 | |
 | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom: 289,551 – 0.4% (2021) England: 262,433 – 0.5% (2021)[1] Scotland: 15,501 – 0.3% (2022)[2] Wales: 10,075 – 0.3% (2021)[1] Northern Ireland: 1,542 – 0.08% (2021)[3] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Greater London | 77,425 – 0.9%[4] |
| South East England | 54,433 – 0.6% |
| East of England | 26,814 – 0.4% |
| South West England | 24,579 – 0.4% |
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 Statue of theBuddha in theJapanese Tea Garden,San Francisco |
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Buddhism is thefifth-largest religious group in the United Kingdom. The2021 United Kingdom census recorded just under 290,000 Buddhists, or about 0.4% of the total population, with the largest number of Buddhists residing inGreater London andSouth East England.[5] According to a Buddhist organisation, the growth of Buddhism in the United Kingdom is mainly a result of conversions.[6][7]
In the UK census for 2011, there were about 247,743 people who registered their religion as Buddhism, and about 174,000 who cited religions other than the otherfive world religions andJainism.[8][9] This latter figure is likely to include some people who follow the traditionalChinese folk religion which also includes some elements of Buddhism.
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 theRomans, though most of these were directly from Rome. The religion ofManichaeism, a former major religion which had Buddhist influences, was said to have spread throughout the empire as far as Britannia.[10]
However, there was little contact between the Buddhist world and Britain until the early modern age. Archaeological evidence found inSutton Hoo suggests that Britain was part of an international culture even during theAnglo-Saxon period, indicated by the presence at the site of garnets fromSri Lanka,[11] 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.[12]
During the 16th century, many English sailors and travelers reached Asia. One such notable person wasRalph 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), theHimalayas andCeylon.[13][14][15]William Adams was the first Englishman to reach Japan in 1600, at that time the country was also Buddhist.
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 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.[16]
As Buddhism expanded in the United Kingdom, several umbrella organisations have formed, such as theBuddhist Society (active since 1924, with an office in London), andThe Network of Buddhist Organisations, established in 1993.
In Britain, the earliest Buddhist influences came from theTheravada traditions ofBurma,Thailand, andSri Lanka. Interest in them was primarily scholarly to begin with, and a tradition of study grew up that resulted in the foundation of thePali Text Society in 1881 founded byThomas William Rhys Davids, which undertook the significant task of translating thePāli Canon ofTheravada Buddhist tradition into English. The start of interest in Buddhism as a path of practice had been pioneered by the original Theosophists, the RussianMadame Blavatsky and the AmericanColonel Olcott, who in 1880 became the firstWesterners to receive theThree refuges andFive precepts, the formal conversion ceremony by which one traditionally accepted and becomes a Buddhist.
Burma andCeylon were both colonies of theBritish Empire and both colonies had large or were majority Buddhist. Immigration from the two colonies would have happened. During the 19th to early 20th centurieslascar 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.[17][better source needed] There were also Chinese seamen who settled in the United Kingdom, establishing Chinatowns inLiverpool andLondon.
TheBuddhist Society, London (originally known as the Buddhist Lodge) was founded in 1924 byChristmas Humphreys, another Theosophist who converted to Buddhism.[18] In 1925, theSri Lankan Buddhist missionaryAnagarika Dharmapala brought to England theMaha Bodhi Society,[19] which he had founded with the collaboration of the British journalist and poetEdwin Arnold.[20]
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. Theosophical andTheravadin influences continued throughout the early 20th century.
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 notable Britons 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.[21] A lay meditation tradition of Thai origin is represented by theSamatha Trust, with its headquarters retreat centre in Wales.
Zen Buddhist communities in the UK include theSōtō Zen priory atThrossel Hole Buddhist Abbey inNorthumberland, theNorwich Zen Buddhist Priory, the International Zen Association United Kingdom (IZAUK),[22] theKwan Um School of Zen (London, York)[23] and the Cloud Water Zen Centre (Glasgow).[24]
The Community of Interbeing, part of theOrder of Interbeing, founded by Vietnamese Zen BuddhistThich Nhat Hanh (who resided in Plum Village, France), had about 90 sanghas meeting across the UK as of 2012.[25] The Order of Interbeing (Tiep Hien) was founded within the Linji School of Dhyana Buddhism (Zen (Rinzai)).
There is a smallPure Land Buddhist presence in the UK. In 1994,Three Wheels Temple was founded in London by Reverend Kemmyō Tairo Sato,[26] as a branch of the Shogyoji Temple,[27] associated with theHigashi Hongan-ji sect ofShin Buddhism. The Amida Trust and Amida Order was founded in April 1996 by Buddhist psychotherapist David Brazier,[28] and in 2020 the Bright Earth Buddhist Temple inMalvern separated from the Amida Order and re-formed as an independent Pure Land Buddhist temple.[29][30]
In 1966,Freda Bedi, a British woman, became the first Western woman to take ordination inTibetan Buddhism.[31] In 2012Emma Slade, a British woman, became the first Western woman to be ordained as aBuddhist nun inBhutan.[32]
Kagyu Samye Ling was founded in 1967 by two spiritual masters, ChojeAkong Tulku Rinpoche andChogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. It was the first Tibetan Buddhist Centre to be established in the West and was named afterSamye, the very first monastery to be established in Tibet. In 1977 during his second visit to Samye Ling, the16th Karmapa assured Akong Rinpoche about the longer-term future of Buddhism in the West and at Samye Ling.[33] It is from this encounter that the Samye Project[34] was born. Samyé Ling now has established centres in more than 20 countries, including Belgium, Ireland, Poland, South Africa, Spain and Switzerland.[35]
Lama Shenpen Hookham, originally from Essex, travelled to India in the late 1960s on the instruction ofChögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, became one of a group of early Western women to take ordination as a nun in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. She was taught by, and became a translator to many of Tibetan Buddhist masters, as was asked by 16th Karmapa to return to the West to teach. She was authorised to teachMahamudra byKhenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, who also encouraged her to return her monastic vows in order to teach Westerners. Lama Shenpen went on to establish the Awakened Heart Sangha and devised a unique, experiential training programme called Living the Awakened Heart, which presents the undiluted essence of Dzogchen and Mahamudra teachings and traditions, tailored especially for a Western audience. Lama Shenpen wrote about her time in India with her teachers and her path to becoming a lama in her autobiographyKeeping the Dalai Lama Waiting & Other Stories – An English Woman's Journey to Becoming a Buddhist Lama, which has had many recommendations from other esteemed teachers, includingKhandro Rinpoche.
