Buddhism in Australia: 1848-1988

84 Pages·1989·64.036 MB·English

by  Croucher, Paul

848— 988
‘
_

FOREWORD vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix
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Croucher,Paul, 1961— HOLDINGTHELOTUSTOTHEROCK:1956—1971 59
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BuddhisminAustralia, 1848—1988.
Bibliography.
Includesindex.
DIFFERENTDRUMMERS:1971—1975 so
ISBN0868401951.
1.Buddhism—Australia——History. I.
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THEOTHERSHORE: 1975—1988 97
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viii BUDDHISMINAUSTRALIA
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
mostly attracted to the rational-humanistic side of theteachingsorto
theirartisticmanifestations. This meantthatlargeareasofBuddhism
tended tobeneglectedandmisunderstood. Agoodexampleofthisis
the teaching on rebirth, which the more rationalistic characters
dismissedasanunnecessaryAsiandoctrine. Alongwiththis, anysort
ofceremonyorritualwaslookeddownonasasignofdegeneracy,and
such common Buddhist practices as bowing down to express
reverence, humilityandgratitudewereregardedasmereaccretionsto
theBuddha’sphilosophy. Buddhistmeditation, andthewaythatitcan
graduallytamearrogance, wasnotproperlyunderstoodandverylittle
time given to its practice. In fact, Buddhism remained just so many
wordswhichcouldbequotedwhenneededbutwhichdidnotleadto
the subjugation of the ’wild mind’. As a consequence, this history
has its fair share of unedifying episodes. To his credit, the author,
althoughhimselfaBuddhist,hasmadenoattempttoglossoverthese,
however, as he is more interested in historical accuracy than in any
idealised, editedversionoftheevents.
Two memories illustrate these unhappy tendencies in early
Australian Buddhism. In the first I am being assured by a rather I would like to express my sincerethanks to Elizabeth Bell, Rex
strident individual who watched a great deal of television and never Benn, Michael Chin-Quan, the Venerable Dhammika, Klaas deJong,
meditated, thatitwas possible toattainNirvanaatthe time ofdeath. Mike Godley, RobertGray, LenandJoanHenderson, AnthonyJames,
Of course, I hoped that this personwas right, butin mymind itwas Phra Khantipalo, Ross Klinger, Graeme Lyall, Ian Mabbett, Hugh
hard tosquarewith the Buddha’sexhortationstobediligent! Another Molesworth, Les Oates, Bill Rait, Rob Schackne, John Springall, Pete
memory from about the same time was of a Buddhist group’s Whipple, and Yutaka Yamada; to my parents and sisters; and
committee meetingwhich Iwasasked to attend. Themeeting, which especiallytoLehKiong.
ran from eight in the evening till eleven, was marked by angry
exchangesand, mostastonishingofall, notevena glassofwaterwas
offeredtoanyoneattending. AsIhadbeeninThailandformanyyears,
a country where real generosity is shown, I was dumbfounded by
thisdisplayofnon-practice. Allinstructionsfortheobservanceofthe
Buddha’s teachingsbeginwithdana (generosity), and ifitisnotmade
apartofone’slifethennothingelsecanbepractised.
In the 19805thescenehaschangedremarkably: therearenowmore
than 80000 Buddhists in Australia, catered to by a diverse array of
over 100Buddhistorganisations. Well-trained Buddhistteachershave
settled here, andgroupsofpeoplecollectedaboutthem. Forthemost
part, therefore, the emphasis now is on thorough study and good
practice. Theprospectofthisbeingcarriedintothefuturewilldepend
on how many home-grown teachers emerge in this country, with its
vastandsilentspaces, and shinethelightoftheDharmasothatthose
witheyescansee.
