Category: Buddhism

Around 42.5% of the Singaporeans are classified as Buddhist by religion. Adherents of Buddhism are mostly by the Chinese majority ethnic group, although small minorities of Sinhalese and Thai Buddhists do exist as well. Chinese Mahayana Buddhism is the most prevalent form of Buddhism in Singapore. Sizeable communities following other traditions include Therevada and Nichiren Buddhism. The most well known...

Historically, Buddhism was incorporated into Russian lands as early as the late 15th century, when Russian explorers travelled to and settled in Siberia and what is now the Russian Far East. The main form of Buddhism in the Russian Federation is Tibetan Buddhism, the major sub-sect of the greater Vajrayana Buddhism. Although Tibetan Buddhism is most often associated with the...

Buddhism in Norway has existed since the beginning of the 1970s, and after the immigration from countries with Buddhist population (mainly Vietnam). Buddhistforbundet (The Buddhist Organization) in Norway was established as a religious society in 1979 by two Buddhist groups (Rinzai Zen Senter and Karma Tashi Ling buddhistsenter) who wanted to create a common organization to preserve issues of common...

About 11% of Nepal’s population practices Buddhism, consisting mainly of groups of Tibeto-Burman origin. In many areas, Hinduism has absorbed Buddhism to a large extent, but the two religions have many shared deities and temples. In Muktinath, the temple there is sacred for both Hindus and Buddhists. Though most people in Nepal are Hindu, Buddhist influences are pervasive in most...

Burmese Buddhism is largely of the Theravada sect. Theravada means “Way of the Elders,” an implication that it is literally what Buddha taught. Theravada Buddhists resist the idea of Bodhisattvas and regard their system of beliefs as being purer and close to what The Buddha taught. About 90% of the Myanmar practices Buddhism. Adherents are most likely found among the...

Fuke Zen (Japanese: 普化禅) was a branch of Zen Buddhism which existed in Japan from the 13th century until the late 19th century. Fuke monks were noted for playing the shakuhachi flute as a form of meditation. Contents Early history and practice Development and demise See also Early history and practice Fuke Zen, according to its own accounts, is derived...

Jinul (1158 – 1210) was a Korean monk of the Goryeo period, who is considered to be the most influential figure in the formation of Korean Seon Buddhism. He was born at a time when the sangha was in a state of crisis, both in terms of its external reputation as well as on internal issues of doctrine. Deeply disturbed...

Nirvana Sutra or Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (Chinese: Niepan Jing (涅槃經); Japanese: Nehankyō (涅槃経)) is one of the major texts of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Note that this is one of two Buddhist texts having approximately the same title, the other being part of the Pali Canon. However, both for historical reasons and for the sake of clarity, the former is generally referred to...

Tiantai (天台宗, Wade-Giles: T’ien T’ai) is one of the thirteen schools of Buddhism in China and Japan, also called the Lotus Sutra School because of its emphasis on the supremacy of that scripture. It was founded by Zhiyi (智顗, Wade-Giles: Chih-I) (538-597) during the Sui dynasty in China. Tiantai is a Mahāyāna school established at Tiantai mountain. The official line...

After the death of Gautama Buddha (483 b.c.e.), monks and scholars concerned with practicing the lessons he taught met several times at formal councils at which the canon of Buddhist thought was established, the rules of monastic life were agreed, and matters of dogma and ideology were debated and confirmed. Contents 1st Buddhist council (5th century BC) 2nd Buddhist council...

Buddhism in Mongolia has been influenced by Tibetan Buddhism. Traditional Mongols worshipped heaven (the “clear blue sky”) and their ancestors, and they followed ancient northern Asian practices of shamanism, in which human intermediaries went into trance and spoke to and for some of the numberless infinities of spirits responsible for human luck or misfortune. In 1578 Altan Khan, a Mongol...

Malaysia is a multiconfessional society, with slightly more than half of its people being Muslims. The internal conflicts the nation has faced have generally been precipitated by ethnicity rather than religion.The country is officially a Muslim state, and the Government actively promotes the spread of Islam in the country and its friendship with other Muslim countries. Nevertheless, other religions are...

Buddhism is the primary religion of Laos. The preferred style is Theravada. Lao Buddhism is a unique version of Theravada Buddhism and is at the basis of Lao culture. The Pha That Luang, Wat Sisakhet, Wat Xieng Thong, and That Dam are all Buddhist structures in Laos. Lao Buddhism is also famous for images of the Buddha performing uniquely Lao...

Korean Buddhism is distinguished from other forms of Buddhism by its attempt to resolve what it sees as inconsistencies in Chinese Mahayana Buddhism. Early Korean monks believed that the traditions they received from China were internally inconsistent. To address this, they developed a new holistic approach to Buddhism. This approach is characteristic of virtually all major Korean thinkers, and has...