a shift occurs away from the Pali tradition towards Zen and Tibetan Vajrayana. One explanation for this might be the more attractive, more exotic surfaces of these schools of Buddhism; another factor might be the charismatic personalities of their teachers, the Zen masters and Tibetan lamas. But such an explanation is not complete. The main reason these traditions have gained in popularity over the Theravada is, I believe, because within their fold the lineage of meditation practice has been kept more alive than in mainstream Theravada. Certainly in the Pali Canon the Buddha repeatedly emphasizes the urgency of meditation above all else, and this message does live on in small pockets of earnest Theravadin practitioners throughout southern Asia. However, the European Buddhists of the older generations had set the pace by viewing Pali Buddhism largely in rationalistic terms, as a lofty ethic and impressive system of thought. Almost as if to confirm this, the few representatives of Asian Theravada to settle in the West have tended to present Buddhism largely in doctrinal and ethical terms. Rarely do they exhibit the same degree of spiritual vitality as the Mahayana and Vajrayana masters. Since present-day Western seekers are looking for a practice they can incorporate into their lives, not just a system of ideas they can admire and discuss, they naturally feel the appeal of the alternative forms of Buddhism –- Zen, Vajrayana, and new Western Buddhist schools -- over the Theravada.
This, however, is not to say that a meditation tradition rooted in the Theravada is lacking in the West. A number of Westerners who had come to Asian countries years ago to practise under qualified teachers later returned to the West to teach and establish Buddhist centres. But what we find, as an interesting development, is that often such Western teachers of Theravada-based meditation do not consider themselves adherents of Theravada Buddhism in its doctrinal sense. Instead, explicitly or implicitly, they distance themselves from Asian Theravada and call their style of Buddhism "the Vipassana tradition" or "the practice of mindful awareness." While they have evolved a rigorous system of training, they often lift Vipassana meditation out from its setting in Buddhist faith and doctrine, presenting it almost as an autonomous discipline of psychological insight and self-awareness. This is certainly a weak spot in the Western approach to the Dhamma, for the religious and philosophical dimensions of classical Buddhism are necessary for insight meditation to lead to its real goal, "the taintless liberation of the mind." Neglect of the textual and doctrinal side of Buddhism can result in a diluted, shoddy understanding of the Dhamma. But the stripped-down style of practice -- non-religious, non-doctrinal, non-monastic insight meditation -- is the dominant mode in which Westerners are taking up Theravada Buddhism. This development might induce us to examine our own tradition more closely to ask ourselves why the Dhamma is being approached in such a partial fashion, through such a pick-and-choose policy, instead of being embraced as an organic whole.
III. The Challenge of Bringing Theravada to the West
This brings me to the third major division of my talk, the special challenges we face in transmitting Theravada Buddhism to the West. When I ponder this issue, the question that immediately lodges itself in my mind is this: "What exactly is the type of Theravada Buddhism that we wish to spread?" For one thing, as I mentioned above, it is not merely texts and ideas that Westerners are looking for, not merely the Buddhism of the books. Books are certainly needed to introduce people to the Dhamma, to give them material for study and reflection. The point I wish to make is not that literature on Buddhism is dispensable, but that it is insufficient. For the Dhamma to take deep root in people’s hearts, it must come to them, not between the covers of a book, but in living, breathing persons who display the truth of the teaching in their lives.
The Ideal Form
Thus when I raise the question, "What type of Buddhism do we wish to spread?" I am not thinking of the pure canonical Dhamma, which exists as such only in the books. In actuality, Buddhism has always been expressed in concrete practices, embedded in social structures, and embodied by real human beings. Thus we have to consider this aspect of Theravada Buddhism and not merely the doctrinal formulas of the Pali Canon. So when we ponder how to bring Buddhism to the West, we have to decide which of the many faces of Theravada we want to bring. To some extent, this is premature, since if Buddhism does eventually take root in the West, it will assume forms particular to Western social and cultural conditions. But to begin we need something to serve as a seed or nucleus.
The ideal form of Theravada to present would be one that fuses all healthy aspects of the tradition into an organic whole. The transmission would have to focus on the practice of meditation, yet it should include a strong emphasis on Buddhist ethics (including Buddhist perspectives on contemporary ethical issues), textual and doctrinal study, devotional practices, and a fair share of ritual, too; but ritual would have to be integrated into the spiritual path, not pursued in compliance with mere cultural norms. The meditation practice should be the heart of the transmission. Once students experience the beneficial effects of meditation on their lives, in time they will develop keener interest in the study of texts, in devotional practices, in the precepts, and in ritual. Ritual will then serve to cement these varied aspects of Dhamma into a coherent whole, animated from within by the meditative experience.
A Monastic Transmission
But now we come to the heart of the issue. Theravada Buddhism, in its orthodox mould, has always looked upon the monastic order, the Sangha, as the bearer of the Buddhist heritage. Thus, if Theravada is to take hold in the West, it seems it should be through a monastic transmission guarded and upheld by lay support. Without this, we would probably wind up with a watered-down or secularized version of the Theravada, as we find today in the Vipassana sanghas. A monastic transmission is needed to keep alive the stress on renunciation and restraint so characteristic of the true Dhamma.
The need for a monastic transmission, however, immediately runs up against a practical problem. In Sri Lanka today it is extraordinarily difficult to find monks who possess the personal qualities needed by a Buddhist "messenger of Dhamma" (dhammaduta), including the ability to communicate the Dhamma effectively to people from a very different cultural background. This has adverse repercussions for the whole project of propagating Theravada Buddhism abroad, making the Theravada something of a still backwater on the otherwise lively Western Buddhist frontier.
Of all the Asian Theravada communities, I feel the Sri Lankans have the strongest potential for transmitting the Dhamma to the West. From what I have observed, the Thai, Cambodian, and Burmese monks cater almost exclusively to their own communities and seldom even imagine that the Dhamma can have any pull on Westerners. It is the Sri Lankans who have been most inspired by the ideal of passing the Dhamma to the West, and again it is the Sri Lankan Sangha that includes monks ready to learn Western languages and translate the teachings into a message meaningful to Westerners.
Yet, despite this, when we survey the Western Buddhist scene, the results are disappointing. We see a tremendous surge of interest in Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, in new Buddhist movements like the Order of Interbeing and the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order, and in Vipassana as a secular practice. But apart from Ajahn Sumedho’s Amaravati network, which consists of Western monks and nuns, the orthodox Theravada Sangha has had relatively little impact in the West. Of course, one might just interpret this as evidence that Westerners are too decadent to appreciate the true Dhamma. However, that interpretation would not only be uncharitable, but it would also be wrong. A sizeable number of Western Buddhists feel themselves powerfully drawn towards the Theravada tradition and are on the lookout for monks to offer teachings. Thus the desire is there; it is just the resources to satisfy it that are in short supply.
