Buddhism in the United Kingdom

Although the practice of Buddhism in the United Kingdom started in the 19th century, the UK have had relations with Buddhist countries for more than a millennia. Britain may have had relations through the rule of the Romans, though most of these were directly from Rome. The religion of Manichaeism, a former major religion which had Buddhist influences, was said to have spread throughout the empire as far as Britannia.{{Cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Manichaeism |title=Manichaeism | Definition, Beliefs, History, & Facts | Britannica |access-date=2023-01-02 |archive-date=2020-05-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508072403/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Manichaeism |url-status=live }}

However, there was little contact between the Buddhist world and Britain until the early modern age. Archaeological evidence found in Sutton Hoo suggests that Britain was part of an international culture, as the garnets discovered, dated back to the Anglo-Saxon period, came from as far away as Sri Lanka,{{Cite web |url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/suffolk/sutton-hoo/the-anglo-saxons |title=Anglo-Saxons at Sutton Hoo | Suffolk | National Trust |access-date=2023-01-02 |archive-date=2023-01-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230102234250/https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/suffolk/sutton-hoo/the-anglo-saxons |url-status=live }} at that time a strong Buddhist civilization called 'Anuradhapura', having contact with Ancient Rome and Greece. It was also known that during the Anglo-Saxon period, Sri Lanka was the most distant land away to the Anglo-Saxons.{{Cite web |url=https://gallery247.com.au/rob-munro/art/mappa-mundi---11th-century-anglo-saxon-world-map-recreation/49689/?q=1&k=world&sort=10&order=DESC&pg=1&c=&find=&nor=1 |title=Mappa Mundi - 11th Century Anglo-saxon World Map Recreation by Rob Munro - Search Results on "world" |access-date=2023-01-02 |archive-date=2023-01-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230102234254/https://gallery247.com.au/rob-munro/art/mappa-mundi---11th-century-anglo-saxon-world-map-recreation/49689/?q=1&k=world&sort=10&order=DESC&pg=1&c=&find=&nor=1 |url-status=live }}

During the 16th century, many English sailors and travelers reached Asia with one notable of Ralph Fitch. Ralph Fitch was known to have visited various places in Asia between 1583 and 1591, including various Buddhist countries such as present-day Myanmar, Ayutthaya (a strong Buddhist kingdom situated in the areas of Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia and Myanmar), the Himalayas and Ceylon.{{Cite web |url=https://anglotopia.net/news-features/britains-relationship-with-thailand/ |title=Britain's Relationship with Thailand |date=16 May 2022 |access-date=2023-01-02 |archive-date=2023-01-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116001612/https://anglotopia.net/news-features/britains-relationship-with-thailand/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ralph-Fitch |title=Ralph Fitch | biography - British explorer | Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=2023-01-02 |archive-date=2015-05-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518072511/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/208850/Ralph-Fitch |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=http://www.lankalibrary.com/geo/British/history4.htm |title=Sri Lanka |access-date=2023-01-02 |archive-date=2022-10-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221011205606/http://www.lankalibrary.com/geo/British/history4.htm |url-status=live }} William Adams was the first Englishman to reach Japan in 1600, at that time the country was also Buddhist.

Buddhism in the United Kingdom goes at least as far back as the 1810s. Adam Sri Munni Ratna, a Buddhist monk from Ceylon (Sri Lanka), travelled to England with his cousin (also a Buddhist monk) while accompanying Sir Alexander Johnston in 1818. They were keen to learn Christianity as they were travelling to England. During their brief stay, the two monks were baptised and returned to Ceylon where they entered government service.{{cite web | url=https://blogs.bl.uk/asian-and-african/2018/04/adam-munni-ratna-a-buddhist-monk-in-england-in-1818.html | title=Adam Munni Ratna, a Buddhist monk in England in 1818 | access-date=2022-09-11 | archive-date=2022-12-03 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203041001/https://blogs.bl.uk/asian-and-african/2018/04/adam-munni-ratna-a-buddhist-monk-in-england-in-1818.html | url-status=live }}

As Buddhism expanded in the United Kingdom, several umbrella organisations have formed, such as the Buddhist Society (active since 1924, with an office in London), and The Network of Buddhist Organisations, established in 1993.

