This is a history of that temple. More than a history of the temple, this is a history of the culmination of a long cherished dream of a group of refugees from another land. When many Lao refugees fled their native land, they were sustained by a dream - the dream to maintain their cultural identity and to provide a good future to their children as good citizens of whatever adopted land they finally settled. To be a good citizen, to the Lao people, means first and foremost to be a good Buddhist, because it is in their belief in, and practice of, Buddhism that the Lao express their highest ideal of goodness, their cultural character and aspirations in life and in society. Taking part in activities in and around the temple is one such expression, and being part of the establishment of a temple is the highest form of expressions of all.

After many years of effort, great sacrifice, determination and dedication by members of the Canberra Lao community, and after nearly twenty years of settlement in this area, the dream of a temple of their own finally became a reality. A history of a building such as a temple is inevitably inextricably interwoven with the story of the community that helped to establish it. Thus, while this is a history of a humble temple, it is a story of how the dedication, unity and determination of a community in Canberra help to make their dream of a temple come true.

It is also a story of the struggle of a minority faith in a land predominated by a different religion. It is a story of a dream that could have easily turned into a nightmare but for the crucial symbiotic relationship between the community and the Sangha, the body of Buddhist monks, which at the same time serves and preserves the community. This essay then is an attempt to answer such questions as why does the Lao community work so hard to establish their own temple, a Wat. What is a Wat? What significance does a Wat hold in the daily life of a Lao? What importance does a Wat have in the religious belief of a Lao? What role does a Wat have in a Lao’s identity?

Prior to 1975, Theravada Buddhism was the official religion of the Kingdom of Laos, having been brought to Laos via the Cambodian court in the fourteenth century by King Fa Ngoum. During the early days of the new regime since 1975, Buddhism went into decline, but has since regained its rightful position in society with the blessing of the secular authority.

Being an imported faith, Buddhism, when introduced, lived and developed along side the indigenous cult of the Phi, belief in the spirits. Together these two systems of beliefs form the total system of religious belief and practices characteristic of most Lao. On the one hand, Buddhism offers the ideal life of non-suffering, Nirvana, that can be achieved, perhaps after many rebirths, by doing good deeds; and on the other, a Lao in the meantime has to deal with the misfortunes in life which he believes to be caused by the Phi. Many Lao believe that, while Nirvana may be some life times away, doing good deeds serves two purposes simultaneously: placating the spirits that may be causing harm in your daily life, and accumulating the merit for the next reincarnations. For a Lao, central to his Buddhist faith is the devotion to the Triple Gem: the Buddha, the Enlightened One who provided the example; the Dhamma, the Buddha’s teachings which show the way, and the Sangha, the Order of Buddhist Monks, who teach the Buddha’s teachings. One without the other would not work.

The Buddha was not a god, nor is he the son of God or the incarnation of any gods. The word ‘Buddha’ is an appellative, an honorific term, meaning ‘he who achieves enlightenment by his own effort’, given to a prince named Siddhatta Gotama, when, at the age of 35, he attained Enlightenment. To a Lao, Gotama is so revered as the Supreme Teacher, the Ultimate example in purity, wisdom and self-sacrifice that he attained a status of a God.

The Buddha’s teaching, the Dhamma, is the pointer that shows the way to the ultimate destination of all Lao Buddhists: Nirvana. Many Lao acknowledge that the more philosophical collection of the teaching eludes them. To them, the fundamental Buddhist teaching is the realisation that the world is full of sufferings, that the goal is to break free from these sufferings to find Nirvana through one’s own effort. These fundamental concepts are expressed in the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eight Fold Path.