The State of Monastic Education
Although I do not have an easy solution to this problem, it would be useful to make a preliminary diagnosis of its origins. I believe part of the explanation lies in the system of monastic education that prevails here in Sri Lanka. This system is extremely inadequate and needs drastic revision from the ground up: revision with respect to the aim, depth, and breadth of monastic training. When monks trained in this system go overseas to expound the Dhamma, they find themselves facing severe handicaps. Not only must they learn to adapt to a society where social relationships are not governed by clearly defined roles and expectations, but they must really strike at the existential concerns of Western students. Routine preaching and ceremonies simply won’t do.
The only way for the Sri Lankan Sangha to help meet the challenge of promoting Theravada Buddhism in the West is by making exponential improvements in monastic education right here in Sri Lanka. If a monk is to go abroad to spread the Dhamma, he must have not only a thorough knowledge of his own Theravada tradition, but acquaintance with other subjects too. He will need some knowledge of the history and schools of Buddhism, comparative religion, and English. He should also know, or be ready to learn, the language of the country in which he will work.
Beyond these specific areas of competence, he will require the intellectual openness and acuity to comprehend the dispositions, attitudes, and worldviews of people from a different culture and relate to them in meaningful ways. He must also have some grounding in the real practice of the Dhamma, for knowledge of books and doctrines, however wide, will be fruitless if not coupled with dedication to the practice. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to find a monastic institute that can impart the necessary training, and the Buddhist prelates, due to their conservatism, resist proposed reforms. In this respect Buddhist educational institutions compare poorly with Christian seminaries, which equip their own missionaries with a thorough and wide-ranging education that often excels the Buddhist institutes even in the field of Buddhist studies.
The Revival of Meditation
The problem of deficient education is compounded by the decline of the practical training in meditation throughout the Sri Lankan monastic system. Thus the training of the monks focuses not so much on guiding them along the Buddha’s path to awakening as on teaching them how to serve as custodians of a distinct social and cultural heritage. I do not want to dismiss the value of this service, for within this country it is quite necessary to preserve the cultural and social pillars of Sri Lankan Buddhism, especially against the incursions of evangelical Christianity and materialistic consumerism. But this function should be subordinated to the more important one of teaching the young monks the path to wisdom and peace; it should not become so domineering that the original path gets covered with mist and weeds.
The decline of a living meditation tradition in the bhikkhu training centres seems to stem from the sharp distinction that the Theravada tradition makes between village monks and forest monks. In this division, the village-and-town monks devote their time to preaching and community service, while the forest monks engage in full-time meditation. This division creates a situation where a monk not intent on winning the path to Nibbana in this present life postpones the practice of meditation to some future existence, justifying his life in robes as a service to society. Such social service, however, takes on a largely secularized hue and easily veers off into political activism. Seldom is it integrated into a true path of spiritual development.
On the other side of the divide, those monks who are keen on winning the goal in this life withdraw into the forest for full-time meditation and rarely show any inclination to share their insights with the wider community. Also, given their method of training, they will generally lack the linguistic and social skills needed to propagate the Dhamma in foreign countries. Thus we have this sharp dichotomy: educated town monks without deep personal insight into the Dhamma or experience in meditation, and meditation monks without much inclination to propagate the teaching.
Since it would be inappropriate to force monks devoted to full-time meditation to take up a more active vocation, the remedy needed to redress this imbalance seems to require a revitalization of meditation practice within the bhikkhu training institutes. This cannot be done, however, merely by imposing meditation on the monks from the outside as a mandatory discipline. Meditation practice does not occur in a vacuum. It must spring up from an inner need, under the impetus given by a clear understanding of the foundations and objectives of Buddhist spirituality. So what is really needed is a rejuvenation of the spiritual challenge at the heart of the Buddhist monastic life.
The Training of Dhammadutas
Personally, I do not think it is prudent to try to create institutions expressly for the purpose of training monks as "Buddhist missionaries" or dhammadutas. Such institutions could easily attract monks who want to go abroad for the wrong reasons: to gain prestige, to become popular, perhaps to find employment and disrobe. I feel it is wiser to strengthen programmes in the existing bhikkhu training centres. At the same time, we should keep an eye open for capable bhikkhus enrolled in these programmes who display the qualities needed to propagate the Dhamma in the West. We must also remember that the purpose in training monks is not to make them dhammadutas, but to lead them along the way to enlightenment. Thus the training should focus on the inner development of the monk, both in those qualities conducive to personal growth and in those that allow for a compassionate outflow of his spiritual development to others. Monks who have the special skills, and the inclination to work for the spread of the Dhamma, can then be chosen for overseas assignments, providing they also display the inner maturity required by such a task.
An Inconclusive Conclusion
I come to an inconclusive conclusion. At the present stage in its evolution, Buddhism in the West is taking on a form that focuses on the Dhamma as a path of inner transformation through meditation and contemplation, with other aspects of Buddhist practice subordinated to this concern. We should not immediately conclude that Western Buddhism is therefore an ideal model for Asians to emulate. Western Buddhists often lack a solid knowledge of the texts, and thus are prone to bend the teachings to fit their own agendas and expectations. It is here, I think, that Asian monks with a sound scholarly knowledge of the Dhamma can make a valuable contribution. But while corrective measures are needed in Western Buddhism to ensure right understanding, it is clear that the central focus of Western Buddhists will be on personal meditative experience as the way to inner peace and wisdom.
If Sri Lankan Buddhists are to make a significant contribution to the healthy growth of Buddhism in the West, we will need representatives of the Dhamma who are also living embodiments of the Dhamma. That is, we need monks -- and nuns as well -- who express in their lives and characters the potentials of the Dhamma as a way of life that brings real wisdom, purity, and peace within, and overflows in expressions of kindness and compassion for others. This is a difficult challenge, but it is an indispensable requirement if Sri Lanka is to contribute to the development of Buddhism in the West. Since the main responsibility for transmitting the Dhamma rests with the monastic order, the Sangha in this country must set its own house in order if it is to be qualified to perform this task. This will require some intense internal criticism and attempts at genuine reform, especially in the system of monastic training. If such changes do not take place, it is unlikely that Sri Lanka will be able to contribute much more to the growth of Buddhism in Europe than to maintain viharas that serve Sri Lankan expatriates.