{{See also|Theravada}}

In Britain, the earliest Buddhist influences came from the Theravada traditions of Burma, Thailand, and Sri Lanka. Interest in them was primarily scholarly to begin with, and a tradition of study grew up that resulted in the foundation of the Pali Text Society in 1881 founded by Thomas William Rhys Davids, which undertook the significant task of translating the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhist tradition into English. The start of interest in Buddhism as a path of practice had been pioneered by the original Theosophists, the Russian Madame Blavatsky and the American Colonel Olcott, who in 1880 became the first Westerners to receive the Three refuges and Five precepts, the formal conversion ceremony by which one traditionally accepted and becomes a Buddhist.

Burma and Ceylon were both colonies of the British Empire and both colonies had large or were majority Buddhist. Immigration from the two colonies would have happened. During the 19th to early 20th centuries lascar sailors (people from Asia who worked in British ships) came and settled in the UK. Some of the lascars came from the seafaring communities of Burma and Ceylon.{{Cite thesis |url=https://researcharchive.vuw.ac.nz/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10063/7666/thesis_access.pdf?sequence=5 |title=Unfortunate Strangers: Lascars in the British Maritime World c. 1849-1912 |date=2018 |publisher=Open Access Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington |doi=10.26686/wgtn.17072291.v1 |access-date=2022-09-11 |archive-date=2022-10-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221009155546/http://researcharchive.vuw.ac.nz/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10063/7666/thesis_access.pdf?sequence=5 |url-status=live |last1=Broughton |first1=Dean }}{{better source|date=September 2022}} There were also Chinese seamen who settled in the United Kingdom, establishing Chinatowns in Liverpool and London.

The Buddhist Society, London (originally known as the Buddhist Lodge) was founded in 1924 by Christmas Humphreys, another Theosophist who converted to Buddhism.Bluck (2006), pp. 7–9 In 1925, the Sri Lankan Buddhist missionary Anagarika Dharmapala brought to England the Maha Bodhi Society,{{cite book|last=Coleman|first=James William|title=The New Buddhism: The Western Transformation of an Ancient Tradition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9-Q6bCGIPhkC|year=2002|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA|isbn=978-0-19-515241-8|page=60|access-date=2019-07-21|archive-date=2023-01-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116001611/https://books.google.com/books?id=9-Q6bCGIPhkC|url-status=live}} which he had founded with the collaboration of the British journalist and poet Edwin Arnold.{{cite book|last=Blackburn|first=Anne M.|title=Locations of Buddhism: Colonialism and Modernity in Sri Lanka|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DxTM_gWu15IC&pg=PA120|year=2010|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-05509-1|page=120|access-date=2019-07-21|archive-date=2023-01-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116001610/https://books.google.com/books?id=DxTM_gWu15IC&pg=PA120|url-status=live}}

A slow trickle from United Kingdom travelled to Asia for deeper spiritual commitment via monastic ordination, mainly as Theravadin monks, like Ñāṇavīra Thera and Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu who went to Island Hermitage in Sri Lanka for their Sāmaṇera ordination in 1949. Kapilavaddho Bhikkhu introduced the Dhammakaya tradition to the UK in 1954 in this way and founded the English Sangha Trust in 1955. Theosophical and Theravadin influences continued throughout the early 20th century.

A Theravada monastic order following the Thai Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah was established at Chithurst Buddhist Monastery in West Sussex in 1979, giving rise to branch monasteries elsewhere in the country, including the Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in the Chiltern Hills and Aruna Ratanagiri in Northumberland. Quite a number of notable Britons like Ajahn Khemadhammo, Ajahn Sucitto, Ajahn Amaro, Ajahn Brahm and Ajahn Jayasaro were ordained into this monastic order, become serious practitioners and dedicated Dhamma teachers. Ajahn Khemadhammo also began Buddhist prison chaplaincy work in 1977 and established "Angulimala, the Buddhist Prison Chaplaincy" in 1985.{{cite web|url=http://www.dancingmountains.org.uk/newsletter/email_newsletter/Issue-13/Page-2.html|title=Buddhist Prison Chaplaincy|publisher=dancingmountains.org.uk|access-date=2020-11-24|archive-date=2022-12-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203041015/http://www.dancingmountains.org.uk/newsletter/email_newsletter/Issue-13/Page-2.html|url-status=live}} A lay meditation tradition of Thai origin is represented by the Samatha Trust, with its headquarters retreat centre in Wales.

