Buddhism is a minority religion in Argentina, where, in addition to the majority of the
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
population, the rate of self-professed Buddhists is about 0.5%.
Buddhism in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
has been practiced since the early 1980s.
Chinese Buddhist immigrants had established their first Buddhist temple in 1986, and
Korean Buddhist immigrants also founded their own temple. Since then many groups have been giving teachings, some of them rooted in the best known
Sōtō
Sōtō Zen or is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai and Ōbaku). It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Cáodòng school, which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Dòngshān L ...
tradition from
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, but also in many
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
an institutes for the practice of
meditation
Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...
(
Mahamudra
Mahāmudrā (Sanskrit: महामुद्रा, , contraction of ) literally means "great seal" or "great imprint" and refers to the fact that "all phenomena inevitably are stamped by the fact of wisdom and emptiness inseparable". Mahāmudr ...
,
Dzog Chen
Dzogchen (, "Great Perfection" or "Great Completion"), also known as ''atiyoga'' ( utmost yoga), is a tradition of teachings in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Yungdrung Bon aimed at discovering and continuing in the ultimate ground of existence. ...
,
Lam Rim
Lam or LAM may refer to:
Organizations
* Laguna Art Museum, California, US
* Lam Eng Rubber, a Malaysian manufacturer
* Lam Research, American semiconductor equipment company
* LAM Mozambique Airlines, flag carrier airline of Mozambique
* Librari ...
).
Nowadays, many Buddhist centres have flourished and
propagated widely. In
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, it is the home of about 5,000 immigrant Buddhists and 25,000 Buddhist converts.
Many organizations have cooperated to bring the relics of the
Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...
to Argentina. This event was supported by the Royal Embassy of Thailand in Buenos Aires.
Among
scholars
A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher ...
who contributed to the spreading of Buddhism in Argentina are Samuel Wolpin, whose books have opened a door to many students and the general public, and Carmen Dragonetti and Fernando Tola, who have been researching and studying Buddhism for many years, with their books translated to many languages.
Teachers who have visited the country include Pu Hsien, founder of the Tzong Kuan Temple, Mok Sunim, responsible for spreading of Korean Buddhism in the early twenty-first century,
Chogyal Namkhai Norbu
Namkhai Norbu (; 8 December 1938 – 27 September 2018) was a Tibetan Buddhist master of Dzogchen and a professor of Tibetan and Mongolian language and literature at Naples Eastern University. He was a leading authority on Tibetan culture, par ...
, founder of the international Dzog Chen Community who transmitted Dzog Chen teachings here, and Lama Ngawang Sherab Dorje, who visited Argentina many times. Local teachers include Augusto Alcalde (Diamond Sangha) the first Roshi in this country. Jorge Bustamante, Soto lineage. Alberto Pulisi (Upasaka). Gonzalo Barreiros (Dharma Teacher), and two Argentine lamas, Horacio and Consuelo.
Japanese Zen Buddhism
There are about seven Japanese Zen Buddhism institutions which has a total of around five thousand practitioners. One of them, Zen Deshimaru Buddhist Association was formed in 1995 and is led by Soto Zen priest, Stephane “Kosen” Thibaut who performed missionary works in Argentina and other Latin American countries. In the mid-1990s, he began visiting Argentina, guiding meditation retreats, and establishing dojos. The organization is the biggest Zen order in the country, established about nineteen dojos across the country and Shobogenji Temple which is situated on Mount Uritorco in
Cordoba Province.
Chinese Buddhism
Tzong Kuan Temple was founded in 1988 by Master Pu Hsien with the support of Buddhist community in
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
, the temple is located in the
Belgrano area on Montañeses 2175 Street and has a branch temple in Brazil. The current abbot is Master Zhi Han and the temple is also affiliated to Chinese Buddhist Association in Argentina and Bodhiyana Foundation.
