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In Search of Mahatma (Highest Self): The Paradigmatic & Interreligious
Significance of Early Buddhist Teaching for Re-Imagining
God & Mission within Australian Cultures
A paper for presentation at the Australian Missiology Conference,
Melbourne, 26 to 30 September 2005
The Revd Dr Ruwan Palapathwala
TheolM MEd PhD
Lecturer in Asian Religions
The United Faculty of Theology, the Melbourne College of Divinity
Director
The Centre for Social Inquiry, Religion and Interfaith Dialogue
Melbourne
Noel Carter Lecturer in Pastoral Theology
Trinity College University of Melbourne
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This paper seeks to offer Buddhist-Christian interfaith paradigm to re-imagine God in the mission
context of Australia. With special reference to the historical context of Buddhism and its primitive
texts of the Pali Cannon from which Buddha’s essential teaching concerning the nature of the egoless self could be inferred, I wish to argue that Buddhism provides us with an interfaith paradigm to
re-imagine God in the mission context of Australia.
Buddhism has been chosen to provide insights to the Christian quest of re-imagining God in the
mission context of Australia because it enables us to:
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draw conceptual and interreligious parallels between a point in the histories of Hinduism
and the contemporary Australia where a radical re-imagining of God has become pivotal
for mission.
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examine the fascination with Buddhism in Australia and evaluate the task of mission in a
context in which people subconsciously yearn to re-imagine God to find meaning in the
midst of materialism.
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critically evaluate the phenomenon of people embracing Buddhism as an alternative to
Christianity and to demonstrate that such “conversions” is symptomatic of a need to reimagine God for contemporary mission.
Furthermore, having taken a “religious tradition” which largely operates outside a theistic
framework of reference – Buddhism – it also presents a serious challenge to re-examine inter-faith
perspectives on our essential understanding of mission as Missio Dei.
While the specifics of these issues will be discussed in depth in the workshop at the conference, in
this pre-conference version of the paper I wish to discuss some broader concerns which are essential
to understand the interfaith contribution of Buddhism for re-imaging God and missions in Australia
and in the West in general.
General Introduction: the Significance of Buddhism
It is an undeniable fact that Buddhism has come to play a significant role in contemporary Australia
and in the global community. While Buddhism has played and continues to play a very important
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role in South and South East Asia, its pervading influence in the West is undeniable. Given that the
history of the West was predominantly influenced by Christianity since the 3rd Century CE, the
increasing influence of this South Asian religion in the West must be carefully studied and
understood.
In this introduction it is necessary to give further reasons beside the one I have given above to
justify the selection of Buddhism to provide an interfaith perspective on Christian missions in
Australia. These reasons fall into two main categories; i) historical and sociological and ii)
philosophical and political, which need to be briefly discussed.
Historical and Sociological Reasons
Although it is only during the recent years that the increase popularity of Buddhism and
conversions to its teachings have been widely recognised, Buddhism has played a part in Australian
history and spiritual landscape for some time. According to some anthropologists Buddhism was
possibly the earliest non-indigenous religion to reach Australia before white settlement. It is
possible to argue that many Buddhists made contact with Australia between 1405 and 1433 when
the Chinese Ming emperor, Cheng-Ho, sent sixty-two large ships to explore southern Asia. While
there is evidence to suggest that several ships from that armada landed on the Aru Islands to the
north of Arnhem Land, it is not known whether they reached the mainland.
The earliest documented arrival of Buddhists in Australia was in 1848 during the gold rushes, when
Chinese coolie labourers were brought into the country to work on the Victorian gold fields. Since
these workers made up a transient population that usually returned home within five years it was not
until 1876 that the first permanent Buddhist community was established by Sinhalese migrants on
Thursday Island. From about the late 1870’s many Japanese Shinto Buddhists also arrived and
were active in the pearling industry across northern Australia, establishing other Buddhist enclaves
in Darwin and Broome. The Immigration Restriction Act of 1901 slowed down the Buddhist
immigrants to Australia. Following a period of nearly fifty years with insignificant numbers of
Buddhist in Australia in places such as Broome and Thursday Island a small group of Western
Buddhists formed the earliest known Buddhist organisation in Australia in 1925 in Melbourne. The
organisation was called the Little Circle of the Dharma.
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Soon after World War II when local enthusiasm for the White Australia Policy declined and opened
the way for Buddhism to flourish again in Australia. It was marked by a series of notable events:
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1951: the first Buddhist nun – Sister Dhammadinna, born in the USA, ordained and with
thirty years experience in Sri Lanka – visited Australia to propagate the Theravadin
School of Buddhist teaching.