{{See also|Mahayana}}

Zen Buddhist communities in the UK include the Sōtō Zen priory at Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey in Northumberland, the Norwich Zen Buddhist Priory, the International Zen Association United Kingdom (IZAUK),{{Cite web |title=IZAUK |url=https://www.izauk.org/ |access-date=2024-11-05 |website=International Zen Association United Kingdom |language=en-US}} the Kwan Um School of Zen (London, York){{Cite web |title=The London Zen Centre |url=https://kwanumzen.co.uk/ |access-date=2024-11-05 |website=The London Zen Centre |language=en-GB}} and the Cloud Water Zen Centre (Glasgow).{{Cite web |title=Cloud Water Zen Centre / Home |url=https://cloudwaterzen.org/ |access-date=2024-11-05 |website=cloudwaterzen.org}}

The Community of Interbeing, part of the Order of Interbeing, founded by Vietnamese Zen Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh (who resided in Plum Village, France), had about 90 sanghas meeting across the UK as of 2012.[http://www.interbeing.org.uk/groups Community of Interbeing > Groups] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101116162312/http://interbeing.org.uk/groups/ |date=2010-11-16 }} Accessed 14 April 2012. The Order of Interbeing (Tiep Hien) was founded within the Linji School of Dhyana Buddhism (Zen (Rinzai)).

There is a small Pure Land Buddhist presence in the UK. In 1994, Three Wheels Temple was founded in London by Reverend Kemmyō Tairo Sato,{{cite web |title=2013 Foreign Minister's Commendation - Reverend Professor Kemmyo Taira Sato and Mr Keisaku Sano |url=https://www.uk.emb-japan.go.jp/en/webmagazine/2013/12/fm.html |website=Embassy of Japan in the UK |access-date=8 February 2024}} as a branch of the Shogyoji Temple,{{cite web |title=About Us – Three Wheels |url=https://threewheels.org.uk/about-us/ |date=31 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231231145037/https://threewheels.org.uk/about-us/ |archive-date=2023-12-31 }} associated with the Higashi Hongan-ji sect of Shin Buddhism. The Amida Trust and Amida Order was founded in April 1996 by Buddhist psychotherapist David Brazier,{{cite book |last1=Henry |first1=Phil |title=Adaptation and Developments in Western Buddhism: Socially Engaged Buddhism in the UK |date=24 October 2013 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-1-4725-1255-0 |pages=57–58 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xSpMAQAAQBAJ&dq=pure+land+buddhism+uk&pg=PP1 |language=en}} and in 2020 the Bright Earth Buddhist Temple in Malvern separated from the Amida Order and re-formed as an independent Pure Land Buddhist temple.{{cite web |last1=Barnett |first1=Christian |last2=Brinkworth |first2=Alison |title=Buddhist temple colour row in beauty spot |url=https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/almighty-colour-row-malvern-hills-21301307 |website=Birmingham Live |language=en |date=17 August 2021}}{{cite web |title=History of the temple – Bright Earth |url=https://www.brightearth.org/history-of-the-temple/ |access-date=8 February 2024 |date=25 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230925130114/https://www.brightearth.org/history-of-the-temple/ |archive-date=2023-09-25 }}

{{See also|Vajrayana}}

In 1966, Freda Bedi, a British woman, became the first Western woman to take ordination in Tibetan Buddhism.{{cite web |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-61180-425-6 |title=Nonfiction Book Review: The Revolutionary Life of Freda Bedi: British Feminist, Indian Nationalist, Buddhist Nun by Vicki Mackenzie. Shambhala, $16.95 trade paper (208p) ISBN 978-1-61180-425-6 |date=28 March 2017 |publisher=Publishersweekly.com |access-date=2017-06-10 |archive-date=2017-10-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016071032/https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-61180-425-6 |url-status=live }} In 2012 Emma Slade, a British woman, became the first Western woman to be ordained as a Buddhist nun in Bhutan.{{cite web |url=https://www.pressreader.com/india/the-times-of-india-mumbai-edition/20170828/281994672621437 |title=Connecting People Through News |via=PressReader |access-date=2017-12-23 |archive-date=2017-12-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171224101436/https://www.pressreader.com/india/the-times-of-india-mumbai-edition/20170828/281994672621437 |url-status=live }}