The Sangha is needed by the lay community for the teaching of the religion, and to provide it with spiritual leadership, communal harmony and examples of a virtuous life. More importantly, the Sangha provides the lay community with an avenue to make merit, which is regarded as essential to improving their lot in this life and the next. The lay community considers this dependence on the Sangha great enough for it to do all it can to provide worldly support for the Sangha so that the latter can devote their life to the learning and teaching of the Buddha’s words. Members of the Sangha practice the three main virtues shown by the Buddha: wisdom, purity and compassion. They take vows of poverty, forsaking all worldly possession (except eight items permissible for his daily life as a monk), and vows of chastity. In theory, the monks’ day is taken up in rituals, devotion, meditation, study, teaching and preaching. But as we will see, monks develop a symbiotic relationship with the lay community, not least because it is an extension of the notion of ‘dana’ (offering Xmko?) and of merit making (gIaf[5o).

The Buddhist community comprises four elements: the monks Xry005?, the nuns Xry005ou?, (collectively called the Sangha XlaC0t?), the upasok Xv5xtlqd? and the upasika Xv5xtlydk? (collectively known as the lay community). The institution of monastic life of monks began quite early in the history of Buddhism. The reasons appeared to be that monks themselves need mutual support in their search for Nirvana, and material support and new recruits from the lay community.

To an ordinary layman, the task of learning and understanding the Dhamma appears an unsurmountable barrier. While this teaching represents the desirable way to Nirvana, it appears overwhelming when he has his other worldly affairs to occupy his day and his mind. To him, then, the acceptable compromise is to live his life in accordance with the basic precepts laid down by the Buddha. The Buddha must have been fully appreciative of this dilemma of the ordinary layman as his very basic teaching is embodied in the Five Precepts, which guide the layman onto the right path. Accordingly, Buddhist values, practices and way of life and the Five Precepts permeate every aspect of a Lao’s daily life.

The everyday world of a Lao then encompasses both the religious and the mundane. Buddhist teaching emphasises that religion does not depend on mastering the religious texts, but in finding the release from the circle of suffering through one’s own effort. Buddhism provides the ways to peace of mind, to higher wisdom and full enlightenment, Nirvana. Buddhist teaching explains the place of human beings in the cosmos, and the place of the individual in the social order in the mundane. Buddhism provides the rituals and ceremonies that mark the important events in the life of an individual and of the village. These occasions simultaneously serve many purposes - an avenue for making merit, for both the monks and the lay community, and the perpetuation of the teaching and learning of Dhamma, and more mundanely, fund raising for the Wat.

To a Lao Buddhist the linkage between Nirvana, the concept of ‘merit’ and the Law of Karma is very important. According to the Law of Karma, all volitional actions have reactions. Therefore, reaction depends on the volition of such action, and volition can be good or bad; so Karma can be either good which the layperson equates to ‘good merit or bad or demerit. To the layperson, the Law of Karma simply states that all actions are classified on a hierarchy, with merit at the top and demerit at the bottom. Good actions cause a person to have more merit; thus, more happiness, success and good health in this life and a good rebirth in the next life. Conversely, bad actions lead one to demerit which will have adverse effect on one’s present life and a chance for a good rebirth in the next. Merit may be acquired in three ways, namely through ‘dana’, through observance of sila (lyo), and Bhavana ( meditation). The notion of ‘dana’ and of merit making works both ways in the symbiotic relationship between the Wat and the lay community. For the monks, offering and merit making means the teaching of Dhamma in forms of sermons, the chanting of the appropriate Sutras at various rituals and ceremonies, and participation in the layman’s daily life in their capacity of spiritual leader, arbitrator and upholder of peace and harmony, using their prestige and exemplary life. For the layperson, the practice of the three ‘dana’ is a visible and practical form of merit making. To him, apart from becoming a monk, the highest form of merit making is to build and support a Wat.