I will end on a bright note. Despite the shortage of qualified dhammaduta monks, scattered across the West there are a few Theravada viharas and Buddhist centres maintained by monks who, in their own quiet and non-assertive way, are working to spread the Dhamma. Prominent among them we find Sri Lankan monks, who often must take up this task with much hardship and self-sacrifice. The hardship they face is not only external, but internal as well. They must maintain a delicate discipline amidst the temptations of the Western consumerist culture, and must also struggle against the weight of Buddhist tradition to find the clear message of the Buddha hidden behind stultifying conventions. Such monks generally do not have large organizations behind them, or financial backing from home, but through their dedication to the Dhamma and compassionate concern for others, they actively seek to help Westerners find their way to the Buddha’s path. Their selfless work deserves appreciation and support from all sincere Buddhists in this country.
Because he followed these guidelines, Asoka Weeraratna’s life was crowned by three great achievements: the establishment of the German Dharmaduta Society in Sri Lanka; the founding of the Berlin Buddhist Vihara in Germany; and the creation of the Nissarana Vanaya Hermitage at Mitirigala.
Already in the 1950s, he foresaw the potential for establishing Buddhism in the West, and to make his own contribution to the westward movement of the Dhamma, in 1952 he founded the German Dharmaduta Society. He started the Society in the back room of the family shop, though later it moved to premises purchased with funds he acquired through a zealous fund-raising drive.
Asoka realized that if Buddhism was to send down roots in Germany, it was not enough to set up a base for German Buddhist missions here in Sri Lanka. He saw the need to have a Buddhist centre right in the heart of Germany itself. Thus he personally searched for suitable premises throughout Germany, and he found the ideal site in the lovely Frohnau district of Berlin. The place he discovered was Das Buddhistische Haus, an old Buddhist compound built by Paul Dahlke in 1924. Under his initiative the German Dharmaduta Society purchased the compound, renovated it, and in 1957 brought it back to life as the Berlin Buddhist Vihara. In the same year, Asoka Weeraratna organized the first Buddhist mission to Germany, led by three Sri Lankan Bhikkhus accompanied by himself. From that time to the present, monks from Sri Lanka and elsewhere have lived at the Berlin Vihara, helping to maintain a Theravada presence in Germany.
Asoka Weeraratna later turned his attention to the construction of the Nissarana Vanaya Hermitage at Mitirigala, which became one of Sri Lanka’s most respected meditation monasteries. He equipped the monastery with all the facilities conducive to the meditative life, found an accomplished meditation master, Ven. Matara Sri Gnanarama Mahathera, to direct the meditation training, and then, his mission accomplished, he himself entered the Buddhist order under the name Ven. Dhammanisanthi Thera. Even by establishing Nissarana Vanaya, Asoka continued to make Buddhism available to Westerners, for the hermitage has accommodated Western monks resident in Sri Lanka since 1977.
Asoka and the German Theras
I myself first met Asoka in the early 1980s, when he was known as Ven. Dhammanisanthi. I immediately felt a close bond with him through his commitment to disseminating Buddhism in Germany. Though I am not German myself, my spiritual mentor was the great German scholar-monk Ven. Nyanaponika Mahathera, with whom I lived at the Forest Hermitage for twelve years. Ven. Nyanaponika and his teacher, Ven. Nyanatiloka Mahathera, also German, always had a keen interest in the spread of Buddhism in their native country. In this respect they shared a common vision with Asoka, which they expressed by their support for the German Dharmaduta Society. Ven. Nyanatiloka served as the first patron of the Society during the early 1950s, and through the years Ven. Nyanaponika was always ready to give advice. Before he left for Germany in 1982 to take up residence at the Berlin Vihara, Ven. Dhammanisanthi came to the Forest Hermitage in Udawattakele, Kandy to meet Ven. Nyanaponika. The two monks spent several hours, spread over two days, discussing prospects for the spread of Buddhism in Germany. I still recall that the discussion presented an interesting contrast between Ven. Dhammanisanthi’s enthusiastic optimism and Ven. Nyanaponika’s pragmatic realism and restraint.
An Opportune Time
The topic of this seminar, "The Necessity for Promoting Buddhism in Europe," is quite appropriate for commemorating Ven. Dhammanisanthi, and reminds us of his life’s mission of trying to bring the Sasana to the West. The topic is also very timely, for the opportunity for disseminating Buddhism in the West is much more ample today than it was fifty years ago when the German Dharmaduta Society was born. At the same time, however, we should not assume that Buddhism is barely known in Europe and has to be introduced almost from scratch. To the contrary, in the past two decades public awareness of Buddhism in the West has increased sharply. In many Western countries today Buddhism is the fastest growing religion. In North America, Western Europe, and Australia-New Zealand, hundreds of Buddhist centres have sprung up almost overnight, offering teachings and meditation retreats even in remote regions. Thus the challenge we face is not that of discussing how to introduce Buddhism to Europe as though it were an utterly unfamiliar creature, but of discovering how to promote the healthy growth of a Buddhism already sending down roots into European soil.
I will deal with my topic in three major parts. First, I will present a short survey of the historical development of Buddhism in Europe. This will necessarily be oversimplified and thus inadequate, but my aim is not so much to lay out all the facts as to show how Buddhism has arrived at its present stage of development in the West. Second, I will raise the question why Buddhism, at just this particular time, is exerting such a strong appeal on Westerners. Then, in the third place, I will briefly discuss a few special problems we face in trying to make our own Theravada form of Buddhism accessible to the West as a living and relevant tradition.
I. Historical Overview
I divide the history of the Western engagement with Buddhism into three major phases. These phases are not totally discrete, for they intersect and overlap, but the threefold division provides a useful way of determining general trends.
Phase I: The Discovery of Buddhism
Phase I consisted in the academic study of Buddhist texts, aimed at discerning the broad contours of Buddhist history and doctrine. This project took place during the peak of the colonial period, when European countries were busy subjugating Asian peoples and incorporating their nations into their hungry empires. In many cases European interest in Buddhism was bound up with the Christian missionary enterprise of converting the native populations to Christianity.
Although reports about Asian Buddhist beliefs and practices had been drifting back to Europe since the thirteenth century, a clear picture of Buddhism as a unitary whole did not take shape in Europe until the middle of the nineteenth century, just a little more than 150 years ago. Before then, the sundry reports that had reached scholars in Europe were generally haphazard, inaccurate, and conjectural, if not utterly fantastic. The first person to comprehend Buddhism as a unitary tradition and establish its historical origins was the brilliant French philologist Eugne Burnouf. Burnouf had studied Pali, Sanskrit, and Tibetan manuscripts that had been sent to him in Paris from the East. Based on these texts, with barely no other clues, he wrote his 600-page tome, Introduction to the History of Indian Buddhism (1844), in which he traced in detail Indian Buddhist history and surveyed its doctrines and texts. Though later generations of scholars have greatly expanded upon Burnouf’s work and filled in many missing pieces, they regard as essentially accurate the outline of Indian Buddhism he proposed in his groundbreaking study.