Kagyu Samye Ling was founded in 1967 by two spiritual masters, Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche and Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. It was the first Tibetan Buddhist Centre to be established in the West and was named after Samye, the very first monastery to be established in Tibet. In 1977 during his second visit to Samye Ling, the 16th Karmapa assured Akong Rinpoche about the longer-term future of Buddhism in the West and at Samye Ling.Holmes,Ken, "Karmapa Urgyen Trinley Dorje" page 30 It is from this encounter that the Samye ProjectAkong Rinpoché Establishing Buddha-Dharma: The Samye Project, http://www.akong.eu/dharma_8.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417180922/http://www.akong.eu/dharma_8.htm |date=2021-04-17 }} was born. Samyé Ling now has established centres in more than 20 countries, including Belgium, Ireland, Poland, South Africa, Spain and Switzerland.{{Cite web|url=https://www.samyeling.org/contact/affiliated-centres/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414192956/https://www.samyeling.org/contact/affiliated-centres/|url-status=dead

|title=Affiliated Centres|archivedate=14 April 2021|website=SamyeLing.org}}

Lama Shenpen Hookham, originally from Essex, travelled to India in the late 1960s on the instruction of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, became one of a group of early Western women to take ordination as a nun in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. She was taught by, and became a translator to many of Tibetan Buddhist masters, as was asked by 16th Karmapa to return to the West to teach. She was authorised to teach Mahamudra by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, who also encouraged her to return her monastic vows in order to teach Westerners. Lama Shenpen went on to establish the Awakened Heart Sangha and devised a unique, experiential training programme called Living the Awakened Heart, which presents the undiluted essence of Dzogchen and Mahamudra teachings and traditions, tailored especially for a Western audience. Lama Shenpen wrote about her time in India with her teachers and her path to becoming a lama in her autobiography Keeping the Dalai Lama Waiting & Other Stories – An English Woman's Journey to Becoming a Buddhist Lama, which has had many recommendations from other esteemed teachers, including Khandro Rinpoche.

Jamyang Buddhist Centre (JBC) in London is affiliated to the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, an international network of Gelugpa Tibetan Buddhist centres. There is also a branch centre in Leeds and affiliated groups around across England. The resident teacher is Geshe Tashi Tsering.{{Cite web |url=http://www.jamyang.co.uk/ |title=Jamyang Buddhist Centre |access-date=2011-08-20 |archive-date=2000-10-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001022042422/http://www.jamyang.co.uk/ |url-status=live }}

The Manjushri Institute, a large Buddhist college at Conishead Priory in Cumbria, was founded in 1976 under the guidance of Thubten Yeshe, a Tibetan Gelugpa monk.Bluck (2006), p. 129 Buddhist organisations in the UK from the Tibetan tradition that have been founded by Western lamas include Dechen and Aro gTér. Dechen is an association of Buddhist centres of the Sakya and Karma Kagyu traditions, founded by Lama Jampa Thaye and under the spiritual authority of Karma Thinley Rinpoche.

{{See also|Category:Buddhist new religious movements}}

New religious movements in Britain include the Triratna Buddhist Community (Previously known as Friends of the Western Buddhist Order), founded by the British teacher and writer Sangharakshita (Dennis Lingwood) in 1967,{{cite book|last=Oliver|first=Paul|title=New Religious Movements: A Guide for the Perplexed|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OifVAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA77|year=2012|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-1-4411-2553-8|pages=77–80; 84–88|access-date=2019-07-22|archive-date=2023-01-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116001611/https://books.google.com/books?id=OifVAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA77|url-status=live}} which has been associated with many allegations of abuse.{{cite news |last1=Doward |first1=Jamie |title=Buddhist, teacher, predator: dark secrets of the Triratna guru |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/21/sangharakshita-guru-triratna-buddhist-dark-secrets |work=The Observer |date=21 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722130826/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/21/sangharakshita-guru-triratna-buddhist-dark-secrets |archive-date=22 July 2019}} The New Kadampa Tradition was founded by the Tibetan monk (formerly a Gelugpa) Kelsang Gyatso in 1991 when it took over the Manjushri Institute (Conishead Priory); its practices have sparked much controversy, including official rebukes by the Dalai Lama.{{cite journal |last=Kay |first=David N. |year=1997 |title=The New Kadampa Tradition and the Continuity of Tibetan Buddhism in Transition |journal=Journal of Contemporary Religion |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.1080/13537909708580806 |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=277–293 |url=http://www.nktworld.org/The%20New%20Kadampa%20Tradition%20and%20the%20Continuity%20of%20Tibetan%20Buddhism%20in%20Transition%20-%20compressed.pdf |access-date=2019-07-22 |archive-date=2015-07-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702030650/http://www.nktworld.org/The%20New%20Kadampa%20Tradition%20and%20the%20Continuity%20of%20Tibetan%20Buddhism%20in%20Transition%20-%20compressed.pdf |url-status=live }} There is also a UK section of the Soka Gakkai International, a worldwide organization that promotes a disputed, modernized version of the ancient Japanese Nichiren school of Mahayana Buddhism.Bluck (2006), p.89