Traditionally, a Wat consists of three important buildings: a Sima (ly,, the ordination Hall), which has to be properly consecrated, a Sala (lk]k , Meeting hall) and a Khoutti (d5f8y, the monks’ residence). Normally, the Sima is where all the religious ceremonies take place, and the Sala is where other interfaces between the monks and the laity takes place. In the Sima, there is an alter upon which there would normally be a ‘presiding Buddha statue’, with a number of smaller statues all around, depending on the donations from the laity. Apart from the abbot, a Wat should have at least five monks, a minimum number of monks required for the performance of a religious ceremony. Traditionally, a Wat also serves as the cemetery for the villagers: ashes of the dead are kept in the stupas (mkf) that one sees in the Wat ground. Some Wat even provide the funeral pyre for the cremation.

The history of Indochinese refugees, of which the Lao are a part, resettlement in Australia has been told and researched by many academics and Government reports. Suffice to say that, by the late 1980’s, Lao refugees in Australia numbered about 15,000, with the largest concentrations being in Sydney and Melbourne, while Canberra was the next biggest centre of Lao settlement.

But the reality of refugee life does not end with finding a place to settle. Culture shocks and the sudden exposure to such Western notions as freedom of individual choice, equal opportunities, equality for both sexes, while positive, desirable and fundamental, can be nevertheless causes of family disharmony in some refugee families. By the same token, there are traditional values such as religious practice and belief and kinship that the refugee community wanted to maintain. For the Lao community, of all these characteristics, religion has the strongest appeal because of the symbiotic nature of the relationship between religion and the daily life of the Lao is such an integral part of the Lao identity.

The Lao Association (ACT) Inc. was formed on 21/07/82, with the author as Foundation President, and remained so for the next four years. The main purpose was to be the spokesperson for the community in dealing with other organisations and government departments and agencies. The Association actively participated in ethnic and multicultural affairs of the region. The Association was also very active in dealing with the problems and the needs of the Lao community, including the welfare of the aged and the sponsorship of relatives still left behind in refugee camps in Thailand. The Association established ethnic schools to teach Lao language to Lao and other children, a dancing school to teach Lao classical dancing. Apart from contributions from members, funds raised at various functions, the Association managed its affairs with some funding from the Federal Government.

According to the 1991 Census, there were some 724 Lao people in Canberra, 500 of them lived in the Southern suburbs ( that is the Woden and Tuggeranong areas) and the rest in the North. About 98 per cent of these Lao people were Buddhist; About half of the Lao population was made up of females, and about ten per cent were aged 45 and over - an age considered ‘old’ in the sense of being guardian of traditional values and ways of life, especially valued in a diasporic community.

In time, it became clear to the Association that one of the pressing needs of the community was the need for our own centre to conduct our meetings and our language and dancing classes. More importantly, the need was for a place where we could hold religious ceremonies, because by religious rules and traditional practices, many ceremonies can not be held outside a properly consecrated hall. Therefore, a temple where this consecrated hall must be located became the top priority of the Association. Further, while the Lao Association was discussing the establishment of their temple, the Vietnamese community, as well as the Thai community, with the backing of the Thai Embassy, were also planning to build Buddhist temples. Fears of being ‘culturally swamped’ by larger neighbours, made it imperative that the Lao Association pick up effort to preserve our own identity in the face of more organised effort from groups that traditionally have been overshadowing the Lao for centuries, and especially during the height of refugee intake. The Cambodians gained a better reception as a separate group after the Pol Pot’s ‘killing fields’ episode. Not so the Lao. Furthermore, while the Thai practice and observance of Buddhism is slightly different from that of the Lao, apart from the difficulty of language, the Vietnamese Buddhism is very different. Culturally, the Vietnamese had been under the Chinese influence for a long time; and consequently their Buddhism is of the Mahayana school, like that of the Chinese.