In the decades following Burnouf, there appeared throughout Europe a galaxy of brilliant scholars who opened up the treasures locked away in all the different branches of Buddhism. These scholars fall into three main schools. The scholars of the "Anglo-Germanic School" focused on the Pali tradition. Their work emanated from the Pali Text Society, founded by T.W. Rhys Davids, and their ranks included Caroline Rhys Davids, Oldenberg, Woodward, Hare, and Horner; the Danish scholars Trenckner, Fausboll, and Anderson; and the Swede Helmer Smith. The "Franco-Belgian School" investigated Indian Buddhism both Hinayana and Mahayana in Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese texts; its luminaries were de la VallŽe Poussin, Sylvain Levy, and Lamotte. The "Russian School" -- represented by Stcherbatsky, Rosenberg, and Obermiller -- concentrated on scholastic Indian Buddhism as preserved especially in Tibetan texts. Although these scholars usually remained reticent about their own religious beliefs, by collecting Asian manuscripts, publishing modern editions of these texts, and providing translations and scholarly studies of Buddhist thought, they laid the indispensable foundation stone for the spread of the Dhamma in the West, namely, access to the original Buddhist sources.
The academic study of Buddhism initiated by these pioneers has continued through to the present time, despite the setback of two world wars and frequent shortages in funding. In Western universities and institutes, scholars map in ever finer details and with broader sweep the entire Buddhist heritage -- from Sri Lanka to Mongolia, from Gandhara to Japan. Thus what I call "Phase I" in the history of Western Buddhism is not so much a temporary stage superceded by its successors as a preparation for the further evolution of Buddhism in its Western setting.
Phase II: Elite Appropriation
Phase II in the European encounter with Buddhism I shall call "elite appropriation." By this, I mean the adoption of Buddhism as a living creed by an increasing number of intellectuals, writers, artists, and professionals. In the German-speaking world the catalyst for the transition from the mere academic investigation of Buddhism to its active appropriation was the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. Schopenhauer published the first edition of his philosophical masterpiece, The World as Will and Representation, in 1819, before he had come across reliable accounts of Buddhist thought. However, his philosophical intuitions showed such striking parallels to the Dhamma that several decades later, when Schopenhauer did gain access to accurate material on Buddhism, he at once recognized the affinity of his own thought to the Buddha’s doctrine. Thus, in the second edition of his book, he hailed Buddhism as "the most perfect" of all the world's religions. Such was his admiration for the Buddha that he kept a small statue of the Master on his mantle alongside a bust of his philosophical hero, Immanuel Kant.
Schopenhauer did not become a Buddhist himself, which would have been almost unthinkable in the Europe of his day, but his writings had a profound impact on later European thinkers and guided many to the Dhamma. At least three major figures owed their discovery of Buddhism to Schopenhauer's influence: the Austrian Indologist K.E. Neumann, who translated the Digha and Majjhima Nikayas and other Pali texts into German; the Bavarian judge George Grimm; and the Berlin homeopath Paul Dahlke. The last named pair, through their writings and promotional work, became the two leading proponents of Buddhism in Germany during the early part of the twentieth century. Their writings did not simply analyse Buddhism in terms of objective, impersonal categories, but tried to explain it from the inside, as experienced by one who had made the personal leap of faith.
Arnold and the Theosophists
In the English-speaking world, the primary impetus for the adoption of Buddhism by educated Westerners came from Sir Edwin Arnold's inspirational poem on the Buddha's life, The Light of Asia. Arnold depicted the Buddha as a figure of heroic stature whose personality combined deep compassion for all humanity with a masterly capacity for rational thought. These two characteristics dovetailed perfectly with the intellectual milieu of the period and aroused in Arnold’s readers a new respect for the Buddha and interest in his teachings. Though conservative Christians were indignant at the poem’s success, the British intelligentsia of the period were liberal enough not to feel constrained by Christianity’s claims to sole possession of the truth. The Theosophical movement, founded by Madame Blavatsky and Henry Steele Olcott, also gave Buddhism a profile in the Anglo-American world. While their interpretation of Buddhism as a popular expression of esoteric wisdom bordered on the chimerical, the Theosophists helped to make Buddhism fashionable among those attracted to alternative ways of thought.
The First Flowering
Inspired by the Dhamma, a few adventurous spirits, not content with mere book knowledge, left their homelands to travel to the East to learn Buddhism at its sources. Others like Childers and Rhys Davids, working in colonial administrations in Asia, already had access to native authorities on the Dhamma. By the turn of the century several Westerners took the decisive step of coming to the East to enter the Sangha. The pioneers in this development were the Englishman Allen Bennett, who became Ven. Ananda Metteyya in Burma (1901), and Anton Gueth, who became Ven. Nyanatiloka (1903). Though Ven. Ananda Metteyya later disrobed after a tentative mission to Britain, Ven. Nyanatiloka settled permanently in Sri Lanka, where in 1911 he founded Island Hermitage as a monastery especially for Western monks.
Within Europe, starting early in the twentieth century, Buddhist societies began to sprout, Buddhist journals commenced publication, and numerous books on Buddhism, of varying degrees of authenticity, attempted to bridge the gap between classical Buddhism and the Western intellectual heritage. During this phase of "elite appropriation" most proponents of Buddhism favoured the Pali tradition, as being far closer to the Buddha's original teachings than the baffling and ornate Mahayana sutras. What these thinkers emphasized in Buddhism was its rationality and realism, its ethical purity, its tolerance, its non-dogmatic approach to truth, and its compatibility with modern science. In this phase, with a few exceptions, the meditative, communal, and devotional aspects of Buddhism were left quietly on the sidelines. In other words, theory prevailed over practice.
Phase III: The Popularization of Buddhism
Phase III in the spread of Buddhism in the West began roughly in the 1960s and continues through to the present. This third phase might be described as the popularization of Buddhism. During this phase, Buddhism comes to exert its appeal on an increasing number of people of different lifestyles and its following proliferates rapidly. At the beginning of this phase Buddhism was largely a counter-cultural phenomenon, adopted by those in rebellion against the crass materialism and technocratic obsessions of modern society: hippies, acid heads, disaffected university students, artists, writers, and anarchists. But as these youthful rebels gradually became integrated into the mainstream, they brought their Buddhism with them.
