Buddhism is a legally recognized religion in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

and it is followed by more than 1,000 Slovenes, though no official numbers are established as the previous census did not include Buddhism specifically. Although still small in absolute numbers (though Slovenia has only 2 million inhabitants), Buddhism in Slovenia enjoys widespread acceptance if not popularity. As in most European countries, different branches and schools of Buddhism are represented by groups of varying sizes. The largest traditions represented are

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' ...

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 ...

. There is a Buddhist temple in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

, the capital of Slovenia, and Theravada hermitage in the forested countryside in Goljek, near Trebnje, which belongs to

Ajahn Chah Chah Subhaddo ( th, ชา สุภัทโท, known in English as Ajahn Chah, occasionally with honorific titles ''Luang Por'' and ''Phra'') also known by his honorific name "Phra Bodhiñāṇathera" ( th, พระโพธิญาณเถ ...

lineage. In Slovenia, the competent administration dealing with religions is the Governmental Office for Religious Community of Republic of Slovenia, and a newly approved regulation has been enacted in 2007.

Buddhist organisations

Buddhist religious communities registered to the Office for Religious Communities of the Government of Slovenia include: * Buddhist Congregation Dharmaling, registered in 2003. This organization is active also in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. This community has a resident

Lama Lama (; "chief") is a title for a teacher of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term ''guru'', meaning "heavy one", endowed with qualities the student will eventually embody. The Tibetan word "lama" means "hi ...

, recognised

Tulku A ''tulku'' (, also ''tülku'', ''trulku'') is a reincarnate custodian of a specific lineage of teachings in Tibetan Buddhism who is given empowerments and trained from a young age by students of his or her predecessor. High-profile examples ...

, Shenphen Rinpoche. On 4 July 2008, an agreement was signed between Dharmaling and the State of Slovenia. This is first agreement signed with a Buddhist Community in Slovenia. * Buddha-Dharma, registered in 1995. The following smaller associations also exist in Slovenia: *

Shambhala Buddhism Shambhala Training is a secular approach to meditation developed by Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chogyam Trungpa and his students. It is based on what Trungpa calls Shambhala Vision, which sees enlightened society as not purely mythical, but as r ...

group Ljubljana * Yeshe Khorlo group (

Nyingma Nyingma (literally 'old school') is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It is also often referred to as ''Ngangyur'' (, ), "order of the ancient translations". The Nyingma school is founded on the first lineages and transl ...

branch of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

) * Phowa group (focused on the practice of

phowa ''Phowa'' (, ) is a tantric practice found in both Hinduism and Buddhism. It may be described as "transference of consciousness at the time of death", "mindstream transference", "the practice of conscious dying", or "enlightenment without medita ...

, under the guidance of Ayang Rinpoche, a renowned Phowa Master) * Association of Theravada Buddhism Bhavana ("Društvo theravadskih budistov, Bhavana") * Samanadipa Forest Hermitage, founded in 2016. It is associated with the

Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah The Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah is a Mahanikai monastic organization in the Thai Forest Tradition composed of the students of Ajahn Chah Subhaddo. Strictly speaking, the ''Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah'' denotes the institutions who have a ...

. This community has a resident monk, Ajahn Hiriko. * Slovene Buddhist Association Madyamika ("Slovensko budistično društvo Madyamika, Srednja pot") * Zen group

Notes

External links

Slovenia: At a Distance from a Perfect Religious Market

Signature of the agreement between Buddhist Congregation Dharmaling and the State of Slovenia (article in Slovene)
{{Europe topic, Buddhism in, countries_only=yes