Buddhism in Belarus

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Buddhism in Belarus is a relatively recent phenomenon with, emerging in a country historically dominated by Christianity, particularly Eastern Orthodoxy. The majority religion in Belarus is Eastern Orthodox Christianity, represented by the Belarusian Orthodox Church, an exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church. [1] [2] The population of Buddhists in Belarus is constituting 0.30% of the total population. [3]

Contents

The first Theravada group had to wait until the 2020s. Buddhists in the country are 30-35 year old people from the middle class, most of whom work in the computer technology field. Buddhism has begun to gain a modest foothold. Buddhist groups in Belarus are small and often centered around urban areas such as Minsk. Most Buddhists maintain close ties with various dharma centers operating in neighboring Russia . Belarus has friendly relations with several traditionally Buddhist countries, such as China and Vietnam. [4]

Buddhist organizations in Belarus do not have official status, which also shows that domestic politics represent an extremely strong deterrent. It is not lawful to assemble for religious purposes. [4]

History

In the 1970s, Buddhism resembled an underground movement, popular only within certain intellectual circles. It was mainly encountered among Vajrayāna scholars and the Buryat community. The second wave of Buddhism arrived in Belarus after Perestroika and the collapse of the Soviet Union. The first groups belonged to the Tibetan Buddhist Vajrayāna tradition. In the early 1990s, the two most prominent groups were the Diamond Way, associated with Lama Ole Nydahl and the Karma Kagyu tradition, and the community of Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, which followed the Dzogchen tradition. [5]

Later, some members of the Dzogchen group established a Nyingma community, whose main teachers became Tsewang Dongyal and Palden Serab. These groups typically consisted of 10–15 members. In 2015, a buddhist community name Shen Chen Linh associated with Bon tradition. [6] [7]

See also

Reference

  1. ↑ "Religion in Belarus | Official Internet Portal of the President of the Republic of Belarus". president.gov.by. Archived from the original on 2025-04-17. Retrieved 2025-04-24.
  2. ↑ "Home: Population Censuses data of the Republic of Belarus". National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus.
  3. ↑ "Generations and Gender Survey, 2020 Belarus Wave 1". ggpsurvey.ined.fr. Archived from the original on 2022-10-16. Retrieved 2019-08-25.
  4. 1 2 "Buddhism in the Republic of Belarus". yo.kyeho.com. Retrieved 2025-04-24.
  5. ↑ bdnews24.com. "Belarus and Buddhist history in Bengali". বেলারুশের ভোটে পুতিনমিত্র লুকাশেঙ্কোর জয়, পশ্চিমারা বলল প্রহসন. Retrieved 2025-04-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ↑ "2015 Report on International Religious Freedom - Belarus". Refworld. Retrieved 2025-04-24.
  7. ↑ "Religion in Belarus | Official Internet Portal of the President of the Republic of Belarus". president.gov.by. Retrieved 2025-04-24.
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