Today Buddhism is espoused not only by those in the alternative culture, but by businessmen, physicists, computer programmers, housewives, real-estate agents, even by sports stars, movie actors, and rock musicians. Perhaps several hundred thousand Europeans have adopted Buddhism in one or another of its different forms, while many more quietly incorporate Buddhist practices into their daily lives. The presence of large Asian Buddhist communities in the West also enhances the visibility of the Dhamma. Thousands of books on Buddhism are now available, dealing with the teachings at both scholarly and popular levels, while Buddhist magazines and journals expand their circulation each year. Buddhist influences subtly permeate various disciplines: philosophy and ecology, psychology and health care, the arts and literature, even Christian theology. Indeed, already three years ago Time magazine devoted a full-length cover story to the spread of Buddhism in America, and at least five books on the subject are in print.
Facilitating Factors
The transition in Western Buddhism from Phase II to Phase III was facilitated by two main factors. One was the increasing number of Asian Buddhist teachers who travelled to the West -- Theravada bhikkhus, Japanese Zen masters, Tibetan lamas -- either to give lectures and conduct retreats, or to settle there permanently and establish Buddhist centres. The second factor was the return to the West of the young Westerners who had trained in Asia in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and now came back to their home countries to spread the Dhamma. From the mid-1980s on we see even a new sub-phase of Phase III, or perhaps an incipient Phase IV: the emergence of a generation of Western Buddhist teachers who have never been to Asia but have received their full training in the West.
What is characteristic of Western Buddhism in Phase III, in distinction from the earlier phases, is the focus on Buddhist practice, especially the practice of meditation. In this phase it is not the academic study of Buddhist texts and doctrines that dominates (as in Phase I), or the attempt to interpret the Dhamma through the prism of Western thought (as in Phase II), but the appropriation of Buddhism as a practice that can bring deep transformations in one's innermost being as well as in the conduct of everyday life. This does not necessarily mean that Buddhist practice is being taken up in accordance with canonical or traditional Asian models, nor that it is pursued to attain Nibbana in the sense upheld by classical Buddhist doctrine. Often Western Buddhists give their own twist to Buddhist concepts, sometimes in ways that depart drastically from canonical standards and from an Asian standpoint might border on "heresy." But in Phase III, Buddhism is viewed as in some sense a path to awakening, a way that brings deep understanding of the mind and makes accessible new dimensions of being. Hence at this stage Buddhism becomes a means of spiritual transformation through direct experience, through insights not arrived at by mere conceptual reflection.
A Variety of Schools
In Phase III, we also find the arrival of various schools of Asian Buddhism, which peacefully coexist, pursuing their own growth and cooperating with each other to secure common aims. With the passage from Phase II to Phase III a noticeable shift takes place in the type of Buddhism generally adopted by Western Buddhists. In Phase II, Pali Buddhism was dominant, though I must stress that this adherence to the Pali heritage did not entail a commitment to any form of Theravada Buddhism as practised in Asian lands. In fact, the elite Buddhists often looked upon Asian Theravada as a degeneration from the pristine canonical doctrine, which they believed was a unique possession of their own. But with the rise of Phase III the focus of attraction shifts away from the Pali tradition: first to Zen Buddhism in the 1960s and 1970s; and then to Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism in the 1980s and 1990s. Further, new types of Buddhism come onto the scene, schools peculiar to the West, such as Thich Nhat Hanh’s Order of Interbeing (based in France, but with a strong American chapter), the Arya Maitreya Mandala (centred in Germany), and the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (based in Britain, but with several Continental chapters). These are partly syncretistic, partly innovative attempts to create new styles of Buddhist practice conformable to the Western temperament. Also the age range of Buddhist followers varies between the schools. Today in Germany most followers of the Pali tradition are in their 50s and 60s, while the followers of Zen and Tibetan Buddhism are in their 30s and 40s. This development is critically important for us, as followers of the Theravada, to understand, and I will therefore return to it later.
II. The Western Receptivity to Buddhism
At this point, I want to raise the question: How are we to understand the surge of interest in Buddhism among Westerners in recent years? How do we account for the eagerness with which so many today are ready to explore the Dhamma and often to deeply embrace it? It is necessary to address this question in order to begin to see the needs that we must fulfil as we try to make our own contribution to the spread of the Dhamma in Europe.
Nature Abhors a Vacuum
I think the answer to this question unfolds in roughly two distinct stages, corresponding to the last two phases in the Western adoption of Buddhism that I spoke of just before. During Phase II, "the phase of elite appropriation," intellectuals were drawn to Buddhism because it filled a vacuum that had been growing ever wider in Europe since the seventeenth century. This vacuum was the absence of any comprehensive body of wisdom teachings that could offer a key to the deeper meaning of human existence. The responsibility for shedding light on the meaning of existence had traditionally been assigned to philosophy, but from the seventeenth century onwards philosophy came to renounce this task in favour of other concerns. Besides, such guidance that philosophy did offer, as in Spinoza's Ethics, was usually embedded in systems of thought so subtle and complex that few people could understand them.
Of course, Christianity too staked out for itself a claim to hold the key to the riddle of existence, but the main thrust of orthodox Christianity has not been to show the way to wisdom. Its purpose is to offer the prospect of an eternal afterlife in heaven through faith in God and Christ the Saviour, and it was just such faith that was coming into question. Further, Christianity’s own record as a defender of human values was far from impressive. Its legacy of crusades, inquisitions, forced conversions, and intolerance repelled rather than attracted ethically sensitive minds, while its alliance with the colonial regimes confirmed suspicions about its imperialistic designs. Moreover, as science strode boldly into one arena of knowledge after another, often in the face of staunch resistance from the Church, it discredited Christian claims to the infallibility of revelation. Thus for a growing number of independent thinkers the Christian religion had become irrelevant.
When translations of Buddhist texts and expositions of Buddhist thought began to appear in the late nineteenth century, they seemed to offer the West exactly what it was lacking: a system of spiritual wisdom that could give illumination and moral guidance yet did not demand unquestioning faith in theological dogmas. Instead, it rested its claims upon human reason and personal insight into fundamental truths and universal laws. The way Buddhism impinged on the Western mind during this period reveals both the strength and weakness in the Western perception of Buddhism. The strength lay in a deep and clear grasp of the doctrinal principles of the Dhamma, expressed in works that were utterly compelling in their insights, logic, and literary eloquence. The weakness was the understanding of Buddhism as primarily a rational, ideational system, to replace the tottering belief system of the Christian churches. Another limitation was that Buddhism in this phase still appealed mainly to the educated elite and thus could attract only those astute enough to break away from the cultural and religious mainstream, which was still predominantly Christian.
The Conditions for Popularization
For the transition to Phase III to take place, that is, for Buddhism to spread more widely through the general population, certain additional conditions were necessary, and these only became sufficiently widespread in the second half of the twentieth century. One was the triumph of liberal democracy over autocratic political systems. Under the heading of democracy we must include not only political democracy, but also the democracy of the mind, an openness to new ways of thought and tolerance for viewpoints that differ radically from those of one's own intellectual heritage. This openness was encouraged by a partial change in the attitude of the Christian churches towards other faiths, which in the West after the Second Vatican Council (1963–65) swung towards greater respect and tolerance for non-Christian religions.
