Published by: World Tibet Network News Sunday - September 14, 1997

ADELAIDE, Sep 14 AAP - It was inevitable that Buddhism would develop, over time, a Western tradition, according to the coordinator of today's historic one-day meeting here of Buddhist Masters.

Jampa Gendun said just as Buddhism's flexibility had allowed it to move through other countries and cultures such as Burma, Japan, Korea and Thailand it would also help it develop a special Western Buddhism, which would be tailored to the western mind.

Mr Gendun said the motivation behind today's first-ever meeting in the state was to gain a closeness between the already existing Buddhist community and the various ethnic groups.

It was also to make available to the general public a diversity of expressions of Buddhism.

"What many in the West don't realise is that Buddhism is just as diverse as Christianity, in that each culture has their own unique expression of the teachings," he said.

Asked how Buddhism would adapt to a rapidly changing world and in particular to the free market economy, Mr Gendun said Buddhism would affect and be affected by the various democratic institutions and different economic systems of the West.

Mr Gendun said Buddhism was Australia's fastest growing religion. This was partly due to the recent increase in Asian immigration as well as the high number of non-Asian ethnics who were deciding to adopt Buddhism as a way of life.

Venerable Masters from Cambodia, Thailand, Tibet, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, representing the five major traditions of Buddhism, spoke at the meeting about their "unique spiritual traditions".