Buddhism in the United Kingdom

Buddhism has a small but growing number of adherents in the United Kingdom.According to a Buddhist organisation, this growth has in recent years been predominately the result of conversion [ [http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=3,1952,0,0,1,0 BuddhistChannel - Allure of Buddhism growing in the UK] ] [ [http://buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=3,837,0,0,1,0 Buddhist Channel - Seed of Buddhism now growing in UK] ] . In the UK census for 2001, there were about 152,000 people who registered their religion as Buddhism, and about 174,000 who cited religions other than Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam and Sikhism. [ [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=293 National Statistics Online ] ] [ [http://www.globalbuddhism.org/5/bluck04.htm Buddhism and Ethnicity in Britain: The 2001 Census Data] ] This latter figure is likely to include some people who follow the traditional Chinese mixture of religions including Buddhism.

History of Buddhism in the United Kingdom

The earliest Buddhist influence on Britain came through its imperial connections with South East Asia, and as a result the early connections were with the Theravada traditions of Burma, Thailand, and Sri Lanka. To begin with, 150 years ago, this response was primarily scholarly, and a tradition of study grew up that eventually resulted in the foundation of the Pali Text Society, which undertook the huge task of translating the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhist texts into English. The Buddha himself became well known as a moral and spiritual leader with the publication in 1879 of Sir Edwin Arnold’s "The Light of Asia". Alongside this came the start of interest in Buddhism as a path of practice. This was pioneered by the Theosophists, Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott, and in 1880 they became the first Westerners to receive the refuges and precepts, the ceremony by which one traditionally becomes a Buddhist. they were also later received into the Hindu religion.

Through the early twentieth century the Theosophical and Theravadin influences continued, particularly with the foundation in 1924 of London’s Buddhist Society. In 1926 the Theravadin London Buddhist Vihara in Chiswick was founded. A slow trickle of westerners travelled to Asia to take monastic ordination, mainly as Theravadin monks; and a few Asian monks came to live in Britain.

The rate of growth was slow but steady through the century, and the 1950s saw the development of interest in Zen Buddhism. In 1967 Kagyu Samyé Ling Monastery and Tibetan Centre was founded by Tibetan lamas and refugees Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Akong Rinpoche. It is in Eskdalemuir, Scotland and is the largest Tibetan Buddhist centre in Western Europe, and part of the Karma Kagyu tradition.

The Manjushri Kadampa Buddhist Centre [ [http://www.manjushri.org/index.php Buddhism & meditation in the English Lake District] ] in Conishead Priory located just outside of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria is a large New Kadampa Tradition Tibetan Buddhist centre. The priory established by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso in 1975 claims to be 'the mother centre from which around 1100 Kadampa Buddhist centres have been set up worldwide'. [ [http://www.aboutulverston.co.uk/location/conisheadpriory.htm Conishead Priory, Ulverston] ]

A Theravada monastery consisting mainly of Westerners following the Thai Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah was established at Chithurst Buddhist Monastery in Sussex, and has established branches elsewhere in the country. A lay meditation tradition of Thai origin is represented by the Samatha Trust, with its headquarters cum retreat centre in Wales. Soto Zen has a priory at Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey in Northumberland.

Also in 1967 an Englishman who had spent time in the east as a Theravadin monk founded the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order, the first home-grown Buddhist movement. He was followed by other westerners who had studied in the East, and by Eastern teachers, particularly refugee Tibetan Lamas, and under the influence of these teachers a large and diverse British Buddhist world has emerged. The 2001 census gave the British Buddhist population at 152,000 (0.3% of the total population) [ [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=954 National Statistics Online ] ] . 36% of those stating they were Buddhist lived in London [ [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=956 National Statistics Online ] ] and 38% of Buddhists were white. [ [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=957 National Statistics Online ] ] .

As well as the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order there are other Buddhism-based new religious movements such as the New Kadampa Tradition and Sōka Gakkai International.

2001 census

This was organized separately and differently in different parts of the country.

England and Wales

These contain most of the country's population. Out of a total population of 52,041,916, 4,010,658 exercised their right not to answer the religion question. Of the remainder, 144,453 ticked the Buddhist box.

Place of birth: ["Census 2001: National Report for England and Wales", Office for National Statistics, London, TSO, 2003, page 184]

*UK 66,522
*Far East 59,931
*South Asia 9,847
*...

Ethnic group: ["Census 2001: National Report for England and Wales", part 2, Office for National Statistics, London, TSO, 2004, page 33]

*white 56,040
*Chinese 34,304
*Asian 13,919
*mixed 4,647
*black 1,507
*other 34,036

cotland

Here people were asked both their current religion and that they were brought up in. 6,830 people gave Buddhism as their current religion, and 4,704 said they were brought up in it, with an overlap of 3,146. ["Scotland's Census 2001: the Registrar-General's Report to the Scottish Parliament", General Register Office for Scotland, 2003, page 31]

Northern Ireland

Here the published report ["Northern Ireland Census 2001: Standard Tables", National Statistics, 2003, page 43] lists religions and philosophies in order of size, down to a threshold of 100 followers:

#Christian
#Muslim
#Hindu
#Buddhist 533
#Jewish
#Bahá'í
#Sikh
#Pagan
#Atheist
#Spiritualist

ee also

* [http://www.buddhanet.net/wbd/country.php?country_id=76 List of notable Buddhist centers, pagodas and temples in the United Kingdom]
* [http://www.thebuddhistsociety.org/ The Buddhist Society]
*Buddhism in the West

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/history/britishbuddhism_1.shtml BBC - British Buddhism]
* [http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/English/Collections/Onlineresources/RWWC/themes/1301/1093 Reassessing what we collect website – Buddhist London] History of Buddhist London with objects and images
* [http://www.buddhismtoday.com/english/world/country/022-England.htm Buddhism Today - Buddhism in United Kingdom]

References

* [http://www.fwbo.org/index.html "The Friends of the Western Buddhist Order"]