Jamyang Buddhist Centre (JBC) in London is affiliated to theFoundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, an international network ofGelugpa Tibetan Buddhist centres. There is also a branch centre in Leeds and affiliated groups around across England. The resident teacher isGeshe Tashi Tsering.[36]
TheManjushri Institute, a large Buddhist college atConishead Priory in Cumbria, was founded in 1976 under the guidance ofThubten Yeshe, a Tibetan Gelugpa monk.[37] Buddhist organisations in the UK from the Tibetan tradition that have been founded by Westernlamas includeDechen andAro gTér. Dechen is an association of Buddhist centres of theSakya andKarma Kagyu traditions, founded by Lama Jampa Thaye and under the spiritual authority ofKarma Thinley Rinpoche.
New religious movements in Britain include theTriratna Buddhist Community (Previously known as Friends of the Western Buddhist Order), founded by the British teacher and writerSangharakshita (Dennis Lingwood) in 1967,[38] which has been associated with many allegations ofabuse.[39] TheNew Kadampa Tradition was founded by the Tibetan monk (formerly a Gelugpa)Kelsang Gyatso in 1991 when it took over the Manjushri Institute (Conishead Priory);[38] its practices have sparkedmuch controversy, including official rebukes bythe Dalai Lama.[40] There is also a UK section of theSoka Gakkai International, a worldwide organization that promotes a disputed, modernized version of the ancient JapaneseNichiren school of Mahayana Buddhism.[41]
'Diamond Way Buddhism' is a network of lay Buddhist centres, founded byOle Nydahl.
Interest insecular Buddhism, stripped ofsupernatural elements anddoctrines that are deemed insufficientlyrational (including ancient, sharedIndian religious beliefs inrebirth andkarma), has developed from the writings of the British author and teacherStephen Batchelor.[42][43]
Vidyamala Burch and her organizationBreathworks have helped to popularizemindfulness-based pain management (MBPM), a mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) providing applications for people suffering from chronic pain and illness.[44][45]
TheBritish 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 ofmindfulness-based approaches in the UK.[46]
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 151,816 | — |
| 2011 | 261,584 | +72.3% |
| 2021 | 289,551 | +10.7% |
| Religious Affiliation was not recorded in the census prior to 2001. | ||
| Region /Country | 2021[50] | 2011[55] | 2001[60] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
| England | 262,433 | 0.5% | 238,626 | 0.5% | 139,046 | 0.3% |
| —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% |
| Scotland | 15,501[a] | 0.3% | 12,795 | 0.2% | 6,830 | 0.1% |
| Wales | 10,075 | 0.3% | 9,117 | 0.3% | 5,407 | 0.2% |
| Northern Ireland | 1,542 | 0.08% | 1,046 | 0.06% | 533 | 0.03% |
| United Kingdom | 289,551 | 0.4% | 261,584 | 0.4% | 151,816 | 0.3% |
According to the2021 United Kingdom census, Buddhists in England and Wales enumerated 272,508, or 0.5% of the population.[62] In Northern Ireland, there were 1,542 Buddhists and the equivalent census for Scotland in 2022 recorded 15,501 Buddhists.[63][2] The local authorities with the highest proportion of Buddhists were:Rushmoor (4,732: 4.74% of the population),Greenwich (5,034: 1.74%),Reading (2,887: 1.66%),Hounslow (3,932: 1.36%) andWestminster (2,603: 1.27%).[64] In Scotland, the highest proportion was in Edinburgh at 0.54% (2,796); In Wales, the highest proportion was inCeredigion at 0.53% (378); and in Northern Ireland, the highest concentration was in Belfast at 0.15% (517).[2][48]
In the 2021 census for England and Wales, the main places of birth were the United Kingdom at 110,528 people (40.5% of the total Buddhist population),Southeast Asia at 67,152 (24.6%),South Asia at 45,076 (16.5%) andEast Asia at 32,448 (11.9%). Among individual countries in Asia, the countries ofThailand;Sri Lanka;Nepal;China; andVietnam made up the top five most common countries of birth for Buddhists residing in England and Wales.[65] 58.3% of Buddhists identified asAsian, 31.9% asWhite, 4.0% were ofMixed heritage, 0.9% identified asBlack and the remaining 4.9% identified with other ethnic groups.[61]
For the 2001 census in Scotland, people were asked both their current religion and the one that they were brought up in. 6,830 people gave Buddhism as their current religion, and 4,704 said they were brought up in it, with an overlap of 3,146.[66] In Northern Ireland, the published report which listed religions and philosophies in order of size reported 'Buddhist' at 533.[67]
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