Lost Irish Buddhist: first Western monk

Irish: The Dharma Bum: A Documentary

Dubliner Ven. Dhammaloka (Burmese ဦးဓမ္မလောက, circa 1856–1914) was an Irish-born wanderer in the USA who traveled from California to Asia.

He ordained as a Theravada Buddhist monk, which would have been before Brits Gordon Douglas or Allan Bennett (1872-1923), who are usually attributed the honor after they ordained and became Ven. Asoka and Ven. Ananda Metteya, respectively.

Born Laurence Carroll (or Laurence O'Rourke, or William Colvin or...he used many aliases so we do not know for sure), he received the Buddhist name Dhammaloka, which means "Dharma world" or "Dharma Light" (Dhamma = "Dharma," + loka "world or realm," or aloka = "light").

With robes and bowl, circa 1899.

He was a strong critic of Christian missionaries in Asia and a temperance campaigner who took an active role in the Asian Buddhist revival around the turn of the 20th century.

U Dhammaloka (U, pronounced /ooh/, is an honorific Burmese title not a name) was ordained in Buddhist Burma prior to 1900, making him the earliest attested Western Buddhist monk in modern times. 

He warned against Christians missionaries.

He was a celebrity preacher, a vigorous polemicist, and a prolific editor in British Burma and Singapore between 1900 and his conviction for sedition and appeal in 1910–1911.

Drawing on Western atheist writings, he publicly challenged the role of Christian missionaries and by implication the colonial British empire. More

Lost Irish Buddhist

History's wrong. The 1st was Irish.

(UCC Ireland, 1/11/11) Who was he really, this hobo, world traveler, and famous Buddhist in Asia, who blazed a trail for Westerners but passed away, it seems, only to be ignored by history?

This enigmatic, free-thinking Dubliner who used different aliases, we now know to have been Venerable Dhammaloka, "the Irish Buddhist" who converted to Theravada Buddhism around 1900.

He became widely known throughout Asia and, in the process, managed to fall afoul of the colonial British establishment as well as Protestant Christian missionaries.

The Dharma Bum is a video documentary.

Uncovering Ven. Dhammaloka's unique story has taken some inspired detective work on the part of UCC Professor Brian Bocking and his colleagues. But their efforts have not been in vain.

The "Lost Irish Buddhist" emerges after all these years as one of the earliest Western Buddhist monks, likely the earliest attested Westerner, predating many others who have tried to claim the title. Prof. Bocking takes us through an amazing odyssey.

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