Buddhism in Britain

Buddhism in Britain

How many Buddhists are there in Britain?

According to the 2001 census there are 151,816 Buddhists in Britain. However, that does not take into account those who regard themselves as Buddhists as well as Christians, or Jews, or Taoists, or anything else. The census form made no provision for such people to be counted. There are also those who refuse to label themselves as 'Buddhists' because it runs counter to the principle of selflessness or egolessness. They prefer to think of themselves as free spirits. Irrespective of how many Buddhists there are in Britain today, there is unquestionably a growing interest.

How has Buddhism developed in Britain?

Buddhism first found its way into Britain in the 19th century through translations of scriptures from the various schools in different parts of the east. In 1879 Sir Edwin Arnold compiled an epic poem, The Light of Asia, describing the Buddha's life. This was to become a classic and is still in print today.

The limited number of books available in those early years was enough to inspire a few to begin actually practising Buddhism as a way of life. One of those, Allan Bennett, went to Sri Lanka in 1898 and returned as Ananda Metteyya, the first Englishman to be ordained as a Buddhist monk (Bhikkhu) of the Theravada tradition.

In 1907 a number of people got together and formed The Buddhist Society of Great Britain and Ireland. This was succeeded in 1924 by The London Buddhist Society, founded by Christmas Humphreys. It was the first really successful organisation in Britain to provide a platform for all schools and traditions of Buddhism. It stood alone for almost fifty years as the focal point for Buddhists in Britain.

Sixties Britain brought eastern religions into fashion for the first time, including Buddhism. The Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1950 eventually led to the exodus of thousands of Tibetans with the Dalai Lama in 1959. This brought lamas to the west. These two factors in particular led to the mushrooming of new Buddhist groups. As a result, today almost every Buddhist tradition is represented in Britain.

BBC Religion & Ethics

Greetings,

An extract from my 2007 London blog...

Image: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3Cs6nnWpg90/RymLjOzMtkI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/7RMdiV3D7jQ/s1600-h/IMGP0024.JPG

I thought I'd take the plunge and head out early to my final destination for the day - the London Buddhist Vihara at Turnham Green.

I arrived at the London Buddhist Vihara and just had a nice quiet sit until Richard, the guy who seems to run the place on behalf of the monks, made me a cup of tea, and gave me a little tour of the place. In the two or so hours until the actual scheduled meditation started, I had a quick solo meditation, and check out their extensive library where I read a really interesting transcript of an encounter between a monk and an academic from Melbourne University about the subjects of kamma, dependent origination and rebirth. It was really insightful, but I didn't quite get a chance to read it all because the actual session was about to start.

It started with chanting of Refuge and the Five Precepts in the Buddha's native language, Pali. Then there was a recitation of the Metta Sutta (or Loving-kindness Sutta) prior to sitting meditation, standing meditation, metta meditation and a reading which I instantly recognised as being from the late Thai Forest monk, Ajahn Chah. A little discussion about what Ajahn Chah had said and then it was time to finish for the evening. A session like this was just what I needed as I've not been actively meditating while I've been here and it was nice to return to my roots for a bit after all the travelling and sightseeing I've been doing over the last two weeks. The other good thing was it was the first time I've ever been to a specifically Theravadin (or "Way of the Elders") Buddhist centre and this is relevant, because that's actually the form of Buddhism that I practice - any other ones I'd been to in the past (because of proximity) had been Mahayana or multi-denominational such as the FWBO. It was lovely to see some real Theravadin monks and to be in the company of some very calm, friendly and centred people. I gave a donation, picked up a few much needed Theravadin Dhamma books.

Metta,
Retro.

There has been a growth of Buddhism here but not to a massive degree to most people, most people i know dont know anything about Buddhism other than the name, but there does seem to be a steady growing interest in Buddhadhamma here (based on stats) so hopefully in the future it will have more of a presence in UK society

The main challenge it faces, i feel, is showing how it is different from the Abrahamic religions. More and more people here in the UK are turning away from religion in general*and have a set view now that every religion is the same as the one they have become disillusioned with (mostly Christianity).

(*in my slice of exp. of British society its seen as childish or unfashionable to have any kind of religious or even spiritual view, most people i know take agnostic and/or annhilationist attitudes towards spirituality and religions)


Metta