Wat Buddha Dhamma is a Theravadin Thai Forest Buddhist Monastery nestled amidst rugged natural bushland in Wiseman’s Ferry, Northeast of Sydney. It was originally founded in 1978 by Phra Khantipalo (formerly Laurence Mills) and Ayya Khemma (then Isle Ledermann), at the height of the counter-culture’s encounter with Buddhism. Both teachers had significant influence on Buddhism in and beyond Australia. Phra Khantipalo attracted many people to Buddhism and also assisted newly arriving refugee and migrant communities to establish Buddhist temples and societies in many states and territories. Ayya Khemma was a leading advocate for gender equality in Buddhism globally and founding member of Sakyadhita, the International Association of Buddhist Women.ⁱ   

Amidst 220 acres of creeks, rock pools, and native vegetation Wat Buddha Dhamma consists of a large sala/temple used for giving and receiving Dharma teachings and multiple kutis, small buildings housing monks and nuns; all built by volunteers, from Asian migrant and hippy counter-culture communities.ⁱⁱ 

It has been managed by the Mahamakut Foundation, in the Thai Forest Ajahn Chah / Wat Nong Pah Pong lineage, since the 1990s until now. Phra Khantipalo’s ashes were scattered there in 2022.ⁱⁱⁱ

By Ruth Fitzpatrick, Anna Halafoff 

ⁱ John McIntyre with Constance Ellwood, Dhamma Pioneers: A History of Wat Buddha Dhamma (Art Pages Publishing, 2021); Paul Croucher, Buddhism in Australia: 1848–1988 (New South Wales University Press, 1989). 

ⁱⁱ McIntyre, Dhamma Pioneers; Croucher, Buddhism in Australia. 

ⁱⁱⁱ McIntyre, Dhamma Pioneers. “About,” Wat Buddha Dhamma, accessed May 19, 2026, https://www.wbd.org.au