Relationship with the Buddhist world Although the practice of Buddhism in the United Kingdom started in the 19th century, the UK has had relations with Buddhist countries for more than a millennium. Britain may have had relations through the rule of the
Romans, though most of these were directly from Rome. The religion of
Manichaeism, a former major religion which had Buddhist influences, was said to have spread throughout the empire as far as Britannia. However, there was little contact between the Buddhist world and Britain until the early modern age. Archaeological evidence found in
Sutton Hoo suggests that Britain was part of an international culture even during the
Anglo-Saxon period, indicated by the presence at the site of garnets from
Sri Lanka, at that time a strong Buddhist civilization called '
Anuradhapura' which had had contact with Ancient Rome and Greece. During the Anglo-Saxon period, Sri Lanka was considered by some to be the most distant land from Anglo-Saxon England. During the 16th century, many English sailors and travelers reached Asia. One such notable person was
Ralph Fitch, who visited various places in Asia between 1583 and 1591, including various Buddhist countries such as present-day Myanmar,
Ayutthaya (a strong Buddhist kingdom situated in the areas of Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia and Myanmar), the
Himalayas and
Ceylon.
William Adams was the first Englishman to reach Japan in 1600, at that time the country was also Buddhist.
History of Buddhism in the UK Buddhism in the United Kingdom goes at least as far back as 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. As Buddhism expanded in the United Kingdom, several umbrella organisations have formed, such as the
Buddhist Society (active since 1924, with an office in London), and
The Network of Buddhist Organisations, established in 1993.
Theravada In Britain, the earliest Buddhist influences came from the
Theravada traditions of
Burma,
Thailand, and
Sri Lanka. Interest in them was primarily scholarly to begin with, and a tradition of study grew up that resulted in the foundation of the
Pali Text Society in 1881 founded by
Thomas William Rhys Davids, which undertook the significant task of translating the
Pāli Canon of
Theravada Buddhist tradition into English. The start of interest in Buddhism as a path of practice had been pioneered by the original Theosophists, the Russian
Madame Blavatsky and the American
Colonel Olcott, who in 1880 became the first
Westerners to receive the
Three refuges and
Five precepts, the formal conversion ceremony by which one traditionally accepted and becomes a Buddhist.
Burma and
Ceylon were both colonies of the
British Empire and both colonies had large or were majority Buddhist. Immigration from the two colonies would have happened. During the 19th to early 20th centuries
lascar sailors (people from Asia who worked in British ships) came and settled in the UK. Some of the lascars came from the seafaring communities of Burma and Ceylon. There were also Chinese seamen who settled in the United Kingdom, establishing Chinatowns in
Liverpool and
London. The
Buddhist Society, London (originally known as the Buddhist Lodge) was founded in 1924 by
Christmas Humphreys, another Theosophist who converted to Buddhism. In 1925, the
Sri Lankan Buddhist missionary
Anagarika Dharmapala brought to England the
Maha Bodhi Society, which he had founded with the collaboration of the British journalist and poet
Edwin Arnold. 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. Theosophical and
Theravadin influences continued throughout the early 20th century. 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 notable Britons 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. A lay meditation tradition of Thai origin is represented by the
Samatha Trust, with its headquarters retreat centre in Wales.
Mahayana Zen Buddhist communities in the UK include the
Sōtō Zen priory at
Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey in
Northumberland, the
Norwich Zen Buddhist Priory, the International Zen Association United Kingdom (IZAUK), the
Kwan Um School of Zen (London, York) and the Cloud Water Zen Centre (Glasgow). The Community of Interbeing, part of the
Order of Interbeing, founded by Vietnamese Zen Buddhist
Thich Nhat Hanh (who resided in Plum Village, France), had about 90 sanghas meeting across the UK as of 2012. The Order of Interbeing (
Tiep Hien) was founded within the Linji School of Dhyana Buddhism (Zen (Rinzai)). There is a small
Pure Land Buddhist presence in the UK. In 1994,
Three Wheels Temple was founded in London by Reverend Kemmyō Tairo Sato, as a branch of the Shogyoji Temple, associated with the
Higashi Hongan-ji sect of
Shin Buddhism. The Amida Trust and Amida Order was founded in April 1996 by Buddhist psychotherapist David Brazier, and in 2020 the Bright Earth Buddhist Temple in
Malvern separated from the Amida Order and re-formed as an independent Pure Land Buddhist temple.
Vajrayana In 1966,
Freda Bedi, a British woman, became the first Western woman to take ordination in
Tibetan Buddhism. In 2012
Emma Slade, a British woman, became the first Western woman to be ordained as a
Buddhist nun in
Bhutan.
Kagyu Samye Ling was founded in 1967 by two spiritual masters, Choje
Akong Tulku Rinpoche and
Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. It was the first Tibetan Buddhist Centre to be established in the West and was named after
Samye, the very first monastery to be established in Tibet. In 1977 during his second visit to Samye Ling, the
16th Karmapa assured Akong Rinpoche about the longer-term future of Buddhism in the West and at Samye Ling. It is from this encounter that the Samye Project was born. Samyé Ling now has established centres in more than 20 countries, including Belgium, Ireland, Poland, South Africa, Spain and Switzerland. The
Manjushri Institute, a large Buddhist college at
Conishead Priory in Cumbria, was founded in 1976 under the guidance of
Thubten Yeshe, a Tibetan Gelugpa monk. Buddhist organisations in the UK from the Tibetan tradition that have been founded by Western
lamas include
Dechen and
Aro gTér. Dechen is an association of Buddhist centres of the
Sakya and
Karma Kagyu traditions, founded by
Lama Jampa Thaye and under the spiritual authority of
Karma Thinley Rinpoche.
New Religious Movements New religious movements in Britain include the
Triratna Buddhist Community (Previously known as Friends of the Western Buddhist Order), founded by the British teacher and writer
Sangharakshita (Dennis Lingwood) in 1967, which has been associated with many allegations of
abuse. The
New Kadampa Tradition was founded by the Tibetan monk (formerly a Gelugpa)
Kelsang Gyatso in 1991 when it took over the Manjushri Institute (Conishead Priory); There is also a UK section of the
Soka Gakkai International, a worldwide organization that promotes a disputed, modernized version of the ancient Japanese
Nichiren school of Mahayana Buddhism. 'Diamond Way Buddhism' is a network of lay Buddhist centres, founded by
Ole Nydahl.
Secular Buddhism and Mindfulness Interest in
secular Buddhism, stripped of
supernatural elements and
doctrines that are deemed insufficiently
rational (including ancient, shared
Indian religious beliefs in
rebirth and
karma), has developed from the writings of the British author and teacher
Stephen Batchelor.
Vidyamala Burch and her organization
Breathworks have helped to popularize
mindfulness-based pain management (MBPM), a mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) providing applications for people suffering from chronic pain and illness. The
British Association of Mindfulness-Based Approaches (BAMBA) is a network of 25 mindfulness teacher-training organizations that aims to support and develop good practice and integrity in the delivery of
mindfulness-based approaches in the UK. ==Demographics==