A second preparatory factor was a fair degree of economic affluence, which freed Europeans from excessive concern with material security and gave them the leisure to explore new avenues of thought. The rise of the consumerist society also helped them see the limitations to material development as a final solution to our quest for happiness.
A third factor was the relatively high standard of liberal education established in the 1960s, enabling a large proportion of young people to attend the university. Higher education exposed them to multiple viewpoints in all the domains of human knowledge, and also trained them to think critically and deeply about new ideas.
A fourth preparatory factor was improved means of transportation and communication, which facilitated contacts between East and West. Now curious Westerners could easily travel to the East to experience Buddhism first hand in its own native setting, while Buddhist teachers from Asia could move West to propagate the Dhamma.
The fifth factor, following naturally from the fourth, was the actual arrival in the West of Buddhist teachers, both Asians and Westerners trained in Asia. These teachers brought Buddhism as a dynamic faith that they embodied in their lives through years of serious training.
The Great Transition
While the above five factors constituted the necessary conditions for Buddhism to become accessible to a sizable number of Europeans, they are not a sufficient explanation for the rapid escalation of Western interest in Buddhism. To pinpoint the decisive cause for this phenomenon, I must refer back to the vacuum or void that had opened up right beneath the feet of European civilization, that is, the absence of a solid, authoritative spiritual tradition that could give guidance in the mastery of life. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries this void was acutely felt only by the more discerning Western minds, disenchanted with both doctrinaire Christianity and economic materialism. Ordinary people were somehow able to balance their ancestral Christian faith with a bright optimism about the coming Golden Age, to be achieved through science and technology.
By the late 1950s, however, the picture had drastically changed. After two world wars and a prolonged cold war that threatened the whole world with thermonuclear destruction, countless people found their trust in the intrinsic goodness of human nature crumble into dust. Such horrors as the Nazi Holocaust and the Hiroshima atom bomb not only undermined faith in a benevolent God guiding the whole creation, but also brought to light the dangers in mere rationality not illuminated by a higher wisdom and staunch commitment to ethics. The most brilliant minds of the West, relying on the rational intellect, had twice plunged the whole world into barbaric irrationality, with death tolls numbering in the tens of millions. Now, with even more lethal weapons of destruction at hand, they threatened to do so again. Thus the void that sensitive nineteenth century thinkers had seen on the horizon had expanded until it had swallowed up almost everyone. And not only had it expanded, but for many it had acquired a sharp and compelling urgency that could not be quenched by any system of ideas, however noble. What they needed was a programme of action, which in many cases meant a deep personal engagement in the spiritual quest.
At the same time that the fear of nuclear war cast long shadows over the entire globe, unprecedented material affluence in the West brought into easy reach the comforts, conveniences, and sensory delights that earlier generations had only dreamt about. Yet while this consumerist paradise mesmerized many (and still continues to do so), at least a few people "with little dust in their eyes" realized that such mundane pleasures could bring no lasting peace to the heart. At this point, for such spiritually sensitive Westerners, the message embedded in the Four Noble Truths was no longer a splendid system of ideas, to be admired in the comfort of an armchair. The message had become, rather, a medicine for curing a terrible disease, the disease of suffering, and the one sensible thing to be done with it, as with any medicine, was to take it. Hence for the Buddhists in Phase III of Western Buddhism, the Dhamma presented itself as a path of practice pivoting on the training and mastery of the mind. As teachers and centres became available, growing numbers of Westerners took up the practice eagerly, ready to follow it wherever it might lead.
The Need for a Social Ethic
But Buddhism offered not only a method of mind training that could bring inner peace and deeper self-knowledge, it also fulfilled another profound need of the Western soul. As part of its deep intellectual heritage, Western civilization was committed to the idea that human happiness largely depends on the reformation of the social order in ways that eliminate political tyranny, economic oppression, and social injustice. The commitment to this premise was responsible for the rise of democracy in the West, as well as for less successful experiments with various forms of socialism. However, the experience of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries had shown that without some code of ethical guidance, mere aspirations for freedom and democracy could easily give birth to their opposites. Thus the French Revolution, launched under the motto of "liberty, equality, and fraternity," ended up with the guillotine. The Bolshevik Revolution, with its promise of a "dictatorship of the proletariat," culminated in the Soviet police state. Western idealists saw in Buddhism the foundations for a lofty social ethic devoted to world peace, social justice, and ecological sanity, yet internally protected by its moral code against the deformities to which secular political utopianism was prone.
The Search for Community
To understand the appeal of Buddhism to many present-day Westerners, another factor we must consider is the general breakdown of community in modern Western culture. With increasing industrialization and urbanization, the older human-scale social structures that allowed each person to find a meaningful place in the whole gave way to huge, monstrous institutions that reduced individuals to mere cogs in an impersonal social order. People have come to feel isolated, alienated, cut off from the bonds of social solidarity, trapped in a system that fuels ruthless individualism. These destructive values have provoked a widespread psychological crisis marked by chronic stress, anxiety, and depression. The escape routes people seek are promiscuous sex, violent entertainment, alcoholism, and drugs; but these, of course, do not offer a real solution.
When Buddhism arrived on the scene it seemed to offer a counterweight to the loneliness and isolation so many people felt even in their overcrowded cities. For one thing, it stressed such values as universal love, compassion, cooperation, and altruism, half-forgotten ideals of the Christian legacy. But just as importantly, it ushered in a new sense of community. As Buddhist groups sought their own organizational forms, they gradually evolved towards the model of the Buddhist centre, where fellow practitioners meet regularly in a spirit of friendship to practise and study the Dhamma together, usually under the guidance of a teacher. Many Buddhist societies now have residential facilities where the more dedicated members live either temporarily or permanently. Some have urban centres accessible to people during the working week, and country centres some distance away to which members can resort for longer meditation retreats.
The Shift among Traditions
As I mentioned earlier, when Buddhism in the West enters Phase III, a shift occurs away from the Pali tradition towards Zen and Tibetan Vajrayana. One explanation for this might be the more attractive, more exotic surfaces of these schools of Buddhism; another factor might be the charismatic personalities of their teachers, the Zen masters and Tibetan lamas. But such an explanation is not complete. The main reason these traditions have gained in popularity over the Theravada is, I believe, because within their fold the lineage of meditation practice has been kept more alive than in mainstream Theravada. Certainly in the Pali Canon the Buddha repeatedly emphasizes the urgency of meditation above all else, and this message does live on in small pockets of earnest Theravadin practitioners throughout southern Asia. However, the European Buddhists of the older generations had set the pace by viewing Pali Buddhism largely in rationalistic terms, as a lofty ethic and impressive system of thought. Almost as if to confirm this, the few representatives of Asian Theravada to settle in the West have tended to present Buddhism largely in doctrinal and ethical terms. Rarely do they exhibit the same degree of spiritual vitality as the Mahayana and Vajrayana masters. Since present-day Western seekers are looking for a practice they can incorporate into their lives, not just a system of ideas they can admire and discuss, they naturally feel the appeal of the alternative forms of Buddhism –- Zen, Vajrayana, and new Western Buddhist schools -- over the Theravada.
This, however, is not to say that a meditation tradition rooted in the Theravada is lacking in the West. A number of Westerners who had come to Asian countries years ago to practise under qualified teachers later returned to the West to teach and establish Buddhist centres. But what we find, as an interesting development, is that often such Western teachers of Theravada-based meditation do not consider themselves adherents of Theravada Buddhism in its doctrinal sense. Instead, explicitly or implicitly, they distance themselves from Asian Theravada and call their style of Buddhism "the Vipassana tradition" or "the practice of mindful awareness." While they have evolved a rigorous system of training, they often lift Vipassana meditation out from its setting in Buddhist faith and doctrine, presenting it almost as an autonomous discipline of psychological insight and self-awareness. This is certainly a weak spot in the Western approach to the Dhamma, for the religious and philosophical dimensions of classical Buddhism are necessary for insight meditation to lead to its real goal, "the taintless liberation of the mind." Neglect of the textual and doctrinal side of Buddhism can result in a diluted, shoddy understanding of the Dhamma. But the stripped-down style of practice -- non-religious, non-doctrinal, non-monastic insight meditation -- is the dominant mode in which Westerners are taking up Theravada Buddhism. This development might induce us to examine our own tradition more closely to ask ourselves why the Dhamma is being approached in such a partial fashion, through such a pick-and-choose policy, instead of being embraced as an organic whole.
III. The Challenge of Bringing Theravada to the West
This brings me to the third major division of my talk, the special challenges we face in transmitting Theravada Buddhism to the West. When I ponder this issue, the question that immediately lodges itself in my mind is this: "What exactly is the type of Theravada Buddhism that we wish to spread?" For one thing, as I mentioned above, it is not merely texts and ideas that Westerners are looking for, not merely the Buddhism of the books. Books are certainly needed to introduce people to the Dhamma, to give them material for study and reflection. The point I wish to make is not that literature on Buddhism is dispensable, but that it is insufficient. For the Dhamma to take deep root in people’s hearts, it must come to them, not between the covers of a book, but in living, breathing persons who display the truth of the teaching in their lives.
The Ideal Form
Thus when I raise the question, "What type of Buddhism do we wish to spread?" I am not thinking of the pure canonical Dhamma, which exists as such only in the books. In actuality, Buddhism has always been expressed in concrete practices, embedded in social structures, and embodied by real human beings. Thus we have to consider this aspect of Theravada Buddhism and not merely the doctrinal formulas of the Pali Canon. So when we ponder how to bring Buddhism to the West, we have to decide which of the many faces of Theravada we want to bring. To some extent, this is premature, since if Buddhism does eventually take root in the West, it will assume forms particular to Western social and cultural conditions. But to begin we need something to serve as a seed or nucleus.
The ideal form of Theravada to present would be one that fuses all healthy aspects of the tradition into an organic whole. The transmission would have to focus on the practice of meditation, yet it should include a strong emphasis on Buddhist ethics (including Buddhist perspectives on contemporary ethical issues), textual and doctrinal study, devotional practices, and a fair share of ritual, too; but ritual would have to be integrated into the spiritual path, not pursued in compliance with mere cultural norms. The meditation practice should be the heart of the transmission. Once students experience the beneficial effects of meditation on their lives, in time they will develop keener interest in the study of texts, in devotional practices, in the precepts, and in ritual. Ritual will then serve to cement these varied aspects of Dhamma into a coherent whole, animated from within by the meditative experience.
A Monastic Transmission
But now we come to the heart of the issue. Theravada Buddhism, in its orthodox mould, has always looked upon the monastic order, the Sangha, as the bearer of the Buddhist heritage. Thus, if Theravada is to take hold in the West, it seems it should be through a monastic transmission guarded and upheld by lay support. Without this, we would probably wind up with a watered-down or secularized version of the Theravada, as we find today in the Vipassana sanghas. A monastic transmission is needed to keep alive the stress on renunciation and restraint so characteristic of the true Dhamma.
The need for a monastic transmission, however, immediately runs up against a practical problem. In Sri Lanka today it is extraordinarily difficult to find monks who possess the personal qualities needed by a Buddhist "messenger of Dhamma" (dhammaduta), including the ability to communicate the Dhamma effectively to people from a very different cultural background. This has adverse repercussions for the whole project of propagating Theravada Buddhism abroad, making the Theravada something of a still backwater on the otherwise lively Western Buddhist frontier.
Of all the Asian Theravada communities, I feel the Sri Lankans have the strongest potential for transmitting the Dhamma to the West. From what I have observed, the Thai, Cambodian, and Burmese monks cater almost exclusively to their own communities and seldom even imagine that the Dhamma can have any pull on Westerners. It is the Sri Lankans who have been most inspired by the ideal of passing the Dhamma to the West, and again it is the Sri Lankan Sangha that includes monks ready to learn Western languages and translate the teachings into a message meaningful to Westerners.
Yet, despite this, when we survey the Western Buddhist scene, the results are disappointing. We see a tremendous surge of interest in Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, in new Buddhist movements like the Order of Interbeing and the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order, and in Vipassana as a secular practice. But apart from Ajahn Sumedho’s Amaravati network, which consists of Western monks and nuns, the orthodox Theravada Sangha has had relatively little impact in the West. Of course, one might just interpret this as evidence that Westerners are too decadent to appreciate the true Dhamma. However, that interpretation would not only be uncharitable, but it would also be wrong. A sizeable number of Western Buddhists feel themselves powerfully drawn towards the Theravada tradition and are on the lookout for monks to offer teachings. Thus the desire is there; it is just the resources to satisfy it that are in short supply.
The State of Monastic Education
Although I do not have an easy solution to this problem, it would be useful to make a preliminary diagnosis of its origins. I believe part of the explanation lies in the system of monastic education that prevails here in Sri Lanka. This system is extremely inadequate and needs drastic revision from the ground up: revision with respect to the aim, depth, and breadth of monastic training. When monks trained in this system go overseas to expound the Dhamma, they find themselves facing severe handicaps. Not only must they learn to adapt to a society where social relationships are not governed by clearly defined roles and expectations, but they must really strike at the existential concerns of Western students. Routine preaching and ceremonies simply won’t do.
