Interesting Article: Growth of Buddhism
Respected Venerables and Distinguished Guests,
It is an honour for me to be here today. I was born a Christian,
was educated in Christian schools, and I even sang in the local
church choir. But when I read my first book on Buddhism, at the age
of 16, I immediately knew I was a Buddhist. I was moved by the
compassion, the wisdom, and the freedom that shone more brilliantly
in the Lord Buddha's Teachings than in anything else I had met
before. Experiences similar to my own are being repeated hundreds
of thousands of times, in the lives of the people of this 21st
century. When ordinary people in non-Buddhist countries encounter
the pure Teachings of Buddhism, presented in a clear and reliable
manner, then they quickly recognize it as the most fragrant of all
paths, the most precious of all truths, and the best of all
religions. They only wonder why such liberating wisdom is not made
more widely known.
In my own land, Australia, the number of Buddhists was
insignificant in 1983, when I first arrived from Thailand. By 1991,
the proportion of Buddhists grew to 0.8%. In 1996, that had
increased to 1.1%. Recently, in the Australian Census of August
2001, the number of Buddhists had grown by 75% to 1.9% of the
population. That is almost one in fifty Australians declaring
themselves to be Buddhists. As the Christian religion declines in
the West, Buddhism has become the fastest growing religion in
Australia and many other developed countries.
That is good news and bad news. It is good news in that more
Australians are benefiting from the world's most peaceful religion.
It is bad news in that it means monks like me have to work so much
harder with more disciples to look after!
I would now like to suggest why I think Buddhism is growing so well
in the West. I will use the acronym PURE to summarize four key
strategies that have helped extend the spread of Buddhism:
1. Presentation -- in ordinary language
2. User friendly -- inviting and accessible
3. Relevant -- concerned with everyday problems
4. Examples -- monks leading by example
1. Presentation
If we want the wonderful Teachings of Buddhism to reach our modern
generation, then it needs to be presented in a modern way. It is
not the essence of the Dharma that needs to be changed, it is the
presentation that needs continual adjustment. The generations of
tomorrow are not going to listen to boring monks droning on, giving
irrelevant sermons.
We all know that the Lord Buddha said to teach the Dharma in
ordinary language (e.g. Aranavibhanga Sutra). Let me give an
example of what I think this means. Last century, Western priests
and scholars dismissed Buddhism as pessimistic, saying that it only
focuses on suffering. This was even repeated by Pope John Paul II
in his controversial book on world religions. To avoid this
misunderstanding one may rearrange the central Dharma Teaching of
the Four Noble Truths as Happiness (Dukkhanirodho); the Cause of
Happiness (the Eight-Fold Path); the Absence of Happiness (Dukkha);
and the Cause for the Absence of Happiness (Craving). This shifts
the focus onto happiness.
This is a simple re-packaging of the Dharma that retains the
essence while being more attractive to modern audiences. It is
justified by the Lord Buddha's statement that "Nirvana is the
highest happiness" (Dhammapada 203, 204). When I present the Four
Noble Truths in such a way, I find all generations listen and come
back for more.
2. User Friendly
Presenting the Dharma in ordinary language is the first step to
making Buddhism user friendly. However, I have found many cases of
people, in the West and in the East, who want to learn about
Buddhism but are too afraid to come into the temple or monastery
because they are not familiar with the traditional customs, or even
because they are scared of scowling monks! When Buddhist temples
are more welcoming to their visitors, and more accommodating to
newcomers, when the monks are more approachable, then the temple is
user friendly.
In these modern times, though, people are so busy that they rarely
have time to visit the temple. So the temple should go to the
people with books, audio cassettes, CDs and, of course, the
Internet. Our Buddhist Society of Western Australia has a large
web-site that loads weekly spoken Dharma talks in English so that
anyone, anywhere in the world can listen to Dharma in the comfort
of their own homes at a time convenient to them. This has been
highly successful with a large audience of regular disciples all
over the world, with no need for expensive and extravagant
buildings.
3. Relevant
Religions like Christianity are declining in the West because they
are seen as irrelevant to most people's lives. Few are concerned
about abstract philosophy, rituals with no apparent meaning, or
with speculations that go against reason. However, they are very
concerned about how to find more happiness amid the common problems
of life.
I have found it easy to explain that keeping moral precepts raises
one's average level of happiness, just as a rising tide lifts the
average level of the sea. The result is that many of my audience
keep the Five Precepts. It is also not difficult to illustrate that
kindness to your colleagues, family and to yourself, brings much
more comfort into your life. So my disciples become less angry and
more forgiving. There is so much medical evidence to prove that
traditional Buddhist meditation practices ease the stress of modern
life and relieve so many other related problems. So the members of
my temple are all keen meditators. These three central Buddhist
trainings -- morality, kindness and meditation -- when framed in
the context of personal growth in happiness, attract so many to
Buddhism. They relate to what many people consider as important to
them.
When we focus on what is relevant to ordinary people, then Buddhism
becomes important to them. They might begin with interest in
solving their worldly problems, but that soon leads to the Path
that liberates one from all suffering.
4. Examples
All this means nothing to the modern generation without high
quality leaders to provide the inspiration. The growth of Buddhism
relies crucially on living examples of virtuous, compassionate,
wise and peaceful monks. People of the 21st century are sceptical.
They withhold their belief until they see some evidence that it
will benefit them. Does Buddhism help? Does it really lead to
virtue, compassion, contentment and freedom? They are looking at us
monks for examples of where Buddhism leads, before they will
follow. How can we expect to inspire the questioning modern
generation when monks live in luxury, more wealthy that the common
person, when we are slack in our precepts and know little of
serenity? The Dharma is spread mostly by example, much more
powerfully than by any sermon.
As one well educated Australian wrote in her recent book, before
becoming a Buddhist she observed the monks in Perth for many
months. When she saw that they were very frugal, kept their
precepts, worked hard and were very happy, only then did she go for
refuge and start calling herself a Buddhist. Actions speak louder
than words.
So, for example, in Western Australia we have established
monasteries for training Sangha leaders of both genders, what I
call a 'monk factory' and a 'nun factory'. By putting many
resources into training high quality Sangha leaders we will be
ensuring the supply of high quality examples for the next
generation.
These are some of the strategies that have worked in Australia to
make Buddhism the fastest growing religion there. We do not need to
change the message of the Lord Buddha, nor do we need to change the
monastic rules. We may fulfil our duty to the Greatest Teacher, our
Lord Buddha, and spread the delightful Dharma throughout all parts
of our modern world, by making Buddhism PURE. That is Presented in
ordinary language, User friendly, Relevant, and with us monks as
the inspiring Examples.
Thank you.
Ajahn Brahmavamso
Bodhinyana Monastery
Western Australia.
September 2002