'Diamond Way Buddhism' is a network of lay Buddhist centres, founded by Ole Nydahl.

{{See also|Secular Buddhism|Mindfulness}}

Interest in secular Buddhism, stripped of supernatural elements and doctrines that are deemed insufficiently rational (including ancient, shared Indian religious beliefs in rebirth and karma), has developed from the writings of the British author and teacher Stephen Batchelor.[http://secularbuddhism.co.uk/ Secular Buddhism UK] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120407223654/http://secularbuddhism.co.uk/ |date=2012-04-07 }} Accessed 14 April 2012.{{cite news |last1=Vernon |first1=Mark |title=The new Buddhist atheism |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2010/mar/10/buddhism-atheism-hitchens |work=The Guardian |date=10 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722133037/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2010/mar/10/buddhism-atheism-hitchens |archive-date=22 July 2019 }}

Vidyamala Burch and her organization Breathworks have helped to popularize mindfulness-based pain management (MBPM), a mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) providing applications for people suffering from chronic pain and illness.{{Cite news|last=Tracey|first=Emma|date=2015-01-06|title=Managing pain with the power of the mind|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-ouch-30534749|access-date=2020-06-07|archive-date=2020-07-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200702150551/https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-ouch-30534749|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=Vidyamala Burch|url=https://disabilitypower100.com/?project=vidyamala-burch|access-date=2020-06-07|website=Shaw Trust Disability Power 100 List| date=3 October 2019 |language=en-GB|archive-date=2020-06-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607085742/https://disabilitypower100.com/?project=vidyamala-burch|url-status=live}}

The British Association of Mindfulness-Based Approaches (BAMBA) is a network of 25 mindfulness teacher-training organizations that aims to support and develop good practice and integrity in the delivery of mindfulness-based approaches in the UK.{{Cite web|title=Promoting and maintaining standards in mindfulness-based teaching and training: BAMBA|url=https://www.nottinghamshirehealthcare.nhs.uk/promoting-and-maintaining-standards-mbct|access-date=2020-06-11|website=Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust|language=en|archive-date=2020-06-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611012137/https://www.nottinghamshirehealthcare.nhs.uk/promoting-and-maintaining-standards-mbct|url-status=live}}

{{Historical populations

|title = Historical Population

|type =

|footnote = Religious Affiliation was not recorded in the census prior to 2001.

|align =

|width =

|state =

|shading =

|pop_name =

|percentages =

|source =

|2001|151,816

|2011|261,584

|2021|289,551}}

File:Buddhists in the United Kingdom, 2021 UK census.png

File:British Buddhists by Ethnic Group.png

According to the 2021 United Kingdom census, Buddhists in England and Wales enumerated 272,508, or 0.5% of the population.{{Cite web |title=Religion, England and Wales - Office for National Statistics |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/religion/bulletins/religionenglandandwales/census2021 |access-date=2022-11-29 |website=www.ons.gov.uk |archive-date=2022-11-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129100449/https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/religion/bulletins/religionenglandandwales/census2021 |url-status=live }} In Northern Ireland, there were 1,542 Buddhists and the equivalent census for Scotland in 2022 recorded 15,501 Buddhists.{{Cite web |date=2022-09-07 |title=Census 2021 main statistics religion tables |url=https://www.nisra.gov.uk/publications/census-2021-main-statistics-religion-tables |access-date=2022-11-29 |website=Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency |language=en}} The local authorities with the highest proportion of Buddhists were: Rushmoor (4,732: 4.74% of the population), Greenwich (5,034: 1.74%), Reading (2,887: 1.66%), Hounslow (3,932: 1.36%) and Westminster (2,603: 1.27%).{{cite web |title=Religion, 2021, local authorities in England and Wales |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/dvc2206/fig2/datadownload.xlsx |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=29 November 2022}} In Scotland, the highest proportion was in Edinburgh at 0.54% (2,796); In Wales, the highest proportion was in Ceredigion at 0.53% (378); and in Northern Ireland, the highest concentration was in Belfast at 0.15% (517).