Thus, it is the fervent wish of the Lao community that it does anything to emerge from the shadow of the bigger and better known neighbours, and shake off the tags of Indochinese or Vietnamese refugees. Ever since the refugees appeared on Australia’s door steps, and on the imagination of the Australia people, it has always been the ‘Vietnamese boat people’, the Indochinese influx. Thus to the Lao, to maintain cultural heritage serves two mutually supporting purposes; as a contribution to this new nation, and as a way of asserting their cultural identity. It was evident from interviews and discussions this author had with some members of the community what the Lao community wanted were two very important things: to retain its identity and the maintain the cultural heritage, so that they could contribute fully to the ‘mainstream’ community. To them, the best way to achieve this twin aim was to have a cultural centre that would help to perpetuate their cultural being. The solution was to build a Buddhist temple as this is regarded as the pinnacle of their cultural expression, of the symbol of communal life and as a practical centre for various religious, cultural, social and educational activities of the community.

To embark on the venture of establishing a temple without the guidance of a monk would be like being in a boatful of rowers without a helmsman, such is the symbiotic nature of the relationship between the Sangha and the lay community. The community was by then full of idea, enthusiasm and willingness to establish a temple; all it needed now is a monk to guide it in the right direction and to provide it with a focus. This guidance came in the person of Acharn (vk9ko) Kongmy Khouangvichit. He is one of the most senior Buddhist monk in Australia, both in age and in learning. With the change of government in Laos in 1975, Acharn Kongmy found himself stranded in Bangkok where he was completing his higher Buddhist studies. With a growing number of his compatriots fleeing the country and resettled in foreign lands, he decided to serve the diasporic Lao instead of returning to Laos, because of the uncertain future of religion under the new regime. He decided to come to Australia. But, being in effect a stateless person in Thailand, it took a protracted bureaucratic manoeuvring to get approval from both the Thai and the Australian governments for his travel to Melbourne, where his sponsors were located. He arrived in Melbourne in November 1984. After only a few months in Melbourne Acharn Kongmy was invited by the Lao community in Sydney to be their focal point in their effort to build their own temple. While in Sydney, Acharn Kongmy commuted frequently, by invitation, to Canberra to perform religious ceremonies. It was during one of these ceremonies that the germ of the idea of establishing a temple in Canberra took shape.

The beginning of the dream to have a temple of their own took shape on 19 September 1985. On that day, after a religious ceremony at which Acharn Kongmy presided, discussion about having a temple was started. It was evident that everybody present agreed readily with the idea. Having heard the wish of the people, Acharn Kongmy then donated the money, totalling $1662.10, he received from alms giving during the ceremony back to the community to start up a temple building fund. The amount was quite substantial for one day’s donation. At the same time a provisional 7 member committee was formed to take on the responsibility of establishing a temple, with the religious sub-committee of the Association, and some elders in the community being drafted in as members. From that day on, fundraising efforts had a focus and were kept up, with similar ceremonies at various members’ houses. For communal festivals and functions, halls were hired for the purpose.

At the 9/3/87 meeting of the Lao Association, concrete steps were taken toward the building of a temple. Main reasons advanced for establishing the temple included the fact that the temple could serve as a spiritual, cultural, educational and secular centre (library and meeting place) for the whole community. Two other important decisions were taken: to approach the government for a block of land, and the formulation of fundraising methods. This fundraising, apart from the usual religious ceremonies at which money is donated to the temple and the social functions, it was decided to approach members of the community for donations and interest-free loan. All donators and lenders were to be regarded as ‘members of the temple building committee’.

The problem facing the community was still the lack of a resident monk to be the rallying point for the temple building effort, and the abode for the monk. Negotiations took place, with the instigation of Acharn Kongmy, between the Canberra committee and the Melbourne temple. The Melbourne Temple agreed for one their monks to come and help the temple building effort. The problem of the abode for the monk was solved when a member of the community lent his house to the community to turn it into a temporary residence for the monk, while he and his family moved in with his sister-in-law’s family. The monk from Melbourne, Acharn Oudom Phommavongsa, arrived in Canberra on 19 August 1986, and moved into the temporary abode at 22 Finnister Street, Kambah. At the same time, application for government housing was lodged so that a temporary temple could be established. A house in Evatt was offered by the ACT Government; but had to be declined because of impractical location being so far from the community. In the meantime, The Lao Association (ACT) lodged a request for a land grant from the ACT Government for the purpose of building a permanent temple. While waiting for a government house or a block of land, the community decided to buy a house and set up a temple.