Ven. KhantipaloThera WatBuddhaDhamma October, 1988

2 BUDDHISMINAUSTRALIA EMPTYVESSELS 3
early contact with Asia is only vaguely defined, it has long been census designations reflected some of this confusion, with those
felt that navigators from several countries could easily have found Chinese not professing Christianity labelled simply as ’Buddhist/
themselves on the coast of northern Australia. Gujerati seamen, Confucian’.2
among whom there would have been many Buddhists, first estab- Surprisingly little is known of the religious side of Chinese life in
lishedtradinglinkswithJavaasearlyasAD75,whiletheJapanesehave Australia in the nineteenth century. They were birds of passage —
a tradition that an early seventeenth century Samurai adventurer, their average length of stay only five years. Not only did this tend to
Yamada Nagamasa, voyaged south beyond the Indonesian archi- preclude any real desire to assimilate, thus making their cultural
pelago. The most likely vessels to have made an Australian landfall, influence marginal, it also meant that few records were left behind.
however, were Chinese — those belonging to Cheng Ho’s huge Even the ubiquitous ’joss houses’ (’joss’ being a corruption of the
armada. Between 1405 and 1433 Ming dynasty emperors took akeen Portuguesedeos, orgod)wereusuallymakeshift. Theywerescattered
interest in maritime exploration. Their great expeditions consisted of throughouttheeasternstatesastentsorcrudewoodenstructures, set
no fewer than sixty-two large ships, several of which are known to upby enterprisingChinese, often on a commercialbasis. In therisky
have visited the Aru Islands, 480km north of ArnhemLand, around business of gold-mining many were happy to pay for the privilege
1408 andagainaround 1414. of access to deities who might bring luck. More established temples
The material evidence for an early Chinese presence includes were usually adjuncts of benevolent associations or secret societies.
porcelain fragments and a 13 cm statuette. Opinion is«fairly evenly The South Melbourne temple, for example, was built by the secular
divided, however, as to whether this image of Shou Lao (the ’spirit Sze Yap organisation in 1856. Accordingtoan article in the Australian
of longevity’) can be regarded as contemporary with Cheng Ho. It Sketcher in 1875, religious ceremonies at the temple were usually
was found near Darwin in 1879 by a Mr Strawbridge of the South carried out by members of the merchant class who, ’being vested in
AustralianPublicWorksDepartment, whoclaimedthatitwasametre the manner of invoking Buddha, at certain stated times every year
underground, and wedged between the roots of an oldbanyan tree. attendedatthelossHousehabitedinrichrobesofChinesesilktooffer
RusselWardpointsoutthatthebanyantreeitselfwouldindicateearly sacrifices andprayforlucktoBuddha’.3
linkswithAsiaastheyarenotnativetoAustralia, andthattheChinese AlthoughasmallpercentageoftheChineseinAustraliawouldhave
have always constructed small shrines amidst the spreading roots of felt themselves tobe Buddhists, there is no such evidence of Buddha
large trees. Geoffrey Blainey, among others, however, suggests that images havingplayeda partintemplereligionhere. Thecentraldeity
the soapstoneoutofwhichtheShouLaoimageisfashionedistoosoft intheSouthMelbournejosshousewasprobablyKuanKung,afamous
tohavelasted450yearsin-suchconditions. Itmaythereforehavebeen general deified as a god of war and justice, or Tsai Shen, the god
brought to Australia by Macassan traders or nineteenth century of riches, popularly known as ’The Treasurer’. Neither bore any
Chinese, althoughthiswouldnotexplainthemysteryastowhyitwas relationship to Buddhism, though at times such popular deities
buried, and then laterremain unclaimed. were supplanted by Buddhist images. Kuan Yin, the bodhisattva of
The first concrete instance of Buddhists arriving in Australia compassion, for example, was identified in the South Melbourne
may be dated to 1848, with the first consignment of Chinese coolie temple in 1883, and it is thought that other figures such as A-mi-to
labourers. The elemental Chinese religion is, of course, a kind of (Amitabha) and Mi Lo (Maitreya) might also have had a place in
nature polytheism, onto which aspects of Confucianism, Taoism, the pantheon. The elaborate furnishings in the more established
and Buddhism have been grafted. The Chinese broughtwith them a temples oftenincorporatedBuddhistaltardesigns, motifssuchasthe
syncretic blend of beliefs and practices in which demarcations were swastika, andevenstandardsuponwhichwereprintedthecharacters
ill-defined and the influence of Buddhism only mild. As in China, ofBuddhistmantras.
