The goddess Marici at an Esoteric Buddhist temple in Hong Kong

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

is a major religion in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

and has been greatly influential in the traditional culture of its populace. Among the most prominent Buddhist temples in the city there are the

Chi Lin Nunnery Chi Lin Nunnery () is a large Buddhist temple complex located in Diamond Hill, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1934 as a retreat for Buddhist nuns and was rebuilt in the 1998 following the traditional Tang Dynasty architecture. The temple ...

Diamond Hill Diamond Hill is a hill in the east of Kowloon, Hong Kong. The name also refers to the area on or adjacent to the hill. It is surrounded by Ngau Chi Wan, San Po Kong, Wong Tai Sin and Tsz Wan Shan. Its northeast is limited by the ridge. It is pr ...

, built in the

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

's architectural style; the

Po Lin Monastery Po Lin Monastery is a Buddhist monastery, located on Ngong Ping Plateau, on Lantau Island, Hong Kong. The monastery was founded in 1906 by three monks visiting from Jiangsu Province on the Chinese mainland and was initially known simply as "The ...

Lantau Island Lantau Island (also Lantao Island, Lan Tao) is the largest island in Hong Kong, located West of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, and is part of the New Territories. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the Islands ...

, famous for the outdoor bronze statue,

Tian Tan Buddha The Big Buddha is a large bronze statue of Buddha, completed in 1993, and located at Ngong Ping, Lantau Island, in Hong Kong. The statue is sited near Po Lin Monastery and symbolises the harmonious relationship between man and nature, peop ...

, which attracts a large number of visitors during the weekends and holidays. Buddhist organizations and temples in Hong Kong have long been involved in social welfare and education. The

Hong Kong Buddhist Association Hong Kong Buddhist Association () is a Buddhist umbrella organisation in Hong Kong which was founded in 1945. The association has nearly ten thousands individual members including both monastic and laity, and promotes the propagation of Buddhis ...

with close to 10,000 members operates a dozen primary and secondary schools, and elderly homes as well as centres for youth and children in Hong Kong. It also runs the

Hong Kong Buddhist Hospital Hong Kong Buddhist Hospital () is a public, community hospital with 324 beds in Lok Fu, Hong Kong, within walking distance of Lok Fu station. It is under the Kowloon Central Cluster managed by the Hospital Authority. Hospital Chief Executive is ...

, which was founded in 1971. Under the leadership of the former Chief Executive

Tung Chee Hwa Tung Chee-hwa (; born 7 July 1937) is a Hong Kong businessman and politician who served as the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong between 1997 and 2005, upon the transfer of sovereignty on 1 July. He is currently a vice-chairman of the Chine ...

, the Hong Kong government formally recognised the influence of Buddhism in Hong Kong. In 1997 the government designated

Buddha's Birthday Buddha's Birthday (also known as Buddha Jayanti, also known as his day of enlightenment – Buddha Purnima, Buddha Pournami) is a Buddhist festival that is celebrated in most of East Asia and South Asia commemorating the birth of the Gautama ...

as a public holiday, which replaced the

Queen's birthday The King's Official Birthday (alternatively the Queen's Official Birthday when the monarch is female) is the selected day in the United Kingdom and most Commonwealth realms on which the birthday of the monarch is officially celebrated in those ...

holiday. Tung himself is a Buddhist and participated in major, widely publicised Buddhist activities in Hong Kong and China. Academic studies and research of Buddhism in Hong Kong have thrived over the past decades. The

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fi ...

established a Centre of Buddhist Studies (CBS) in 2000. The

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public research university in Ma Liu Shui, Hong Kong, formally established in 1963 by a charter granted by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. It is the territory's second-oldest university an ...

also has a Centre for the Study of

Humanistic Buddhism Humanistic Buddhism () is a modern philosophy practiced by Buddhist groups originating from Chinese Buddhism which places an emphasis on integrating Buddhist practices into everyday life and shifting the focus of ritual from the dead to the li ...

. The Buddha-Dharma Centre of Hong Kong (BDCHK) was established in April 2012 by Ven. Prof. K. L. Dhammmajoti and his post-graduate students from CBS, with primary aims to promote the study and research of Buddhism through academic courses and publications, and to integrate Buddhist study and spiritual praxis.

