Buddhism in England has growing support. 238,626 people in England declared themselves to be

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

at the 2011 Census and 34% of them lived in London.

History

Early Buddhist presence could be seen in the 1810s.

Adam Sri Munni Ratna Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

, a Buddhist monk from Ceylon (Sri Lanka), travelled to England with his cousin (also a Buddhist monk) while accompanying

Sir Alexander Johnston ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

in 1818. They were keen to learn Christianity as they were travelling to England. During their brief stay, the two monks were baptised and returned to Ceylon where they entered government service. Main Buddha Chithurst Cittaviveka

Theravada ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

influences grew in England during the early 20th century. A few of the significant events were the foundation of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

’s

Buddhist Society The Buddhist Society is a UK registered charity which aims to encourage the study and practice of Buddhist principles. The Buddhist Society is an inter-denominational and non-sectarian lay organization. It offers talks and classes on the teach ...

in 1924 and the Theravada

London Buddhist Vihara The London Buddhist Vihara ( Sinhala:ලන්ඩන් බෞද්ධ විහාරය ''Landan Bauddha Viharaya'') is one of the main Theravada Buddhist temples in the United Kingdom. The Vihara was the first Sri Lankan Buddhist monastery to ...

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...

in 1926. Anagarika Dharmapala (1864-1933), the founder of the Mahā Bodhi Society in 1891, was instrumental in presenting Buddhism as a living monastic tradition to the UK. The return of

Ananda Metteyya Charles Henry Allan Bennett (8 December 1872 – 9 March 1923) was an English Buddhist and former member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. He was an early friend and influential teacher of occultist Aleister Crowley. Bennett received ...

to England on 23 April 1908 after travels in Ceylon and monk ordination in Burma was another significant milestone in the legacy of British Buddhism. A slow trickle from United Kingdom travelled to Asia for deeper spiritual commitment via monastic ordination, mainly as Theravadin monks, like

Ñāṇavīra Thera Ñāṇavīra Thera (born Harold Edward Musson; 5 January 1920 – 5 July 1965) was an English Theravāda Buddhist monk, ordained in 1950 in Sri Lanka. He is known as the author of ''Notes on Dhamma'', which were later published by Path Pres ...

and Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu who went to

Island Hermitage Island Hermitage on (Polgasduwa) Dodanduwa Island, Galle District, Sri Lanka is a famous Buddhist forest monastery founded by Ven Nyanatiloka Mahathera in 1911. It’s a secluded place for Buddhist monks to study and meditate in the Buddhist ...

in Sri Lanka for their

Sāmaṇera A sāmaṇera (Pali); sa, श्रामणेर (), is a novice male monastic in a Buddhist context. A female novice is a ''śrāmaṇerī'' or ''śrāmaṇerikā'' (Sanskrit; Pāli: ''sāmaṇerī''). Etymology The ''sāmaṇera'' is a ...

ordination in 1949. Kapilavaddho Bhikkhu introduced the Dhammakaya tradition to the UK in 1954 in this way and founded the English Sangha Trust in 1955. Several notable Asian monks like

Hammalawa Saddhatissa Hammalawa Saddhatissa Maha Thera (1914–1990) was an ordained Buddhist monk, missionary and author from Sri Lanka, educated in Varanasi, London, and Edinburgh. He was a contemporary of Walpola Rahula, also of Sri Lanka. Early life Saddhati ...

came to live in England. In 1967, Englishman Sangharakshita (1925-2018), who had spent time in the east as a Theravadin monk, founded the

Friends of the Western Buddhist Order The Triratna Buddhist Community (formerly the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO)) is an international fellowship of Buddhists and others who aspire to its path of mindfulness. It was founded by Sangharakshita (born Dennis Philip Edward ...

(later renamed Triratna Buddhist Community). The

Manjushri Institute Manjushri Institute was a large Buddhist college situated at Conishead Priory in Cumbria, England from 1976 until its dissolution in 1991. In 1991 its assets, including Conishead Priory, were transferred to a new centre on the same premises, Manju ...

, a large Buddhist college at

Conishead Priory Conishead Priory is a large Gothic Revival building on the Furness peninsula near Ulverston in Cumbria. The priory's name translates literally as "King's Hill Priory". Since 1976, the building has been occupied by a Buddhist community. History o ...

in Cumbria, was founded under the guidance of the Tibetan

Gelugpa 240px, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Bodhgaya (India). The Gelug (, also Geluk; "virtuous")Kay, David N. (2007). ''Tibetan and Zen Buddhism in Britain: Transplantati ...

monk

Thubten Yeshe Thubten Yeshe (1935–1984) was a Tibetan lama who, while exiled in Nepal, co-founded Kopan Monastery (1969) and the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (1975). He followed the Gelug tradition, and was considered unconvention ...