thosewhoexclusivelyidentifiedthemselveswithBuddhismprobably Folkritesofdivinationandthesupervisionoffestivalswereusually
amounted to no more than one per cent of the population. Most carried outbyatempleattendant. Hewasalaymanappointedforthe
werecontenttowear’aConfuciancrown, aTaoistrobe, andBuddhist task, often on a rotation basis, and as he had no religious training
sandals’, and when pressed had some difficulty in describing the his role was more akin to that of a caretaker. No Chinese priests are
religion they practised. The Darwin Chinese when asked, for known to have ventured to Australia to officiate in any capacity,
example, replied simply: ’It is the same as in China’. The Australian and G. C. Bolton is surely confused when he asserts that ’a resident
4 BUDDHISMINAUSTRALIA EMPTYVESSELS 5
Buddhistpriest’ arrived on theHerbertRiverinnorthQueensland as probablychosenasthedatetocommemoratebecauseofanelementof
early as 1886 to ministertoaJavanesecommunitythere. Iftherewere high drama involved: it was a very inauspicious welcome. Around
any Buddhist priests at all in Java in the nineteenth century they 500 Sinhalese left Colombo in 1882 for the plantations of north
would have been in very short supply, and most unlikely to have Queensland, inwhatwasprobablythefirstinstanceofalargenumber
ventured to north Queensland to look after the spiritual needs of ofSinhaleseleavingtheirshoresvoluntarilytoliveinanothercountry.
JavaneseMuslims.‘ Twohundredand seventy-fivewerelandedatMackayinQueensland
Chinese ’Celestials’, as theywere called, constructed theirtemples on 16 November, and the remainder at Burnett two days later. Here
and shrines in a hostile environment, not particularly conducive to they were prevented from disembarking and making their way into
cultural interaction. The spectre of the ’yellow peril’ had raised its BundabergbyarowdygroupoffiftyAnti-CoolieLeaguerswhopelted
head, and Caucasian xenophobia precluded any real dialogue. The them with stones. What ensued came to be known as ’The Battle of
erection of the South Melbourne temple was even seen by some as Burnett’, as taunts and abuse led to Violence, with the Sinhalese
’evidenceofagiganticanddeeplylaidschemetosubverttheChristian drawingknivesandchasingofftheLeaguers. Althoughmostofthese
religion’. Despitethis,therewereoccasionalinstancesofappreciation, Sinhalese quickly absconded from their extremely low-paid jobs, a
as when a journalist for the Queenslander wrote in glowing, if number stayed on in the area. It is known that some had brought
patronising, terms of the Brisbane joss house: ’Light is the same BuddhistliteraturewiththemasacertainBastianAppoisreportedto
everywhere and it can be found on the Buddhist altar as well as in have sworn on a ’Buddhist Bible’ in a Mackay court in 1885 when
the Christian pulpit’. The decline of the Chinese population and the bringingassaultchargesagainstanAustralian.
Christianisation ofthosewhoremainedtooktheheartoutofChinese Many of these Sinhalese no doubt made their way to Thursday
religion inAustralia. Temples fell into disrepair, and were more than Island, where a cohesive little Buddhist community was forming.
everthetargetsofvandals. Tothisdaythefunctioningtemplesinmost At its peak in the 1890s it consisted of around 500 Sinhalese, who
capital cities areidentifiedwithChinesefolkreligion, andbearonlya planted two bodhi tree saplings, said to be related to the tree under
verydistantrelationshiptoBuddhism.5 which the Buddha gained enlightenment. They are still flourishing,
JapaneseandSinhaleseimmigrantsweremorelikelytohaveV.iewed buta smalltemplewhich was constructednolonger stands. Festivals
themselves as exclusively Buddhist. The first Japanese in Australia such as vesak were strictly observed, and according to Mr Peter
were probably a troupe of jugglers and acrobats who toured in 1867. Warnakulasuriya, bornin 1888, a Buddhistmonkvisited the islandto
Like the Sinhalese, from the late 18705 onwards manyJapanese were officiate at the temple around the turn of the century. With the Immi-
active in the pearling industry across northern Australia. By the turn grationRestrictionActof1901, however,thecommunityslowlybeganto
of the century the 3600 Japanese on Thursday Island, for example, disperse, reflecting the truth of the Buddhist epitaph on a Sinhalese
outnumbered Europeans. The skills of Wakayama pearl divers were gravestone on Thursday Island: ’Sabbe sankhara anicca’, or ’imper—
suchthattheWhiteAustraliaPolicywascircumventedinthisindustry, manentareallcomponentthings’."
