Part of a series on
Western Buddhism
Statue of theBuddha in theJapanese Tea Garden,San Francisco
Main articles Western Buddhism Buddhist modernism Secular Buddhism 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 e

Part ofa 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 No-self Dependent Origination Middle Way Mettā 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 Meditation Philosophical reasoning Devotional practices Merit making Recollections Mindfulness Wisdom Sublime abidings Aids to Enlightenment Monasticism Lay life Buddhist liturgy Buddhist chant Pilgrimage Vegetarianism
Nirvāṇa Awakening Four Stages Arhat Pratyekabuddhayāna 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 e

Buddhism in England has growing support. 238,626 people in England declared themselves to beBuddhist 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 accompanyingSir 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 ofLondon’sBuddhist Society in 1924 and the TheravadaLondon Buddhist Vihara inChiswick in 1926.Anagarika Dharmapala (1864-1933), the founder of theMahā Bodhi Society in 1891, was instrumental in presenting Buddhism as a living monastic tradition to the UK.^[3] The return ofAnanda 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, likeÑāṇavīra Thera andÑāṇamoli Bhikkhu who went toIsland Hermitage in Sri Lanka for theirSāmaṇera ordination in 1949. Kapilavaddho Bhikkhu introduced theDhammakaya tradition to the UK in 1954 in this way and founded the English Sangha Trust in 1955. Several notable Asian monks likeHammalawa Saddhatissa came to live in England.

TheManjushri Institute, a large Buddhist college atConishead Priory in Cumbria, was founded under the guidance of the TibetanGelugpa monkThubten Yeshe in 1976.^[4] In 1991, it was subsumed by theNew Kadampa Tradition, anew religious movement founded by another monk,Kelsang Gyatso.^[5][6]

A Theravada monastic order following theThai Forest Tradition ofAjahn Chah was established atChithurst Buddhist Monastery inWest Sussex in 1979, giving rise to branch monasteries elsewhere in the country, including theAmaravati Buddhist Monastery in theChiltern Hills andAruna Ratanagiri inNorthumberland. Quite a number of locals likeAjahn Khemadhammo,Ajahn Sucitto,Ajahn Amaro,Ajahn Brahm andAjahn 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 theSamatha Trust, with its headquarters cum retreat centre in Wales.Sōtō Zen has a priory atThrossel 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] andAro gTér^[11]

TheDalai Lama visitedAldershot in both 2010 and 2015, on the latter occasion formally opening theAldershot Buddhist Centre.^[12]

New religious movements present in England include Tiratna (FWBO), Diamond Way, New Kadampa Tradition andTrue Buddha School. In 1967, EnglishmanSangharakshita (1925-2018), who had spent time in the east as a Theravadin monk, founded theFriends of the Western Buddhist Order (later renamedTriratna Buddhist Community).Diamond Way, is a new religious movement founded by Danish manOle Nydahl,^[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 wasRushmoor inHampshire, with 3.3% of respondents identifying as Buddhist: this is mainly due to the area's (specifically Aldershot's) historic ties with theGurkha regiment.^[16]

Buddhists in England byRegion

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.

• Buddhism in England
• Buddhism by country
• Buddhism in Europe
• Buddhism in the United Kingdom

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata