Buddhism in Australia: A Maturing, Multidisciplinary Field of Inquiry

ABSTRACT

In 2012, Anna Halafoff, Ruth Fitzpatrick and Kim Lam applied Paul Numrich's framework to the study of Buddhism in so‐called Australia, to determine if it constituted a distinct field of study. They concluded that it was an emerging field, according to Numrich's three categories of specialisation, organisation and publication. Thirteen years later, this article extends Numrich's framework, adding a fourth category of ‘diversity’, and applies this framework to the study of Buddhism in Australia, concluding that it is now a maturing, multidisciplinary, field of study. This article provides evidence for these claims, and particularly how recent Australian research is contributing to rendering Asian Buddhist communities more prominent in the study of Buddhism in Australia and the West more broadly. In so doing, it seeks to reposition the study of Buddhism in Australia away from the margins and more towards the centre of studies of religion on this continent, and also of global Buddhism.