What is African Buddhism?

[Ben Le]

Thursday, February 21, 2008
What is African Buddhism?

What is African Buddhism? more so, what is African Pureland Buddhism?

These two questions tackle a subtle subject that cannot be answered straight forwardly.

So it remains much of an open question...what we ask from the Blog viewers and participants is to give their opinion/stance/critique on:

- what African Buddhism is?
- what African Pureland is?
- is there such a thing as African Buddhism?
- should there be such a thing as African Buddhism?
- what does African Buddhism entail?
- who decides that 'this' is African Buddhism?
- where and how does the African cultural context fit in?
- more...?

It is important to keep an ethical principal in mind, Buddhism should not be propagated as a power structure but should be shared as a mutual means/guidance to help the ending of suffering.

What are your ideas on the topic? and what suggestions do you have that may encompass this large area of life, namely the bigger benefit of the African socio-spiritual-cultural continent?
Posted by Andreas at
http://dharmainafrica.blogspot.com/

[Zi Zhui]

The phrase “African Buddhism” is not a common one. Generally reference is made to either one’s practice or the lineage of one’s teacher; i.e. Zen practice or Gelugpa lineage. In any event assuming that the phrase “African Buddhism” enjoys wide recognition one is still faced with a difficulty; “what is African Buddhism”. Today a fairly knowledgeable person might know what is meant by Tibetan, Chinese or Japanese Buddhism, but I think, very few if anybody knows what is meant by “African Buddhism”.

The Way of the Buddha (as it is understood in Asia) only recently made its appearance in any notable numbers on the African continent. Philo (Jewish-Hellenic philosopher) who lived during the time of the Christ (20BCE-50CE) noted the presence of Buddhist in Alexandria, Egypt. Nothing else is further recorded about Buddhism on the African continent (as far as I know) until about three hundred years ago when some Thai Buddhist monks landed at the southern point of the continent on their way to Europe.

African Buddhism (I am using this phrase here as convenient one) is for all intends and purposes in its infancy. As an amorphous concept it actually does not have any real meaning. But having said that one should not summarily dismiss the idea of “African Buddhism”, which still has a long way to go in Africa, before it can be recognised as a different development from those practices that arrived from Asia.

(to be continued)

[Zi Zhui]

African Buddhism(continued)
What one finds today on the continent of Africa in regard to Buddhism (incidentally I think this is also true about Buddhism in the West generally) is rather Africans practicing Buddhism. Africa has yet to deliver a teacher that developed a peculiarly African interpretation of Buddhism. To illustrate by an example; although the Pure Land practice is generally part of the Mahayana tradition of Buddhism, one will find that in East Asia (China, Korea and Japan) the Pure Land practice has it strongest and biggest following. The practice was developed over centuries in East Asia and one will find nothing remotely similar in Theravada Buddhism. In Japan the Pure Land tradition under the tutelage of Master Shinran (1173-1263), the founder of Jodo Shinshu (True Pure Land), has taken on a totally different flavour than the practice founded in China by Master Shantao (613–81) and later further developed by Master Honen in Japan (it is not my intend at this stage to discuss the differences – if any - between the two schools). Buddhism in Asia enjoyed a long and (mostly) uninterrupted development and therefore it is understandable that practices are so ingrained in followers of the Buddha’s Path. Buddhism have not been in Africa long enough to have developed its own peculiar tradition and interpretation of the Buddha’s teachings.

Presently I hold the view that Buddhism on the African continent will generally follow in the steps of its other Western counterparts and will mostly take its lead from South Africa, a country where Buddhism is slowly but surely taking root. Perhaps (like China 1500 years ago) Buddhism will finds its African roots in South Africa and spread to the rest of the continent. This statement is not made because the writer hereof is a South African but rather based upon realistic factors observed. Those are briefly (only some of the important ones are mentioned);
- South Africa is the economic powerhouse of Africa (many people from all over Africa comes to this country for economic reasons);
- South Africa is a micro-cosmos of various cultures. Not only African, but also strong Western culture and Eastern culture (Chinese and Indian);
- South Africa have the best tertiary educational institutions (universities and technical colleges) that attract students from all over the continent; and lastly
- South Africa is a constitutional state where freedom of speech and religion is respected, making it the ideal place for the free exchange of ideas (an environment which is conducive for the growth of Buddhism).