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1952: inspired by Sister Dhammadinna’s visit, the Buddhist Society of New South
Wales was formed under the presidency of Leo Berkley, a Dutch-born Sydney
businessman.
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1958: the Buddhist Federation of Australia was formed to co-ordinate the growing
Buddhist groups that had begun to start in Western Australia, South Australia,
Queensland and Victoria.
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1970's: with the significant increase of Buddhists – both Asian and European – created a
need for resident monks. The arrival of many Buddhist monks in the country inaugurated
a new phase in Australian Buddhism. In 1971 the Buddhist Society of New South Wales
was established and the Venerable Somaloka, the Sri Lankan monk, came to reside at its
retreat centre in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. This retreat centre is the first
monastery in Australia. Following this a number of other Buddhist monasteries
representing different schools of Buddhism came to be established around Australia; in
1975 at Stanmore in Sydney, in 1978 at Wisemans Ferry in country NSW and in 1984 at
Serpentine in Western Australia.1
The Philosophical and Political Reasons
i) The Three Mail Schools and the Philosophy of Buddhism
What is generally called “Buddhism” is a philosophy which is made up several schools of thought
which are either branches or adaptations of the three main traditions: Hinayana (the “Small
Vehicle” which is also known as Theravada, the “teaching” or the “tradition” of the Elders),
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The Buddhists in Australia, by Enid Adam and Phillip J. Hughes for the Bureau of Immigration,
Multicultural and Population Research, Australian Government Publishing Office, 1996, Chapter 2.
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Mahayana (the Great Vehicle) & Vajirayana (the Diamond Vehicle). The Buddhism which is
practiced by an increasing number of Australians is either a tradition that represents one of the three
traditions or a more eclectic form of “Buddhism” which is made up of elements from all three
traditions which can be easily adapted to contemporary thought forms. This form of Buddhism is
known as Nawayana (the new vehicle) and popularly also known as “Western Buddhism”.
The essential teaching of all three main schools of Buddhism evolves out of three important
concepts: no-self, impermanence & suffering. A simplified representation of the interrelatedness of
these three concepts can be described thus: because of the impermanent nature of all that is, craving
and attachment – which give rise to the deluded understanding that self is permanent or has
substance – form the precondition for the suffering-laden psychophysical phenomenon, the human
phenomenon, which is composed of the five groups (upādānakhandha) that facilitate our clinging to
the phenomenal world: (i) mind and matter (nāma-rūpa); (ii) sensations (vedanā); (iii) perceptions
(saññā); (iv) mental formations (samkhāra); and (v) consciousness (viññāna). Enlightenment, that
is coming to the realisation and understanding that one’s ego-centred self is thus, alone paves the
way to liberation – nibbana – from the turmoil of the suffering-laden psychophysical phenomenon
which clings to the phenomenal world. The nibbana-bound search is the quest after one’s true self.
Nibbana is the state in which the turmoil of the groups of clinging that is brought about through
birth, old age, disease and death – the causes of suffering – ceases. In other words, when the causes
of mundane wanderings – the five groups of clinging – are destroyed, what remains is nothing other
than the pure Self. The pure Self is Mahatma, the Highest Self.
ii) Buddhism’s Distinctive Characteristics
Beside its South Asian roots and philosophical orientation some of the essential characteristics of
Buddhism which have been the hallmarks of its attraction in the West must be noted.
 Buddhism operates outside the theistic framework of reference. (While Mahayana and
Vajrayana forms of Buddhism make numerous reference to gods (devas) one must note
that they do not constitute a distinct theo-logy).
 Buddhism is not a “faith tradition” in the sense which we have come to use the phrase
conventionally.
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 Buddhism defies every thought category that is central to the Christian outlook and
Western worldview (eg. Self, God and History).
With these characteristics, at present, Buddhism presents a significant challenge to re-think the
images of God and mission which have been foundational for the following experiences in the
West:
a) The two World Wars and the subsequent catastrophes – for instance the Stalinist terror,
the Nazi cruelty to the Jews, the atomic bombing of Japan, the war in France, the
hostility in Algeria, the depression in 1929 and the devastation in Vietnam after 1945,
concentration camps, vast scale genocide, the two Gulf Wars, the tragedy of former
Yugoslavia, the widening gap between the rich and the poor and damage to the
environment in the world – which have demonstrated that technology could be used not
only to better life, but also to its destruction and to cultivate perpetual greed and
selfishness.
b) The “Just-War” theory which is a product of the Christian tradition. The just-war theory
was introduced by Cicero and then developed by St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St.
