With a rough estimate of fifty thousand Buddhists,

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

is practiced by around 0.5% of the Czech population. The World Buddhist Directory lists 70 Buddhist places in the Czech Republic. The Vietnamese-speaking communities form the mainstay of the Buddhist population in the Czech Republic. The Vietnamese practice mainly Mahayana Buddhism with some syncretism of

ancestor worship The veneration of the dead, including one's ancestors, is based on love and respect for the deceased. In some cultures, it is related to beliefs that the dead have a continued existence, and may possess the ability to influence the fortune of t ...

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or a ...

and

Taoism Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Ta ...

. They represent roughly from two thirds to three quarters of the Buddhist community alongside being the largest Asian community in the Czech Republic, numbering over 60,000. The remainder consists of a significant number of

Czechs The Czechs ( cs, Češi, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, ...

who have converted (mainly to

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' ...

Vajrayana Buddhism 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 ...

) and the smaller communities of overseas Chinese and

Koreans Koreans ( South Korean: , , North Korean: , ; see names of Korea) are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula. Koreans mainly live in the two Korean nation states: North Korea and South Korea (collectively and simply re ...

. Buddhism is found mainly where the Vietnamese-speaking people reside, notably in the cities of

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

and

Cheb Cheb (; german: Eger) is a town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 30,000 inhabitants. It lies on the river Ohře. Before the 1945 expulsion of the German-speaking population, the town was the centre of the German-s ...

. ''Thien An'' Buddhist Pagoda in the northern province of

Varnsdorf Varnsdorf (; german: Warnsdorf, hsb, Warnoćicy) is a town in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 15,000 inhabitants. It lies on the border with Germany. Administrative parts Villages of Studánka and Světliny 1.díl ...

was the first Vietnamese style temple to be consecrated in the Czech Republic, in January 2008. The pagoda was completed in September 2007 and now serves as a center of Vietnamese culture and teaching Vietnamese language. There are also ten Korean Buddhist temples in the Czech Republic, with three each in Prague and Brno. The Vajrayana practitioners are mainly centered on the

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 ...

and Kagyu schools. 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, ...

tradition has established about 50 centers and meditation groups. The

Diamond Way 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 ...

tradition of Vajrayana Buddhism, founded and directed by

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 his ...

is active in both the Czech Republic and

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

History

Buddhism came to the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

around 1920. At this time, the West Mongolian nation of the Kalmyks arrived in Czechoslovakia . They were soon forced to leave the republic, because the government was not inclined to such religious practices. With this act, Czechoslovakia delayed the spread of the Buddhist faith by 40 years compared to Western countries. Leopold Procházka, Fráňa Drtikol , Eduard and Míla Tomášová, and Květoslav Minařík can be considered the leading popularizers of Buddhism in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

in the 20th century . After the fall of communismin 1989, people felt the loss of spiritual values, because until then they lived mainly in a materialistic way. This too could have been the reason for the increased interest in Buddhism after the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...

References

External links

# https://www.denik.cz/z_domova/v-praze-vzniklo-nejvetsi-buddhisticke-centrum-v-cesku-20140520.html # http://www.buddhismusvcesku.cz/clanky/korespondence-kvetoslava-minarika.html # http://www.tibinfo.cz/clanek.php?id=221
Czech Republic first Buddhist temple opens
{{Buddhism in Europe Religion in the Czech Republic

Cze

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links