and indenturedJapanesewereallowedintothecountryrightupuntil AtleastoneoftheseSinhalesefamiliesstayedoninQueenslandand
1941. In these tiny enclaves atBroome, Darwin and Thursday Island, retained its Buddhistidentity, withstandingthe strongpressuresand
therefore, Buddhist cemeteries were kept and festivals celebrated. inducements to convert to Christianity. The Mendis family for many
Each year, on the full moon of August, the Japanese held the Ohm:- years sold Buddhist literature through their jewellery shop and, in
matsuri, orlantern festival, described as a kind of BuddhistAllSouls’ 1982, wereinstrumentalinestablishingtheBrisbaneBuddhistVlhara.
Day. Theentirecommunityparticipated, especiallyatBroome, where Another jeweller, reputed to be the wealthiest man in Broome, was
theoccasionlentthetownamarkedlyexoticairappreciatedbytourists probablytheonlyBuddhistinAustraliawithanationalidentityinthe
andlocalsalike. interwaryears. Tudagala Badalge Ellias, known locally asT. B. Ellies,
In1982TheravadaBuddhistgroupscelebratedwhattheyconsidered arrived in Broome in 1888 and was for over forty years considered
tobe the centenaryofSinhaleseBuddhism inAustralia. Infact, there the finest pearl-cleaner in the world. So adept was he at removing
were Sinhalese employed on Queensland sugar-cane plantations as blemishes from pearls that he often made £100 commission on two
early as 1870, and the Sinhalese Buddhist community on Thursday hours’ work. Muchoftheproceedsofhisconsiderablewealthwentin
Island is thought to date back to at least 1876. The year 1882 was 1917 towards the erection of a temple and monastery complex in his
EMPTYVESSELS 7
6 BUDDHISMINAUSTRALIA
native Bope district, near Galle in Sri Lanka. At a costof£10000, the sympathetic treatments of Buddhism published in an Australian
interior of the central shrine was constructed of white ebony, and journal, butitwasalsotheviewofitseditor, W. H. Terry, a ’magnetic
housed a 306 kg solid silver Buddha Ellies himself had carved. A healer’and’clairvoyantherbalist’. HisSpiritualistbookstoreinRussell
legendary figure, anecdotal material about him featuresprominently Street, Melbourne, soon came to stock every piece of Buddhist
in everyhistoryofthepearlingindustryandofBroome. literature available. He soldcopiesoftheDhammapada, biographiesof
In 1911 the national census categories were changed and 3269 the Buddhaand, aftertheirpublicationin1879, the firstbooksinMax
people, excluding those adherents of ’Chinese religion’, designated Muller’s series, ’TheSacredBooks of theBuddhists’.8
themselves as Buddhists. We can only guess that this figure would Theseworks, andthoseofthefledglingPaliTextSocietyestablished
have been considerably higher in the 18905. In the interwar years in 1881, gave rise to much of the interest in Theosophy, as well as
numbers declined steadilybefore bottomingoutat411 in 1947. These greatly eXpanding the historical consciousness of Australians. But if
professedBuddhistswouldhavebeenChineseandSinhalesewhohad any one book sparked a widespread interest in Buddhism it was Sir
managed tostay,Japaneseinvolvedinpearling, andperhapseventhe Edwin Arnold’s immensely popular account of the Buddha’s life and
oddTheosophicalsympathiser. teaching, The Light ofAsia. Although it now seems florid, and is in
In 1891, three years after what were probably the worst outbreaks some respects inaccurate, confusing as it does aspects of Hindu and
of anti-Chinese xenophobia in Australian history, Colonel Henry Buddhist philosophy, Arnold did succeed in dispelling many of the
Steel Olcott, co-founder of theTheosophical Society and self-styled then current ideas that Buddhism was nihilistic — it being his ’firm
Buddhist, toured the country lecturing on the wisdom of the East. conviction thata third of mankindwouldneverhavebeenbroughtto
A large section of his audience was willing to believe that perhaps believeinblankabstractions, orinNothingnessastheissueandcrown
Asia held manyofthe answers thatcouldhealthebreachestablished of Being’. In a review of the epic poem published in the Harbinqer of
between science and religion. Some may have even agreed with Light, C. W. Rohnerwrotethat’theBuddhaoftheHindoosisnotonly
Gilbert Elliot, Australia’s first member of the Theosophical Society, moreancientbyfivehundredyears,butalsoinmanyrespectsgrander
who wrote in reviewing A. P. Sinnett’s Esoteric Buddhism in 1883 that andless vacillatingthanourJesus’.9
’therealconstitutionofmanishardlyatallunderstoodbyEuropeans’. ThepersonoftheBuddhawasnot,however,thechiefreasonforthis
This romantic new orientation towards the mysterious East, and turning to the East. Spiritualists were the first in a long line to seize
the great upsurge of interest in Buddhism as a viable alternative to on Buddhism, with its perceived rationalism and consistency with
Christianity, waspartofabroaderculturalandreligiousferment. The science, as a foil in the battle against fundamentalist Christianity.