Buddhist Denominations in Hong Kong

Most denominations of Buddhism can be found in Hong Kong, including schools from the

Theravada ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

Mahayana ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing bra ...

and

Vajrayana Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...

traditions, as well as from many geographical origins.

Theravada Buddhist Traditions

Although

Theravada Buddhism ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

remains a minority tradition mainly practiced by immigrants from Theravada Buddhist countries, there have been interest from a growing number of local Hongkongers. There are a handful meditation groups that based on Vipassana Meditation, and some Buddhist centres catered to Burmese and Sri Lankan Buddhist communities in Hong Kong. Ven. Prof. K. L. Dhammmajoti who had retired from HKU in 2014, established the Aloka Vihara where he conducts weekly Pali devotional chants for lay followers.

Thai Buddhist community

The majority of Thais in Hong Kong are adherents of Theravada Buddhism. In Hong Kong, there are four Thai Buddhist temples altogether and they are located in

Ngau Tam Mei Ngau Tam Mei (), also known as Yau Tam Mei (), is a suburb located in San Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong near Yuen Long. It is located at the east of Fairview Park, the north of San Tin village and Kai Kung Leng, the northwest of Lam Tsuen Cou ...

of Yuen Long, Shun Shan San Tsuen of

Shap Pat Heung Shap Pat Heung is an area in the New Territories of Hong Kong. Located south of Yuen Long and northeast of Tai Tong, the area occupies the plain north of hills of Tai Lam. The Cantonese name 'Shap Pat Heung' means 'eighteen villages'Antiqui ...

Ha Pak Nai Pak Nai () is a wetland area, partly mud-bank, surrounded by mountain ranges, in the Yuen Long District of Hong Kong facing Deep Bay (aka. Shenzhen Bay). Pak Nai makes up the coastline as Sheung Pak Nai () and Ha Pak Nai () geographically. Pak N ...

of Tuen Mun and Tai Po

Tai Wo Tai Wo () or known as Tai Wo Market are the names of several areas in the Tai Po District, in the New Territories of Hong Kong. The boundaries changed from time to time. In present time, the name "Tai Wo" mostly refers to the area surrounding th ...

.<<香港的泰國風情>>, Hong Kong Economic Journal, 2008-5-12

Tibetan Buddhist traditions

Buddhist organisations in Hong Kong from the Tibetan tradition include

Diamond Way Buddhism Diamond Way Buddhism (''Diamond Way Buddhism - Karma Kagyu Lineage'') is a lay organization within the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. The first Diamond Way Buddhist center was founded in 1972 by Hannah Nydahl and Ole Nydahl in Copenhag ...

, a network of lay Buddhist centres in the

Karma Kagyu Karma Kagyu (), or Kamtsang Kagyu (), is a widely practiced and probably the second-largest lineage within the Kagyu school, one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The lineage has long-standing monasteries in Tibet, China, Russia, Mon ...

tradition, founded by

Lama Ole Nydahl Ole Nydahl (born 19 March 1941), also known as Lama Ole, is a '' lama'' providing Mahamudra teachings in the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. Since the early 1970s, Nydahl has toured the world giving lectures and meditation courses. With hi ...

and under the spiritual authority of the 17th Karmapa

Trinley Thaye Dorje Trinley Thaye Dorje () (born 6 May 1983 in Lhasa) is a claimant to the title of 17th Karmapa. The Karmapa is head of the Karma Kagyu school, one of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Ogyen Trinley Dorje and Thaye Dorje are the persisting ...

Japanese Buddhist Sect

The

Soka Gakkai International Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is an international Nichiren Buddhist organisation founded in 1975 by Daisaku Ikeda, as an umbrella organization of Soka Gakkai, which declares approximately 12 million adherents in 192 countries and territories ...

has an estimated 50,000 members in Hong Kong. The local association is called Soka Gakkai International of Hong Kong (HKSGI) and it promotes peace, culture and education based on the principles of

Nichiren Buddhism Nichiren Buddhism ( ja, 日蓮仏教), also known as Hokkeshū ( ja, 法華宗, meaning ''Lotus Sect'') is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) and is one of ...

References

External links

Diamond Way Buddhism Hong Kong
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buddhism In Hong Kong Mahayana Buddhism in China