Cambodian Buddhist Association of Victoria Inc.
Cambodian Buddhist Association of Victoria, Inc. (CBAV) is a voluntary Cambodian community based and is a non-profit, and non-political organisation. Its aims are to preserve the Cambodian rich culture and tradition; to foster and maintain good relationship amongst Cambodians in Australia and also to provide information on Cambodian Buddhism in Australia.
The CBAV office is based at Wat Buddharangsi Melbourne, where we instigate our activities like celebrating our Cambodian New Year, Australian New Year, other Khmer traditional ceremonies.
The Wat (means temple) was establised as a cultural center for the Cambodian community in Australia. People in Melbourne take pride in their cultural heritage and identify themselves with Wat. Wat is also a central place where every cambodian come and meet each other during new years, buddhist ceremonies and other traditional ceremonies.
The monks who reside in the temple are involved in performing Buddhist teaching as well as in rituals for households in different occasions, such as weddings, commemoration of ancestors and funerals. And now birthday celebration is not just a celebration by itself but also involves the blessing of the monks to the cambodian whose birthday is being celebrated. And if we compared to the time that the cambodian just started settling in Australia such events were hardly heard of. But now it is all part of our lives. In addition, venerable monks in Wat Buddharangsi Melbourne also take parts in similar performances with other Buddhist communities, and more often with Loa, Vietnamese, and Sri Lanka community. Besides, they also participate in the Buddhist affairs of other Buddhist bodies including the Tibetan Group, Buddhist Discussion Center and the Buddhist Council of Victoria Inc.
Our Mission
The Cambodian Buddhist Assocation of Victoria has the following missions to carry out.
To support the Cambodian Buddhist monks living in Victoria
To raise funds to build a Cambodian Buddhist Monastry in Melbourne
To disseminate information on Hinayana (Theravada) Buddhsim in Australia
To carry out mission work on Buddhism for Australians in Australia
To foster and maintain good relationship among Cambodians in Australia