The only way for the Sri Lankan Sangha to help meet the challenge of promoting Theravada Buddhism in the West is by making exponential improvements in monastic education right here in Sri Lanka. If a monk is to go abroad to spread the Dhamma, he must have not only a thorough knowledge of his own Theravada tradition, but acquaintance with other subjects too. He will need some knowledge of the history and schools of Buddhism, comparative religion, and English. He should also know, or be ready to learn, the language of the country in which he will work.
Beyond these specific areas of competence, he will require the intellectual openness and acuity to comprehend the dispositions, attitudes, and worldviews of people from a different culture and relate to them in meaningful ways. He must also have some grounding in the real practice of the Dhamma, for knowledge of books and doctrines, however wide, will be fruitless if not coupled with dedication to the practice. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to find a monastic institute that can impart the necessary training, and the Buddhist prelates, due to their conservatism, resist proposed reforms. In this respect Buddhist educational institutions compare poorly with Christian seminaries, which equip their own missionaries with a thorough and wide-ranging education that often excels the Buddhist institutes even in the field of Buddhist studies.
The Revival of Meditation
The problem of deficient education is compounded by the decline of the practical training in meditation throughout the Sri Lankan monastic system. Thus the training of the monks focuses not so much on guiding them along the Buddha’s path to awakening as on teaching them how to serve as custodians of a distinct social and cultural heritage. I do not want to dismiss the value of this service, for within this country it is quite necessary to preserve the cultural and social pillars of Sri Lankan Buddhism, especially against the incursions of evangelical Christianity and materialistic consumerism. But this function should be subordinated to the more important one of teaching the young monks the path to wisdom and peace; it should not become so domineering that the original path gets covered with mist and weeds.
The decline of a living meditation tradition in the bhikkhu training centres seems to stem from the sharp distinction that the Theravada tradition makes between village monks and forest monks. In this division, the village-and-town monks devote their time to preaching and community service, while the forest monks engage in full-time meditation. This division creates a situation where a monk not intent on winning the path to Nibbana in this present life postpones the practice of meditation to some future existence, justifying his life in robes as a service to society. Such social service, however, takes on a largely secularized hue and easily veers off into political activism. Seldom is it integrated into a true path of spiritual development.
On the other side of the divide, those monks who are keen on winning the goal in this life withdraw into the forest for full-time meditation and rarely show any inclination to share their insights with the wider community. Also, given their method of training, they will generally lack the linguistic and social skills needed to propagate the Dhamma in foreign countries. Thus we have this sharp dichotomy: educated town monks without deep personal insight into the Dhamma or experience in meditation, and meditation monks without much inclination to propagate the teaching.
Since it would be inappropriate to force monks devoted to full-time meditation to take up a more active vocation, the remedy needed to redress this imbalance seems to require a revitalization of meditation practice within the bhikkhu training institutes. This cannot be done, however, merely by imposing meditation on the monks from the outside as a mandatory discipline. Meditation practice does not occur in a vacuum. It must spring up from an inner need, under the impetus given by a clear understanding of the foundations and objectives of Buddhist spirituality. So what is really needed is a rejuvenation of the spiritual challenge at the heart of the Buddhist monastic life.
The Training of Dhammadutas
Personally, I do not think it is prudent to try to create institutions expressly for the purpose of training monks as "Buddhist missionaries" or dhammadutas. Such institutions could easily attract monks who want to go abroad for the wrong reasons: to gain prestige, to become popular, perhaps to find employment and disrobe. I feel it is wiser to strengthen programmes in the existing bhikkhu training centres. At the same time, we should keep an eye open for capable bhikkhus enrolled in these programmes who display the qualities needed to propagate the Dhamma in the West. We must also remember that the purpose in training monks is not to make them dhammadutas, but to lead them along the way to enlightenment. Thus the training should focus on the inner development of the monk, both in those qualities conducive to personal growth and in those that allow for a compassionate outflow of his spiritual development to others. Monks who have the special skills, and the inclination to work for the spread of the Dhamma, can then be chosen for overseas assignments, providing they also display the inner maturity required by such a task.
An Inconclusive Conclusion
I come to an inconclusive conclusion. At the present stage in its evolution, Buddhism in the West is taking on a form that focuses on the Dhamma as a path of inner transformation through meditation and contemplation, with other aspects of Buddhist practice subordinated to this concern. We should not immediately conclude that Western Buddhism is therefore an ideal model for Asians to emulate. Western Buddhists often lack a solid knowledge of the texts, and thus are prone to bend the teachings to fit their own agendas and expectations. It is here, I think, that Asian monks with a sound scholarly knowledge of the Dhamma can make a valuable contribution. But while corrective measures are needed in Western Buddhism to ensure right understanding, it is clear that the central focus of Western Buddhists will be on personal meditative experience as the way to inner peace and wisdom.
If Sri Lankan Buddhists are to make a significant contribution to the healthy growth of Buddhism in the West, we will need representatives of the Dhamma who are also living embodiments of the Dhamma. That is, we need monks -- and nuns as well -- who express in their lives and characters the potentials of the Dhamma as a way of life that brings real wisdom, purity, and peace within, and overflows in expressions of kindness and compassion for others. This is a difficult challenge, but it is an indispensable requirement if Sri Lanka is to contribute to the development of Buddhism in the West. Since the main responsibility for transmitting the Dhamma rests with the monastic order, the Sangha in this country must set its own house in order if it is to be qualified to perform this task. This will require some intense internal criticism and attempts at genuine reform, especially in the system of monastic training. If such changes do not take place, it is unlikely that Sri Lanka will be able to contribute much more to the growth of Buddhism in Europe than to maintain viharas that serve Sri Lankan expatriates.
I will end on a bright note. Despite the shortage of qualified dhammaduta monks, scattered across the West there are a few Theravada viharas and Buddhist centres maintained by monks who, in their own quiet and non-assertive way, are working to spread the Dhamma. Prominent among them we find Sri Lankan monks, who often must take up this task with much hardship and self-sacrifice. The hardship they face is not only external, but internal as well. They must maintain a delicate discipline amidst the temptations of the Western consumerist culture, and must also struggle against the weight of Buddhist tradition to find the clear message of the Buddha hidden behind stultifying conventions. Such monks generally do not have large organizations behind them, or financial backing from home, but through their dedication to the Dhamma and compassionate concern for others, they actively seek to help Westerners find their way to the Buddha’s path. Their selfless work deserves appreciation and support from all sincere Buddhists in this country.
