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| Miss Srivati from the London Buddhist Centre explains Buddhism to Charlie & Blue. |
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| What's "enlightened" mean, Charlie? |
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| The Four Noble Truths simplified for children and plush toys (London Buddhist Centre) |
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| They call me the "Buddhist Seinfeld." |
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| How can we afford to help more people? |
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| Ajahn Brahm |
EXETER, England (BBC) - If you're looking for a new spiritual journey, the path to enlightenment could be right under your nose. Danny Lawrence meets members of the Diamond Way Buddhist Centre in Exeter.
After growing up in a Christian tradition, Meg Surrey has taken a new direction."My parents went to church maybe at Christmas and Easter, but I was christened as a baby.
"In my early teens I became interested in it and I was confirmed.
"But by the time I was about 16, I was beginning to have big questions about an outside creator and nobody seemed to be able to answer these for me.
Members of the centre come from a variety of backgrounds. Mark Brimble's is similar to Meg's.
"Like Meg, I was christened," he said. "My mother wasn't particularly involved in the church -- we'd maybe go to Midnight Mass -- and my father's an Atheist.
"I think most specifically because I consider myself a scientist and the two did not merge. It left me asking a lot of questions.
Meg and Mark share their discoveries.
"I went into a bit of a spiritual wilderness for some time. Then I got involved in Reiki, which is a natural method of healing, and shortly after that I became aware of Tibetan Buddhism."
It is important to keep ethical principles in mind. Buddhism should not be propagated as a power structure seeking converts. The Dharma is shared as a mutual means of guidance to help end suffering. Share your ideas and suggestions on the topic for the benefit of the African socio-spiritual-cultural Continent at:
Bhante Buddharakkhita (Uganda), a Theravada Buddhist monk born in Uganda, East Africa. He became interested in Buddhism while he was a student in India in 1990. He was ordained by the late Sayadaw U Silananda. In 2005, he founded the Uganda Buddhist Centre in Kampala, Uganda, the first Buddhist Center in Uganda. He is the author of Planting Dhamma Seeds: The emerging Buddhism in Africa. He is also a resident monk in West Virginia (USA) at the Bhavana Society Forest monastery. Venerable Buddharakkhita's Vipassana Foundation profile can be found here (scroll down to the end).Buddhism has been gaining ground in South Africa. The country now comprises the largest Buddhist community in Africa. South Africa is also the base for organizations aiming to spread Buddhism in Africa, such as the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.
History
Apart from various Buddhist groups brought to the Cape Colony from Southeast Asia during the 1680s, and the many indentured laborers brought to Natal from India during the latter part of the 19th Century (some of whom were Buddhist, and some of whom were Hindu who later converted to Buddhism once in South Africa), most Buddhists in South Africa are non-Asian converts.
A 2003 study estimated that in the late 1990s there were a total of 6,000 Buddhists in South Africa (3,000 of Asian ancestry) out of a total population of 42 million (or 0.01% of the total population). [Ref]
Notable South African Buddhists & Organizations