Thomas Aquinas and later by both Catholic and Protestant scholars. Many Western
Christians and leaders have used it again to justify the invasion of Iraq. Then, in the
tradition of eliminating tyrants, we witnessed the killing of Saddam Hussein’s sons Uday
and Qusay. Such an end to Saddam’s life too was desired and there was a – as the media
put it –a “US$ 25 million bounty” for anyone who was prepared to Saddam’s capture
(which did eventuate). Whatever the justification of such actions is, we know that there
is a moral dilemma here which is created by the Christian tradition.
c) The development of the capital-based market economy in the West. The “Christian
faith” that once evolved as an inseparable partner of the Western tradition provided
much of the “cultural resources” for political movements to harness, for instance,
capitalism of which the end results were: individualism, materialism and consumerism.2
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Historians such as Max Webber and lately Randall Collins have shown the extent of the church had
played a role in the birth and the flowering of capitalism. While Max Weber located the origin of capitalism
in Protestant cities following the European Enlightenment, Randall Collins has shown that capitalism had
already existed in the Middle Ages in rural areas, where monasteries, – especially those of the Cistercians
(Religious of the Order of Cîteaux, a Benedictine reform established at Cîteaux in 1098 by St. Robert, Abbot
of Molesme in the Diocese of Langres) – began to rationalise economic life.
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Consequentially, the ideal of self which had been seen as the gateway to all knowledge
(and God) came to be regarded not as affirming a permanent soul, but as something for
which one “shops”.
d) The personalisation of the message of salvation and the problem of human suffering.
These are, indeed, directly related to the phenomenon of individualism that has its
genesis in capitalism. (By the way, Calvinism made a significant contribution to the
propagation of capitalism).
e) The phenomena of artificial intelligence, computer simulations, and the hybrid of
humans and machines which have in recent times removed the relevance of an authentic
self. They have also created issues in relation to human identity.
f) The way in which suffering is understood within the Christian tradition; The New
Testament does not explain why suffering exists in the world. The Gospel narratives
implicitly represent Jewish views that suffering is due to a punishment or retribution to
sin. Two opposing views of two Church Fathers – St. Augustine and Irenaeus – that
shaped the western understanding of suffering. While St. Augustine claimed that
humanity at creation was infinitely perfect and suffering was the result of the Fall,
Irenaeus (c. 130- c.202) suggested that humanity was created imperfect and immature
and that humanity must attain perfection through a processing of becoming in the
Maker's plan.
Many people who are either the post-war baby boomers or generation X have come to question
these issues one way or another. While some may not intellectually question these issues, they still
seek alternatives to lead their lives meaningfully. In that process they are faced with the
According to Collins, it was the church that established what Max Weber called the “preconditions of
capitalism”. These include the rule of law and a bureaucracy for resolving disputes rationally, a specialised
and mobile labour force; the permanence of institutions which enabled transgenerational investment and
sustained intellectual and physical efforts, together with the accumulation of long-term capital, and a zest for
discovery, enterprise, wealth creation, and new undertakings. By the time of the Enlightenment in the
eighteenth century the capitalist ethos was so well established that it was able to flourish in a more secular
environment with religion facing diminution in the post-Enlightenment years to follow. Randal Collins,
Max Weber: A Skeleton Key. California: Sage Publications, Inc.1985.
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Christian/Western worldview. Why? Christianity as we know and experience it today is conceived
to party to the Western civilisation which has come to be its bearer. Therefore, to the average
“Westerner” Christianity and its mission is interchangeable with the global issues that were outlined
above.
Buddhism’s pervading influence in Australia and in the West in general is a direct response to these
issues. Buddha’s teachings are perceived as:

an antidote and cure for the unbearable saturation of materialism, consumerism and
individualism experienced in the West.

an alternative to a civilisation tainted with blood spilt over religious and political wars.

offering “non-theological” practical answers to these ills.

a guide through life without placing any metaphysical importance on “self” or God – the
(wrongly) supposed architect of the collapsed project of modernity.

a means to revitalise the depleted spiritual sap of the western civilisation.
