In the suburbs, Sikhism, Hinduism and Buddhism are flourishing as Christianity plummets in a society with more atheists than ever.
Jaswinder Singh had served hundreds of freshly cooked curries from the back of his white van to ashen-faced East Gippsland residents, whose homes had just been destroyed in bushfires, when a young, dark-haired nurse approached him.
Andrew Singleton, associate professor of sociology and social research at Deakin University, says the growth of religious minorities is tied to migration trends in Australia.“They are migrating from majority Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic countries,” he says. “They bring their culture and religion with them, and religious communities in Australia act as a point of connection for new migrants.”
It is a religious requirement for pious men like Singh to grow a beard and wear a colourful turban, a symbol of spiritual strength, nobility and equality. and belief all humans are equal. It is based on three principles: earning an honest living, meditation and acts of charity and compassion.“If I am working in my job and treating everyone with respect and love, then I am already fulfilling the first principle,” Singh says.a selfless service performed without any expectation of reward, can be traced back thousands of years to the sacred Hindu textAbout 680,000 Hindus live in Australia, and Victoria is home to more than a third of them.
Inside the temple, bare-chested Hindu priests, draped in cream-coloured robes, bless babies. Other priests bathe sacred statues of Hindu gods and goddesses in cow’s milk. Each November, the Hindu community celebrates the most important event of its cultural calendar: Diwali. The five-day festival is celebrated in schools, offices, parks and stadiums across the nation.
It is an annual cultural event in the Buddhist calendar known as the Hungry Ghosts Festival. It is thought that during this time the gates of the afterlife open and allow spirits to roam the Earth. “In Buddha’s eyes, when we are born, we bring something from the past,” Lang Anh says. “So this life is about bettering yourself.”
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