As a result of the Association’s sponsorship of Buddhist monks from the refugee camp in Thailand, by 1989, two more monks, Acharn Vichit Dypraseuth, the current abbot of Wat Lao Buddhanimit, and Acharn Khamsouk Souravanh, arrived to become resident monks at the temple. This success did not come without bureaucratic struggles. The main stumbling block were the Departments of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, Social Security and the CES. Their main arguments were that if the community required a religious worker, the position should be firstly advertised within Australia; and failing this, then overseas.

Then, the community had to prove that it could be regarded as ‘an employer’ able to pay and provide for the religious worker, and that pay rate had to be comparable to Australian standard of religious worker. The Association argued for special case. This was not just any religious worker that could be filled by any one; the ‘position’ required a monk of some learning and seniority; the monk would not be paid a salary as such, because he was not allowed to handle money for religious reason; and the community would provide guarantee for an on-going ‘employment’ for the monks and for all the expenses incurred associated with his ‘employment’. Reasons and common sense prevailed, the two monks were finally allowed to enter Australia.

Organisationally, the community decided that it would be better to separate out the temple building function from the other duties of the Association. The Wat Lao Buddhanimit Inc. was formed and officially registered on 2 August 1989 as a separate entity from the Lao Association (ACT) Inc. This was to satisfy the requirement of some people who found that the workings for the building of the temple was hindered by the ‘bureaucratic set up of the Association’. Further, some people were uncomfortable with the fact that the monks wanted to be involved in the more ‘worldly affairs of finance and deals’ perceived to be more than traditionally acceptable, and quite contrary to the monastic rules. In any event, the people involved in both organisations were still drawn from the same group of leadership, the community being such a small one and people with ‘leadership quality’, especially the right combination of language and liaison skills, and time and commitment, were few and far between.

In any case, fundraising efforts intensified. Fund raising had really been a community effort. Apart from funds raised during various ceremonies, and specially organised social functions, money was donated and loaned by members of the community, interest free and to be repaid when all other debts incurred by the temple were paid off. Up until 12 April 1986, some $20,800 were raised in donations and pledges of loans. Within three months, the community had sufficient funds to purchase a house, at 3 Horton Close, Kambah, for $72,000 with a loan from the bank of $40,000, to be used as temporary abode for the monks. The monks moved in to this temporary abode on 3 November 1986. This temporary abode was given the name of Wat Lao Buddhanimit, chosen from a list of some eight names nominated by members of the community. It was a unanimous choice; it embodied the community wish, aspirations and identity. The Kambah house was paid off within three years with money raised by the community, and there was even some funds left over to start off the building fund for a permanent temple.

In response to the Association request for a block of land, the ACT Government offered a choice of two blocks, one in Wanniassa and one in Kambah. Taking into account the ease of access for community members from the north side of town, and aesthetics (size, tranquillity and location within easy access of the majority of members, and other factors) the Association decided on the present block in Kambah. The cost was $18,000 for which the Association entered into a contractual to purchase on 16/10/89, and handed over to the temple building committee soon after.

The discussion of the design of the temple took some time. As the basic idea of having a centre is that it should serve not only as a religious temple, a residence for the abbot and other monks, but also a place where there would be classrooms for children’s language class, and room for people who wanted to observe religious practice during lent, which lasted three months, to stay. Therefore, from the beginning, the establishment of a Wat follows quite closely the pattern of a traditional temple: a Simma, a Sala and a Khoutti. The imperative caveat on this design was that it should not be too extravagant and be within the financial capacity of the community, as well as retaining something of Lao traditional form. The search for the design and someone to supervise the construction of the temple ended with the engagement of Mr Tissa de Silva, a Sri Lankan architect practising in Canberra, for the work. The construction phase of the temple started on 1/7/91. The members of the community not only contributed money toward this construction but a lot of time and efforts. Working bees parties were organised, contributing an enormous amount of labour to the venture, as can be seen from the fact that of the total cost of $230,497.37, only $40,728 was paid for labour, which included the hiring of a crane to lift the steel beams and other major works on the site.