lastquarterofthenineteenthcenturywasaperiodnotunlikeourown, W. H. Terry, the chief publicist for Buddhism in Australia in the
with Australian cities awash in Transcendentalism, Spiritualism, 18805, heralded ’the redemption from blind Christianity to rational
Theosophy and anti-vivisectionism. Pre-1914 idealism had little time Buddhism’. Spiritualists, with their claims to being scientific and
for what was seen as the humdrum conservatism of the Anglican rational, were natually attracted by the Kalama Sutta, the tenets
parson. It was an age which makes the interwar years very drab by of which were elucidated in Olcott’s Buddhist Catechism. Herein the
comparison, and as Jill Roe concludes in her book on Theosophy in Buddha teaches that things should not be believed in because they
Australia, it makes it clear that ’the counter-culture has a longer have been handed down by tradition, or by a particular teacher,
historythanwethink’.7 but only when they have been confirmed by one’s own reason and
The Buddhist component in this broad movement may be seen to experience. This must have seemed like a tonic sent from the other
have had its origins in the sympathy shown Sinhalese Buddhists by side, and given Arnold’s assurance, Australian Spiritual lecturers
Spiritualists after the ’Great Debate of Panadura’ in 1873 between began to equate Nirvana with the kingdom of heaven: ’Nirvana, as
Christian missionaries and a Buddhist monk. Dr J. M. Peebles, an somevainlyimagine,isnottoceasetobe,butforthefirsttimetoreally
American Spiritualist published the text of the debate, and was be’. Once they discovered the doctrine of anatta (’ego—lessness’, or
quoted intheAustralian Spiritualistjournal, theHarbingerofLight, in ’nosoul’), however, theysoonrecoiledfromBuddhism; fortheideaof
July1878, asmaintainingthat’thetoneofmoralityishigher—andthe ’an existencewithouta soul’ did notbearcontemplation. Spiritualists
practice of charitable deeds far more prevalent in Buddhist than in must neverthelessbe seen to have paved thewayforTheosophy, and
Christian countries’. Notonlywas this probablyamongthe very first thus forWesternBuddhism.lo
8 BUDDHISMINAUSTRALIA EMPTYVESSELS 9
Emma Layman is at least partly justified in dating the beginning W. H. Terry joined the society soon after and used his journal as a
ofAmericanBuddhism to the foundationoftheTheosophicalSociety forum for presenting Theosophical ideas. Indeed, Spiritualism
in New York in 1875. Despite its later peregrinations, Theosophy as provided the main constituency for the society. Jill Roe points to
conceived by Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott is generally research which would suggest the typical Australian Theosophist
agreed tohaveadvancedBuddhismasaweaponagainstChristianity. came from an evangelical Christian background, passed through an
She wrote, for example, of ’the maddening effect of Protestantism’, agnostic phase, and then arrived by way of a period of interest in
andOlcottofChristianityas’ourgreatenemy’. Thebirthofthesociety Spiritualism. The first branch of the Theosophical Society was not,
was fundamentally the result of Spiritualists having encountered however, chartered until 1889, in Tasmania. The Melbourne society
Buddhism and other Indian religious philosophies. They sought a was founded the following year by Elise Pickett, a Russian newly
comprehensive set of ideas which could provide something deeper arrived from New Zealand, who, according to Roe, called herself a
than Protestantism, and yet which was not in conflict with science. Buddhist. If such was the case, she might well have been the first
In Olcott’s View, the Buddha’s injunctions in the Kalama Sutta fitted ’WhiteBuddhist’ tohavesetfootonAustralianshores.
