Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

is New Zealand's third-largest

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

after

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

and

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

standing at 1.5% of the population of New Zealand. Buddhism originates in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and was introduced to New Zealand by immigrants from

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

History

The first Buddhists in New Zealand were Chinese diggers in the

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

goldfields in the mid-1860s. Their numbers were small, and the 1926 census, the first to include Buddhism, recorded only 169. Buddhism grew significantly as a religion in New Zealand during the 1970s and 1980s with the arrival of Southeast Asian immigrants and refugees, coinciding with increased interest in Buddhist teaching from Western communities. Buddhist associations began forming, such as the Zen Society of New Zealand in 1972 (originally known as the Denkyo-ji Society), often fundraising to organise In the 1970s travel to Asian countries and visits by Buddhist teachers sparked an interest in the religious traditions of Asia, and significant numbers of New Zealanders adopted Buddhist practices and teachings. Since the 1980s Asian migrants and refugees have established their varied forms of Buddhism in New Zealand. In the 2010s more than 50 groups, mostly in the Auckland region, offered different Buddhist traditions at temples, centres, monasteries and retreat centres. Many migrant communities brought priests or religious specialists from their own countries and their temples and centres have acted as focal points for a particular ethnic community, offering language and religious instruction. National and international groups. In 2008 the Sixth Global Conference on Buddhism brought leading teachers and scholars to Auckland under the auspices of the New Zealand Buddhist Foundation. The New Zealand Buddhist Council was established in 2007 and was composed of 15 Buddhist organisations. As of 2020 there are 32 member organizations. They engage with local and national government over issues of concern to Buddhist communities, support their members administratively and promote dialogue and understanding between the rich diversity of traditions in the country.

Demographics

According to the 2006 Census, Buddhism constituted 1.4% of the population of New Zealand. It slightly increased to 1.5% in the 2013 census. Most of the Buddhists in New Zealand are migrants from Asia with significant New Zealanders converted to Buddhism ranging from 15,000-20,000. According to the 2013 census, there are about 58,440 Buddhists in New Zealand. The converts to Buddhism is estimated to constitute between 25%–35% of the total Buddhist population in New Zealand. The 2018 census counted 52,779 Buddhists in New Zealand.

Contemporary Society

According to a Survey done by

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

in 2019, it was found that New Zealanders believe that Buddhists are the most trusted religious group in New Zealand. About 35 per cent of New Zealanders have complete or substantial trust in Buddhists.

Buddhist temples

There are many

Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhism, Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat, khurul and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in B ...

s and centres in New Zealand for New Zealand Buddhists to practice their religion, the largest being Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple New Zealand in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple South Island in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

's Riccarton Road opened in 2007; it was designed by Warren and Mahoney. Closed after the

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. New Zealand Daylight Time, local time (23:51 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the Canterbury Region ...

, the temple reopened in August 2016. The Bodhinyanarama Monastery in Stokes Valley,

Lower Hutt Lower Hutt () is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropoli ...

was established in the 1980s, with the monastery complex constructed in 1992. Vimutti Buddhist Monastery was established near

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

and Ararimu in rural southern Auckland Region in early 2000. Both monasteries belong to the Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah. Wat Lao Buddharam in Ōtāhuhu, Auckland, was constructed by Laotian refugees in 1989, and Ratanadipa Buddhist Temple, a Burmese community temple, was established in 2002 by the Auckland Myanmar Buddhist Association. As of 2021, there are nine Thai Buddhist temples across the country.

Gallery

Fo Guang Shan Temple Auckland.jpg,

Fo Guang Shan Temple, Auckland The Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple of New Zealand is a temple and community centre of the Fo Guang Shan chinese buddhism, Chinese Buddhist movement in the East Tāmaki/Flat Bush suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. The temple and complex were built ...

International Buddhist Centre, Christchurch, New Zealand 03.jpg, Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple South Island in Riccarton,

20230218 172951 Ratanadipa Buddhist Temple.jpg, Ratanadipa Buddhist Temple, a Burmese Buddhist temple in New Lynn, Auckland Saint Ann Buddhist Temple 20240902 123602.jpg, Saint Ann Buddhist Temple in Mount Wellington, Auckland

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buddhism In New Zealand New Z Religion in New Zealand Religion in Oceania Buddhism in Oceania