Aloysius Pieris SJ, the Theravada Buddhist scholar, commenting on the increasing western interest
in Asian religions goes as far as to say: “…[the] contemporary West, in allowing itself to be
seduced by the mystique of the East, may probably be indulging in a massive sociological
ritualization of a deep psychological need to sharpen its Oriental instinct blunted by centuries of
misuse”3
Christian Mission and the Challenge of Buddhism
The issues that I have briefly outlined assist us to appreciate Buddhism and be challenged by its
particular insights into mission. Once we begin to decipher what is happening in our contemporary
Australia and interpret them theologically one thing becomes obvious with regards to the
significance of Buddhism: We have to dialogue with Buddhism not only because it is considered a
“world religion” but because the influence it exercises in the contemporary West is both a
commentary on the socio-cultural, religious and political state of the West and the events that have
occasioned such a state of affairs. In the process one cannot overlook the fact that much of these are
predominantly based on the Western worldview which is based on a certain and if not a serious of
images of God which are central to its valuation of the world.
3
Love Meets Wisdom: A Christian Experience of Buddhism, Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1988, p. 8.
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The following statements made by the Venerable Taitetsu Unno4 demonstrate the contradictions
that exist between the Judaeo-Christian understanding of God and the Buddhist understanding of
Amida Buddha5; they highlight the need to re-image God within the Christian framework of
reference. Amida Buddha, says the Venerable Unno:
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is not a creator, but he is a saviour who performs his compassionate work without any
condition whatsoever.
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does not judge or punish man, for man is responsible for his own acts and invites the
consequences, good or bad, of his acts.
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does not perform miracles, but he manifests his saving compassion through the rhythm
of natural laws.
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is not transcendent, standing outside this world; but he is immanent, for his very being is
rooted in the limitations of this world which will be transformed by the power of
Amida's love.
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is not a wrathful or jealous God; rather, the power of compassion fulfilled in his Original
Vow completes the promise that he will not rest until all beings attain the same
enlightenment, Buddhahood, as himself.
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does not discriminate in any form, whether of belief or creed, moral good or moral evil,
human life or animal life, but he embraces all in Oneness with equal warmth.
4
Assistant Minister at the Senshin Buddhist Church and a lecturer at the University of California, Los
Angeles.
5
The figure of Amida Buddha, the Buddha of Everlasting Light, is central in Pure Land Buddhism which
developed out of Mahayana Buddhism in India and became wildly popular in China, where the invocation of
Amida (in Chinese, A-mi-t'o-fo ) became the most common of all religious practices. Later, it also took root
in medieval Japan in part as a response to the esotericism of Heian Buddhism, and in part as a response to the
collapse of the emperor's court at Kyoto and the subsequent rise of individual, feudal powers in Japan. Pure
Land was seen as a more democratic and an inclusive form of Buddhism. Amida is seen as a previous
incarnation of Siddhartha Gautama.
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does not show his love by the blood of crucifixion, sacrificing his own being, but by
making his compassion accessible to mankind through the Nembutsu, his sacred name,
which resounds throughout the universe. Wherever his sacred name, Namu Amida
Butsu, is pronounced, there he is.
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is the timeless content of enlightenment realized by the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni.
Amida means boundless compassion and immeasurable wisdom. Immeasurable wisdom
sees into the fragility of human life, and boundless compassion is moved by this insight
to actively embrace all the living into the timeless fulfilment of truth.
A Case for Re-Imaging God
The main case for drawing interfaith Buddhist perspectives for re-imaging God will be presented in
the workshop at the conference. The argument will be developed on the following premises.
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There are conceptual and interreligious parallels between a point in the histories of
Hinduism and the contemporary Australia where a radical re-imagining of God has
become pivotal for mission.
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Contrary to the popular misconception that Buddhism is an atheistic philosophy of life,
it could be inferred from the primitive Texts that essentially Buddha’s teaching was
focused on the search of the true self. His teaching radicalised the Hindu notion of tat
tvam asi – “I am that” – which had evolved into a static experience of the divine over
two millennia; the Buddha introduced to it the dynamic quality of “Becoming”, that is,
“wayfaring in the More towards the Most”– the Highest Self.
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The “re-imaging” of life’s sole quest – the Highest Self (“God”) – was the locus of
Buddha’s message from which Buddhism sprang into birth.
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The fascination with Buddhism among Australians highlights the task of mission in a
context in which people subconsciously yearn to re-imagine God to find meaning in the
midst of materialism.
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The phenomenon of people embracing Buddhism as an alternative to Christianity
demonstrates that such “conversions” is symptomatic of a need to re-imagine God for
contemporary mission.
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Contemporary multicultural and multi-faith Australia challenges Christians to consider
the priority of Missio Dei as a significant component in re-imaging God and missions
within Australia.
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