What Buddhism already achieved in Africa? On a materialistic level various retreat centres are found in South Africa. One of the oldest been at Ixopo; a centre which was declared a Natural Heritage Site by former President Nelson Mandela and the biggest at Bronkhorstspruit (Nan Hua www.nanhua.co.za). There are even some Buddha images that has already taken on features of African people (see the FWBO site ). There is currently in various countries across Africa Buddhist centres. From afar as Morocco (two Soto Zen centres in Casablanca) to South Africa, we find a a wide variety of active Buddhist traditions (see here).

Africa (and perhaps the West) would in time develop its own unique brand of Buddhism. At this stage it is, in my view, somewhat premature to refer to “African Buddhism”. What one rather finds today is Buddhism (in its various forms) practiced by Africans. Only time will tell what “African Buddhism” might be in future, but for the present Buddhism (as it has done in Asia) has come to Africa to stay and we are all the “richer”.

Amitofo

[Nigel]

As an observation, my experience in South Africa is that Buddhism is attracting primarily (though not exclusively) white adherents and practioners. On the one hand, I think this is related to issues in the broader Western Judeo-Christian world more generally (i.e. the death of 'God' in the face of science, concerns about the credibility of organised religion, and finding in dhamma a solution to being able to have science and faith together). I also suspect that for some white southern Africans, faith and faith communities represent an escape route from the past, disassociating from apartheid and the Calvinist tradition. The question remainds whether through engaged Buddhism, the dhamma will become a useful tool for healing, reconciliation, creating a new way of living positively, mindfully and generously. Is there a common cause between dhamma and ubuntu for example? It is interesting to see that Asian societies, the cradle of Buddhism, are in some ways more similar to African societies than they are to atomised Western European societies.

[Ryan Vong]

Reposted from blog entry:

It is a very interesting blog post and the questions posed are definitely not something that can be answered immediately. If Buddhism is to be relevant to any society at any time, it must be adaptable. Thus, in answering if it should exist, African Buddhism should and already does exist. Your work there is proof of that. As far as what is is, I'm sure that your work there has already yield some vision of what that definition is. This vision was mostly likely what brought you there. So what is African Buddhism? I can only speculate that the Buddhist principles (truths) remain intact, but the adaptation comes purely from a cultural and geographic influence. African Buddhism will someday reflect the society in which it thrives similar to how the West has adapted much of Eastern traditional Buddhism to our society.

[Zi Zhui]

Although a white person from a Afrikaner tradition I consider myself an African. My ancestors arrived on the continent some 350 years ago and there is nowhere (even though I have been to Europe) where I see myself currently living other than in Africa. That Asian culture share some similarities with traditional African cultures cannot be denied. An example is ancestor worship. In that respect I think Chinese Buddhism might offer much to Africans who are interested in Buddhism. But one must immediately add a word of caution, namely that ancestor worship is not part of Buddhism. The point I am trying to make is rather that Africans might relate easier to Chinese people practicing Buddhism in this respect. On a subtle level Buddhism, with all its flavours whether Chinese, Tibetan or Thai will eventually influence a society that turns towards Buddhism. Christianity brought a lot of its own traditions to Africa and I see no reason why some Asian traditions would become part of African Buddhism. An interesting feature I have noticed with black people is there tendency to place there palms together to ask or thank you for something. Our society would be great if similar to the Thais we develop the use of the wai (the placing of the two palms together in a prayer-like pose).

[Jung Fitzpatrick]

What a fascinating discussion!
I know it's been over a year since the last reply, but I'd love to learn more about any other observations you may have made since then. I'm planning on applying for a Fulbright fellowship to South Africa next year to study this very question. I've noticed that many Buddhist centres in South Africa have charitable arms-is Buddhism, in particular, associated with charity/social justice/social change work in South Africa? I've visited most of the major Buddhist retreat centres' websites and would like more information about Buddhism in South Africa--do you recommend any readings or other resources (organizations, individuals)? I even found this interesting autobiography by an Ugandan monk, which you can download from this website (http://www.ugandabuddhistcentre.org/publications) or see the attached file.
Thank you and metta.