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Buddhism in Wales is followed by 0.3% of the Welsh population, according to the 2021 Census. [1] Buddhism has a relatively short history, having only really established a presence in the country in the 20th Century. 10,075 people in Wales declared themselves Buddhist in the 2021 Census, representing a number of Buddhist traditions. [1] [2]
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Tibetan Buddhism is particularly well represented with branches of several different traditions and lineages, notably Lama Shenpen Hookham's Awakened Heart Sangha, based in North Wales. Zen Buddhism has several groups in Wales and three Soto Zen masters are currently resident and actively teaching. The Samatha Trust, a lay Theravada group, have their headquarters in Wales as does the Tibetan group, Awakened Heart Sangha. The Triratna Buddhist Community have a number of groups and a large Cardiff Buddhist Centre. A student of B. Alan Wallace, David Johnson's Samadhi community is active in South West Wales and across the UK.[ citation needed ] David is an author and teacher of Buddhist meditation.[ relevant? ] The Nyingma Aro gTér Lineage has been active in Wales since 1981. The Aro gTér Lineage Holders, Ngak’chang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen, are resident in Wales and have written many publications about Vajrayana Buddhist practice (see Aro Books worldwide and Aro Books Inc). Another Welsh author of this lineage is Ngakma Nor’dzin Pamo who is a teacher at Aro Ling Cardiff.[ citation needed ]
The Buddhist Council of Wales had a number of Buddhist organisations and groups listed on their website. Owing to insufficient members being able to fulfill the terms of its Constitution, The Buddhist Council of Wales was dissolved on the 3rd November 2019 and no longer exists. [3]
Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh, as well as Bhutan and Nepal. Smaller groups of practitioners can be found in Central Asia, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and some regions of Russia, such as Tuva, Buryatia, and Kalmykia.
Buddhism in the West broadly encompasses the knowledge and practice of Buddhism outside of Asia in the Western world. Occasional intersections between Western civilization and the Buddhist world have been occurring for thousands of years. The first Westerners to become Buddhists were Greeks who settled in Bactria and India during the Hellenistic period. They became influential figures during the reigns of the Indo-Greek kings, whose patronage of Buddhism led to the emergence of Greco-Buddhism and Greco-Buddhist art. There was little contact between the Western and Buddhist cultures during most of the Middle Ages but the early modern rise of global trade and mercantilism, improved navigation technology and the European colonization of Asian Buddhist countries led to increased knowledge of Buddhism among Westerners. This increased contact led to various responses from Buddhists and Westerners throughout the modern era. These include religious proselytism, religious polemics and debates, Buddhist modernism, Western convert Buddhists and the rise of Buddhist studies in Western academia. During the 20th century, there was a growth in Western Buddhism due to various factors such as immigration, globalization, the decline of Christianity and increased interest among Westerners. The various schools of Buddhism are now established in all major Western countries making up a small minority in the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
The World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB) is an international Buddhist organization. Initiated by Gunapala Piyasena Malalasekera, it was founded in 1950 in Colombo, Ceylon, by representatives from 27 nations. Although Theravada Buddhists are most influential in the organization,, members of all Buddhist schools are active in the WFB. It now has regional centers in 40 countries, including India, the United States, Australia, and several nations of Africa and Europe, in addition to traditional Buddhist countries.
Kagyu Samye Ling Monastery and Tibetan Centre is a Tibetan Buddhist complex associated with the Karma Kagyu school located at Eskdalemuir, Scotland.
The term American Buddhism can be used to describe all Buddhist groups within the United States, including Asian-American Buddhists born into the faith, who comprise the largest percentage of Buddhists in the country.
Kalu Rinpoche was a Buddhist lama, meditation master, scholar and teacher. He was one of the first Tibetan masters to teach in the West.
Buddhist meditation is the practice of meditation in Buddhism. The closest words for meditation in the classical languages of Buddhism are bhāvanā and jhāna/dhyāna.
Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche is a prominent scholar yogi in the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. He teaches widely in the West, often through songs of realization, his own as well as those composed by Milarepa and other masters of the past. "Tsültrim Gyamtso" translates to English as "Ocean of Ethical Conduct".
Buddhism is a minority religion in Argentina, where, in addition to the majority of the Christian population, the rate of self-professed Buddhists is about 0.5%.
Buddhism is the third largest religion in France, after Christianity and Islam.
Women in Buddhism is a topic that can be approached from varied perspectives including those of theology, history, anthropology, and feminism. Topical interests include the theological status of women, the treatment of women in Buddhist societies at home and in public, the history of women in Buddhism, and a comparison of the experiences of women across different forms of Buddhism. As in other religions, the experiences of Buddhist women have varied considerably.
Buddhism in the United Kingdom has a small but growing number of adherents which, according to a Buddhist organisation, is mainly a result of conversion. In the UK census for 2011, there were about 247,743 people who registered their religion as Buddhism, and about 174,000 who cited religions other than Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, Jainism and Sikhism. This latter figure is likely to include some people who follow the traditional Chinese folk religion which also includes some elements of Buddhism.
Buddhism in England has growing support. 238,626 people in England declared themselves to be Buddhist at the 2011 Census and 34% of them lived in London.
Buddhism in Scotland is a relatively recent phenomenon. In Scotland Buddhists represent 0.24% of the population or around 13,000 people.
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha, "the awakened one".
Samatha, "calm," "serenity," "tranquillity of awareness," and vipassanā, literally "special, super, seeing ", are two qualities of the mind developed in tandem in Buddhist practice.
Susan Kathryn Hookham, known as LamaShenpen Hookham is a Buddhist teacher who has trained for over 50 years in the Mahamudra and Dzogchen traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.
Phakchok Rinpoche is a teacher of the Nyingma lineage and chief lineage holder of the Taklung Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. He is Vajra Master of Ka-Nying Shedrup Ling monastery, abbot of several monasteries in Nepal, and assists monasteries and practice centers in Tibet. In addition, he serves as Director of the Chokgyur Lingpa Foundation, a nonprofit organization engaged in a wide range of humanitarian projects.
Shentong is term for a type of Buddhist view on emptiness (śūnyatā), Madhyamaka, and the two truths in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. It is often contrasted with the term rangtong ("self-emptiness"). The term refers to a range of views held by different Tibetan Buddhist figures.