According to Christmas Humphreys, a foremost Western authority on Buddhism,

More than anything, to a Lao refugee living in a new alien land, Buddhism is the expression of his identity that is bound up with the traditional notion of daily rituals and rhythms in and around the most central and visible of building in his surroundings, physical and spiritual.

The Wat, the Sangha and the religious ceremonies and rituals, as well as the communal activities, religious and mundane, that take place in that place are all symbols of his Lao persona. The influence of Buddhism, with its emphasis on gentleness, compassion and avoidance of disharmony, can be seen at work in the Lao community of Canberra. This is not to say that in their effort to establish a temple, there is no conflict. Conflict, when and if arises, can be avoided by voluntary absence from the discussion, or withdrawal from the scene altogether of one of the parties. But more often than not conflict is avoided by the monk, by his prestige and position in the community, mediating harmoniously among the parties. Thus the monks serves as a calming influence, as leader of religious matters, and the upholder of the ideal image of the Lao personality, identity, of peace loving, law abiding people.

In an ‘alien’ land, the Wat is also an oasis where a Lao Buddhist can seek refuge in the wisdom, purity and compassion of the Supreme teacher, away from the pressures of the modern life style. It is also a place where he can practise his faith and make merit, en route to the realisation of the dream of the final destination of all Buddhists, Nirvana. From the combination of a modest fund, fervent wish and strong sense of commitment, the Lao community made their dream of a temple, a symbol of their identity come true. The name of the temple says it all: Wat Lao Buddhanimit -

Wat a temple, a place of worship, and also a place that is central to the life of a community;

Lao proudly established by the Lao community, and willing to share with all their friends;

Buddha- in the foot step of the Buddha, followers of the teachings of the Buddha;

Let me end this paper with the words of a member of the Lao community involved in this venture:

Croucher, Paul : A History of Buddhism in Australia, 1848-1988, University of NSW Press, Sydney, 1989

Humphreys, Christmas. Buddhism. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, UK, 1969

Jupp, James (ed). The Australian People: An Encyclopedia of the Nation, Its People and Their Origins; Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1988

Keyes, Charles F and E Valentine Daniel (eds). Karma: An Anthropological Inquiry, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1983

Khouangvichit, Kongmy, Acharn: Chanting for Youth, (in Lao and English), published by Wat Lao Buddhanimit, Canberra, 1987?

Khouangvichit, Kongmy, Acharn: A Commemorative Publication on the Occasion of the Consecration of the Hall, (in Lao) published by Wat Lao Buddhanimit, Canberra, 1992

Ling, Trevor The Buddha, Harmondsworth, UK, Penguin Books, 1976

Terwiel, B J : Monks and Magic: An Analysis of religious Ceremonies in Central Thailand, Scandinavian Institute of Asian Studies Monograph Series, No. 24, Studentlitteratur, Lund, 1975

The Lao Association (ACT) Inc.,: Lao Newsletter (monthly from 1990)

Venerable V Thittila What Kamma Is?, Singapore Buddhist Mission, Singapore, no date

Venerable Yin Shun The Basic Purpose of Following the Buddha, The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation, Taipei, no date

Vongthongthip, Saksith : The Origin of Wat Lao Buddhanimit Canberra; (in Lao) published by Wat Lao Buddhanimit, Canberra, 1987

Zago, Marcel, Aspects du Buddhisme Lao, (in French), in Bulletin des Amis du Laos, Numero special, No. 9, 1st semestre, 1973

Interviews with some members of the Canberra Lao Community

Records of the Lao Association (ACT) Inc.

Records of Wat Lao Buddhanimit, Canberra

Copyright 1998/99, Lao Studies Society.