In the 2021 census for England and Wales, the main places of birth were the United Kingdom at 110,528 people (40.5% of the total Buddhist population), Southeast Asia at 67,152 (24.6%), South Asia at 45,076 (16.5%) and East Asia at 32,448 (11.9%). Among individual countries in Asia, the countries of Thailand; Sri Lanka; Nepal; China; and Vietnam made up the top five most common countries of birth for Buddhists residing in England and Wales.{{cite web |title=Country of birth (extended) and religion |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/datasets/RM031/editions/2021/versions/1/filter-outputs/2667ef12-ec2e-44e7-a356-aeca1205bf53#get-data |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=28 March 2023}} 58.3% of Buddhists identified as Asian, 31.9% as White, 4.0% were of Mixed heritage, 0.9% identified as Black and the remaining 4.9% identified with other ethnic groups.

For the 2001 census in Scotland, people were asked both their current religion and the one that they were brought up in. 6,830 people gave Buddhism as their current religion, and 4,704 said they were brought up in it, with an overlap of 3,146.Scotland's Census 2001: the Registrar-General's Report to the Scottish Parliament, General Register Office for Scotland, 2003, page 31 In Northern Ireland, the published report which listed religions and philosophies in order of size reported 'Buddhist' at 533.Northern Ireland Census 2001: Standard Tables, National Statistics, 2003, page 43

• Thomas William Rhys Davids, founder of the Pāli Text Society
• The Light of Asia, 19th century British poem about the life of the Buddha
• Hammalawa Saddhatissa
• Dhammakaya Tradition UK
• Dhamma Talaka Pagoda
• Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies
• Religion in the United Kingdom
• Religion in the Republic of Ireland

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist|3}}

• Bell, Sandra (1991). [http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/1507/ Buddhism in Britain - Adaptation and Development], PhD thesis, University of Durham
• Bluck, Robert (2004). [http://www.globalbuddhism.org/jgb/index.php/jgb/article/download/55/67 Buddhism and Ethnicity in Britain: The 2001 Census Data] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304194653/http://www.globalbuddhism.org/jgb/index.php/jgb/article/download/55/67 |date=2016-03-04 }}, Journal of Global Buddhism 5, 90–96
• Kay, David N. (2004). Tibetan and Zen Buddhism in Britain: Transplantation, Development and Adaptation, London; New York: RoutledgeCurzon
• {{cite book|last=Bluck|first=Robert |title=British Buddhism: Teachings, Practice and Development|year=2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-15817-1}}
• {{cite book|author1=Munt, Sally |author2=Yip, Andrew |title=Cosmopolitan Dharma: Race, Sexuality, and Gender in British Buddhism|date=2016|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-23280-8}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070908105318/http://buddhanet.net/wbd/country.php?country_id=76 United Kingdom] at World Buddhist Directory
• [http://www.thebuddhistsociety.org/ The Buddhist Society]
• [http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/history/britishbuddhism_1.shtml BBC - British Buddhism]
• [http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/English/Collections/Onlineresources/RWWC/themes/1301/1093 Reassessing what we collect website – Buddhist London] History of Buddhist London with objects and images
• [http://www.buddhismtoday.com/english/world/country/022-England.htm Buddhism Today - Buddhism in United Kingdom]
• [http://www.jamyang.co.uk/ Jamyang] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001022042422/http://www.jamyang.co.uk/ |date=2000-10-22 }}
• [http://www.london.samye.org/ Kagyu Samye Dzong London]
• [http://www.dechen.org/ Dechen]
• [http://www.buddhism.org.uk/ Diamond Way Buddhism UK]
• [http://www.aroter.org/ Aro gTér]

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Uni

United Kingdom