Fo Guang Shan Order from Taiwan also has a branch temple, "Templo Budista Fo Guang Shan" in Argentina since 1992, and the temple offered courses in meditation, martial arts, yoga and hosts vegetarian cooking workshops on regular basis.
Theravada Buddhism
There is a
Vipassanā
''Samatha'' (Pāli; sa, शमथ ''śamatha''; ), "calm," "serenity," "tranquillity of awareness," and ''vipassanā'' (Pāli; Sanskrit ''vipaśyanā''), literally "special, super (''vi-''), seeing (''-passanā'')", are two qualities of the ...
meditation community founded by Eduardo Torres Astigueta, it is known as "Vipassana Buenos Aires" and they conduct weekly practices in Palermo and Flores. In 2005, the Argentinean Vipassana Association
acquired a piece of land located in the outskirts of Brandsen in Buenos Aires Province and built the Dhamma Sukhadā Center which means "Giving the Happiness of Dhamma" with a capacity of 120 students.
See also
*
South America Hongwanji Mission
The South America Hongwanji Mission also known as Comunidade Budista Sul-Amelicana Jodo-Shinshu Honpa Hongwanji is a district of the Nishi Hongan-ji branch of Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism.
History
Jōdo Shinshū wa established in South America in tande ...
*
Buddhism in Brazil
With nearly 250,000 Buddhists, Brazil is home to the third-largest Buddhist population in the Americas, after the United States and Canada. Buddhism in Brazil consists of practitioners from various Buddhist traditions and schools. A number of Budd ...
*
Buddhism in Colombia
*
Buddhism in Venezuela
Buddhism in Venezuela is practiced by very approximately 52,000 people (roughly 0.2% of the population) as of 2015. The Buddhist community is made up mainly of Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans.
Most identify with the Mahayana tradition, reflecting ...
*
Buddhism in Ecuador
When it comes to religion, the Ecuadorian society is relatively homogeneous, with Christianity being the primary religion. Roman Catholicism is the main Christian denomination in the country. However, affiliation with Protestant churches is inc ...
*
Buddhism in Costa Rica
Costa Rica has more Buddhists than the other countries in Central America with almost 100,000 (2.34% of total population), followed closely by Panama, with almost 70,000 (2.1% of total population).
Buddhism was introduced in the country for th ...
*
Buddhism in Nicaragua Buddhism in Nicaragua has existed since the late 19th century, after immigration from countries with Buddhist populations, mainly China. Although sources are not readily available, Buddhists are believed to constitute 0.1% of the total population in ...
*
Buddhism in Mexico
Buddhism is a minority religion in Mexico, numbering 108,701 followers or 0.09% of the total Mexican population.
Tibetan Buddhism
Casa Tibet México (headquartered in the Colonia Roma of Mexico City) was the third of the Tibet Houses to be created ...
*
Buddhism in Canada
Buddhism is among the smallest minority-religions in Canada, with a very slowly growing population in the country, partly the result of conversion, with only 4.6% of new immigrants identifying themselves as Buddhist. As of 2021, the census recorde ...
*
Buddhism in the United States
The term American Buddhism can be used to describe all Buddhist groups within the United States, including Asian Americans, Asian-American Buddhists born into the faith, who comprise the largest percentage of Buddhists in the country.
American Budd ...
*
Buddhism in Central America
Buddhism is practiced throughout Central America. Buddhism's presence in the region was primarily driven by the presence of Chinese immigrant workers during the early 19th century. Presently, Buddhism in the region is primarily of the Mahayana and ...
*
Asian Argentines
Asian Argentine or Asian Argentinian, are Argentine citizens or residents of Asian ancestry. The vast majority trace their ancestry to West Asia, primarily Lebanon and Syria, and East Asia, namely China and Japan. Though there are other communit ...
References
External links
Buddhist Channel His Holiness Concludes His Argentina VisitBuddhism in Argentina
{{Commons, position=left
Religion in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...