thebillnicely. Hewrote: ’IamaBuddhist, becausethereisnoscrapof Colonel Olcott was probably, then, the second. In early 1891 he
doctrine in Buddhism. If there were I would give it up tomorrow.’ spent several months lecturing throughout Australia specifically on
Blavatsky claimed that the idea for establishing the society was ’Theosophy and Buddhism’. The central aim of Theosophy, he said,
not hers but that of the Tibetan adepts with whom she had once was to disseminate Buddhist philosophy, which he characterised as
studied and was still in constant communication. The ’schools of the rational and therefore eminently suitable for freethinkers. In an
Northern Buddhist Church’, she wrote, ’teach all that is now called interview with the Daily Telegraph he declared Buddhism to be ’a
Theosophical doctrines’. Theosophy was defined in Buddhist terms, perfect system of psychology dating back to antiquity’. As the first
and for a time considered synonymous with ’Esoteric Buddhism’, visiting lecturer to effectively popularise Buddhism, Olcott found a
for ’Buddhism has remained in closer union with the esoteric receptive, highly respectable audience, for although he saw
doctrines than any other popular religion’. In 1888 she wrote: ’Even Australians as evolving ’a coarse vagabond brutality’, they also had
exoteric Buddhism is the surest path to lead men towards the one great ’mysticaltendenciesandcapabilities’.12
esoterictruth’." Themovementtowhichthisvisitgaveimpetuswasmarginal,butit
Both Blavatskyand Olcottbecame more than de factoBuddhists in wasnotpartofanylunaticfringe.JillRoepointstocensusfiguresfrom
May 1880in SriLanka when theytookpansil, the recitingofthe three Victoriawhichindicate that theTheosophicalSocietyconsisted ofthe
refuges and five moral precepts. In doing so, theywere probablythe best-educated women of any religious persuasion, and the second-
firstWesternerssincetheGreeksofGandharatobecomeBuddhistsin besteducatedmen, afteratheists. Theosophywas, therefore, situated
the formalsense. ExactlywhatkindofBuddhiststheywereisanother close to the cuttingedge of the thoughtof the day, its small numbers
matter, ofcourse, though they seem to have had no ulterior motives. belyingaconsiderableimpactonAustralianculture. Olcott, whobore
The indefatigable, globe-trotting Colonel thereafter gave himself with him everywhere a letterofintroduction fromapastpresidentof
up to the Buddhist cause, championing its revival in Sri Lanka by the United States, relished the decidedly upper class attentions
agitatingforreligious equalityand establishingBuddhistschools. He Australian Theosophy was receiving. The good Colonel dined with
contributed enormously to the renaissance of Buddhism generally in the governor of New South Wales, for example, and spent an
Asia, andspentmanyyears tryingtofostera newecumenism. Olcott afternoon inspecting theJapanese home ofJudge Paul of the District
Day is still commemorated in Sri Lanka, where he is regarded as Court. His tour, indeed, highlighted the late-Victorian vogue, then
something of a bodhisattva-hero who helped restore the faith after at its height, for all things romantically connected with the ’mystic
centuries of colonial darkness. Although H. P. Blavatsky received a East’. As Olcott recorded in his diary, it was a vogue which even
badpress, thetwoweregreattrail-blazersforBuddhism,anditisonly extendedto parsons:
in thecontextoftheireffortsthatthehistoryofBuddhisminAustralia On the 17th May, at Melbourne, I enjoyed the rare pleasure of hearing a
canbeunderstood. Christian clergyman, the Rev. DrBuchanan, inpreachingtoanaudience of
Theosophy was firstbrought to the attention of Australians by the 1500 people on ’Buddhism and Christianity’, praise our Society. Well, I
lecturetourofanAmericanmember, EmmaHardingBritten, in 1878. thought, theoldsayingistrue—wonderswillnevercease!