Buddhism in England

Part of a series on
Western Buddhism
Statue of the Buddha in the Japanese Tea Garden, San Francisco
Main articles Western Buddhism Buddhist modernism Buddhism in the United States Buddhism in Europe Historical Greco-Buddhism Buddhism and the Roman world Greco-Buddhist monasticism
Tibetan dissemination 14th Dalai Lama In the United States Chögyam Trungpa In England Geshe Kelsang Gyatso In Germany Lama Anagarika Govinda
Theravada dissemination Thai Forest Tradition Vipassana movement In England Anagarika Dharmapala Sangharakshita Ajahn Chah In Germany Nyanatiloka Nyanaponika Thera In the United States Thanissaro Bhikkhu Joseph Goldstein Jack Kornfield
Zen dissemination Zen in the United States Modern Chinese Chán Hsuan Hua Sheng-yen Hsing Yun Rinzai Zen D. T. Suzuki Sokei-an Soto Zen Shunryū Suzuki Sanbo Kyodan Haku'un Yasutani White Plum Asanga Taizan Maezumi Korean Seon Seung Sahn Vietnamese Thiền Thích Nhất Hạnh Listing of Zen Buddhists
Pure Land dissemination In the UK Three Wheels Temple In the USA Buddhist Churches of America Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii In Canada Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Temples of Canada
Exchange Buddhism and Christianity Buddhism and Gnosticism Buddhism and psychology Buddhism and Western Philosophy Buddhism and Pyrrhonism
General Buddhism Buddhism Outline of Buddhism Traditions Theravada Mahayana Vajrayana Navayana Asian countries Indian Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism Chinese Buddhism Japanese Buddhism Korean Buddhism Listing of Buddhist topics
v t

Part of a series on
Buddhism
Glossary Index Outline
History Timeline The Buddha Pre-sectarian Buddhism Councils Silk Road transmission of Buddhism Decline in the Indian subcontinent Later Buddhists Buddhist modernism
Dharma Concepts Four Noble Truths Noble Eightfold Path Dharma wheel Five Aggregates Impermanence Suffering Not-self Dependent Origination Middle Way Emptiness Morality Karma Rebirth Saṃsāra Cosmology
Buddhist texts Buddhavacana Early Texts Tripiṭaka Mahayana Sutras Pāli Canon Sanskrit literature Tibetan canon Chinese canon Post-canon
Practices Three Jewels Buddhist Paths to liberation Five precepts Perfections Philosophical reasoning Devotional practices Merit making Recollections Mindfulness Wisdom Sublime abidings Aids to Enlightenment Monasticism Lay life Buddhist chant Pilgrimage Vegetarianism
Nirvāṇa Awakening Four Stages Arhat Pratyekabuddha Bodhisattva Buddha
Traditions Theravāda Pāli Mahāyāna Hinayana Chinese Vajrayāna Tibetan Navayana Newar
Buddhism by country Bhutan Brazil Cambodia China India Indonesia Japan Korea Laos Malaysia Mongolia Myanmar New Zealand Russia Singapore US Sri Lanka Taiwan Thailand Tibet Vietnam
Buddhism portal
v t

Buddhism in England has growing support. 238,626 people in England declared themselves to be Buddhist at the 2011 Census and 34% of them lived in London.^[1]

Early Buddhist presence could be seen in the 1810s. Adam Sri Munni Ratna, a Buddhist monk from Ceylon (Sri Lanka), travelled to England with his cousin (also a Buddhist monk) while accompanying Sir Alexander Johnston 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.^[2]

Theravada influences grew in England during the early 20th century. A few of the significant events were the foundation of London’s Buddhist Society in 1924 and the Theravada London Buddhist Vihara in Chiswick 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.^[3] The return of Ananda Metteyya 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 and Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu who went to Island Hermitage in Sri Lanka for their Sāmaṇera 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 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 (later renamed Triratna Buddhist Community).

The Manjushri Institute, a large Buddhist college at Conishead Priory in Cumbria, was founded under the guidance of the Tibetan Gelugpa monk Thubten Yeshe in 1976.^[4] In 1991, it was subsumed by the New Kadampa Tradition, a new religious movement founded by another monk, Kelsang Gyatso.^[5][6]

A Theravada monastic order following the Thai Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah was established at Chithurst Buddhist Monastery in West Sussex in 1979, giving rise to branch monasteries elsewhere in the country, including the Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in the Chiltern Hills and Aruna Ratanagiri in Northumberland. Quite a number of locals like Ajahn Khemadhammo, Ajahn Sucitto, Ajahn Amaro, Ajahn Brahm and Ajahn Jayasaro 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.^[7] A lay meditation tradition of Thai origin is represented by the Samatha Trust, with its headquarters cum retreat centre in Wales. Sōtō Zen 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,^[8] Karma Kagyu,^[9] Dechen,^[10] Diamond Way Buddhism^[11] and Aro gTér^[12]

The Dalai Lama visited Aldershot in both 2010 and 2015, on the latter occasion formally opening the Aldershot Buddhist Centre.^[13]

In 2001 Buddhism constituted 0.3% of the population of England,^[14] which increased to 0.5% in 2011 census.^[15] 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, 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.^[16]

Buddhists in England by Region

Region	2021[17]		2011[18]		2001[19]
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Greater London	77,425	0.9%	82,026	1.0%	54,297	0.8%
South East	54,433	0.6%	43,946	0.5%	22,005	0.3%
East	26,814	0.4%	22,273	0.4%	12,065	0.2%
South West	24,579	0.4%	19,730	0.4%	11,299	0.2%
North West	23,028	0.3%	20,695	0.3%	11,794	0.2%
West Midlands	18,804	0.3%	16,649	0.3%	9,760	0.2%
Yorkshire and the Humber	15,803	0.3%	14,319	0.3%	7,188	0.1%
East Midlands	14,521	0.3%	12,672	0.3%	7,541	0.2%
North East	7,026	0.3%	6,316	0.2%	3,097	0.1%
England	262,433	0.5%	238,626	0.5%	139,046	0.3%

• Buddhism in Scotland
• Buddhism in Wales
• Buddhism in the United Kingdom

People

• Ajahn Amaro
• Ajahn Jayasāro
• Ajahn Khemadhammo
• Ajahn Sucitto
• Ajahn Sumedho
• Hammalawa Saddhatissa
• Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu
• Ñāṇavīra Thera

Locations

• Amaravati Buddhist Monastery
• Aruna Ratanagiri
• Dhamma Talaka Pagoda
• London Buddhist Centre
• London Fo Guang Shan Temple
• Wat Buddhapadipa

Organisations

• Pali Text Society

• Bluck, Robert (2006). British Buddhism: Teachings, Practice and Development. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-15817-1.