in 1976. In 1991, it was subsumed by the New Kadampa Tradition, a

new religious movement A new religious movement (NRM), also known as alternative spirituality or a new religion, is a religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin or th ...

founded by another monk, Kelsang Gyatso. A Theravada monastic order following the

Thai Forest Tradition The Kammaṭṭhāna Forest Tradition of Thailand (from pi, kammaṭṭhāna meaning Kammaṭṭhāna, "place of work"), commonly known in the West as the Thai Forest Tradition, is a Parampara, lineage of Theravada Buddhist monasticism. The ...

of Ajahn Chah was established at

Chithurst Buddhist Monastery ''Cittaviveka'' (Pali: ' discerning mind'), commonly known as Chithurst Buddhist Monastery, is an English Theravada Buddhist Monastery in the Thai Forest Tradition. It is situated in West Sussex, England in the hamlet of Chithurst between ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

in 1979, giving rise to branch monasteries elsewhere in the country, including the Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in the

Chiltern Hills The Chiltern Hills is a chalk escarpment in England. The area, northwest of London, covers stretching from Goring-on-Thames in the southwest to Hitchin in the northeast - across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Bedfordshire. ...

and

Aruna Ratanagiri Aruna Ratanagiri Buddhist Monastery (Harnham Buddhist Monastery) is a Theravada Buddhist monastery of the Thai Forest Tradition in Northumberland, England. The community consists of monks, novices and postulants from a wide range of nationalitie ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

. Quite a number of locals like

Ajahn Khemadhammo Ajahn Khemadhammo OBE (also known as Chao Khun Bhavanaviteht; born )Ajahn Sucitto, Ajahn Amaro, Ajahn Brahm and

Ajahn Jayasaro Ajahn ( th, อาจารย์, , ) is a Thai-language term that translates as "professor" or "teacher". It is derived from the Pali word '' ācariya'' and is a term of respect, similar in meaning to the Japanese ''sensei''. It is used as a ...

were ordained into this monastic order, become serious practitioners and dedicated Dhamma teachers. Ajahn Khemadhammo also began Buddhist prison chaplaincy work in 1977 and established "Angulimala, the Buddhist Prison Chaplaincy" in 1985. A lay meditation tradition of Thai origin is represented by the Samatha Trust, with its headquarters cum retreat centre in Wales.

Sōtō Zen Sōtō Zen or is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai and Ōbaku). It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Cáodòng school, which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Dòngshān L ...

has a priory at Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey in Northumberland. There are now many Buddhist groups in England. To name a few from the Tibetan Tradition there are Sanghas of:

Rigpa In Dzogchen, ''rigpa'' (; Skt. vidyā; "knowledge") is knowledge of the ground. The opposite of ''rigpa'' is ''ma rigpa'' ('' avidyā'', ignorance). A practitioner who has attained the state of ''rigpa'' and is able to rest there continuously ...

Karma Kagyu Karma Kagyu (), or Kamtsang Kagyu (), is a widely practiced and probably the second-largest lineage within the Kagyu school, one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The lineage has long-standing monasteries in Tibet, China, Russia, Mon ...

Dechen Dechen () is a Tibetan name meaning "great bliss". It is a Tibetan translation of the Sanskrit term (). People with the name Dechen include: *Pabongkhapa Déchen Nyingpo (1878–1941), lama of the Gelug school *Pema Dechen (1918–1991), third ...

Diamond Way Buddhism Diamond Way Buddhism (''Diamond Way Buddhism - Karma Kagyu Lineage'') is a lay organization within the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. The first Diamond Way Buddhist center was founded in 1972 by Hannah Nydahl and Ole Nydahl in Copenhag ...

and

Aro gTér The Aro gTér is a lineage within the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. The pure vision terma on which it is based teaches all Buddhist topics from the point of view of Dzogchen. The Aro gTer terma was received by Western-born Buddhist, Ngak ...

The

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Dal ...

visited

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

in both 2010 and 2015, on the latter occasion formally opening the

Aldershot Buddhist Centre Aldershot Buddhist Centre (also the Buddhist Community Centre UK or BCCUK) is a Buddhist temple and community centre catering for the Buddhists of Aldershot in Hampshire and surrounding area. Opened in 2015, it describes itself as the United Kingd ...

Demographics

In 2001 Buddhism constituted 0.3% of the population of England, which increased to 0.5% in 2011 census. According to the 2011 census, there are 238,626 Buddhists in England. The district with the highest proportion of Buddhists at the 2011 Census was Rushmoor in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, with 3.3% of respondents identifying as Buddhist: this is mainly due to the area's (specifically Aldershot's) historic ties with the Gurkha regiment.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Buddhism, In England

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Eng Eng

History

Demographics

See also

References

Sources