Buddhism

==Buddhism in the modern era==
{{Main|Buddhism by country|Buddhist modernism}}
[[File:Хуварак.JPG|thumb|alt=Buddhist monk in Siberia in robes leaning on railing looking at temple|[[Buryats|Buryat]] Buddhist monk in [[Siberia]]]]

===Colonial era and after===
Buddhism has faced various challenges and changes during the colonisation of Buddhist states by Christian countries and its persecution under modern states. Like other religions, the findings of modern science have challenged its basic premises. One response to some of these challenges has come to be called [[Buddhist modernism]]. Early Buddhist modernist figures such as the American convert [[Henry Steel Olcott|Henry Olcott]] (1832–1907) and [[Anagarika Dharmapala]]  (1864–1933) reinterpreted and promoted Buddhism as a scientific and rational religion which they saw as compatible with modern science.{{sfnp|Harvey|2013|p=378}}

[[East Asian Buddhism]] meanwhile suffered under various wars which ravaged China during the modern era, such as the [[Taiping Rebellion|Taiping rebellion]] and [[World War II]] (which also affected [[Korean Buddhism]]). During the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republican period]] (1912–49), a new movement called [[Humanistic Buddhism]] was developed by figures such as [[Taixu]] (1899–1947), and though Buddhist institutions were destroyed during the [[Cultural Revolution]] (1966–76), there has been a revival of the religion in China after 1977.{{sfnp|Harvey|2013|pp=409–410}} [[Buddhism in Japan|Japanese Buddhism]] also went through a period of modernisation during the [[Meiji period]].{{sfnp|Harvey|2013|p=403}} In [[Central Asia]] meanwhile, the arrival of [[Communism|Communist]] repression to [[Tibet]] (1966–1980) and [[Mongolia]]  (between 1924 and 1990) had a strong negative impact on Buddhist institutions, though the situation has improved somewhat since the 80s and 90s.{{sfnp|Harvey|2013|pp=414–417}}

In Afghanistan and Pakistan, militants have destroyed some historic Buddhist monuments.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Francioni|first=F.|year=2003|title=The Destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan and International Law|journal=European Journal of International Law|volume=14|issue=4|pages=619–651|doi=10.1093/ejil/14.4.619|doi-access=free}}<!--| access-date=2016-06-04--></ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Attack on giant Pakistan Buddha | website=BBC News | date=2007-09-12 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6991058.stm | access-date=2016-06-04 | archive-date=19 April 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419052538/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6991058.stm | url-status=live }}</ref>

===Buddhism in the West===
{{main|Buddhism in the West}}
{{multiple image
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 | image1 = 1893parliament.jpg
 | caption1 = 1893 [[World Parliament of Religions]] in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], United States
 | image2 = Buddharama Nukari.jpg
 | caption2 = Interior of the Thai Buddhist wat in [[Nukari]], [[Nurmijärvi]], Finland
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While there were some encounters of Western travellers or missionaries such as St. [[Francis Xavier]] and [[Ippolito Desideri]] with Buddhist cultures, it was not until the 19th century that Buddhism began to be studied by Western scholars. It was the work of pioneering scholars such as [[Eugène Burnouf]], [[Max Müller]], [[Hermann Oldenberg]] and [[Thomas William Rhys Davids]] that paved the way for modern [[Buddhist studies]] in the West. The English words such as Buddhism, "Boudhist", "Bauddhist" and Buddhist were coined in the early 19th-century in the West,<ref>[https://www.etymonline.com/word/buddhism Buddhism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205003348/https://www.etymonline.com/word/buddhism |date=5 December 2018 }}, [https://www.etymonline.com/word/buddhist Buddhist] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205003346/https://www.etymonline.com/word/buddhist |date=5 December 2018 }}, Etymology, Douglas Harper</ref> while in 1881, Rhys Davids founded the [[Pali Text Society]] – an influential Western resource of Buddhist literature in the Pali language and one of the earliest publisher of a journal on [[Buddhist studies]].<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pali-Text-Society Pali Text Society] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181204195700/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pali-Text-Society |date=4 December 2018 }}, Encyclopaedia Britannica</ref> It was also during the 19th century that Asian Buddhist immigrants (mainly from China and Japan) began to arrive in Western countries such as the United States and Canada, bringing with them their Buddhist religion. This period also saw the first Westerners to formally convert to Buddhism, such as [[Helena Blavatsky]] and [[Henry Steel Olcott]].<ref name=":10">Prothero, ''The White Buddhist,'' 175. Olcott's approach to Buddhism and the terminology of Protestant Buddhism and "creolization" (Prothero) is extensively discussed in K.A. McMahan," 'Creolization' in American Religious History. The Metaphysical Nature of Henry Steel Olcott, PhD dissertation, unpublished manuscript (Ann Arbor 2008).</ref> An important event in the introduction of Buddhism to the West was the 1893 [[World Parliament of Religions]], which for the first time saw well-publicized speeches by major Buddhist leaders alongside other religious leaders.

The 20th century saw a prolific growth of new Buddhist institutions in Western countries, including the [[Buddhist Society, London]] (1924), [[Das Buddhistische Haus]] (1924) and [[Datsan Gunzechoinei]] in [[Saint Petersburg|St Petersburg]]. The publication and translations of Buddhist literature in Western languages thereafter accelerated. After the [[World War II|second world war]], further immigration from Asia, globalisation, the [[secularisation]] on Western culture as well a renewed interest in Buddhism among the 60s [[counterculture]] led to further growth in Buddhist institutions.<ref>Coleman, James William, ''The New Buddhism: The Western Transformation of an Ancient Tradition'', Oxford University Press, pp. 203–204.</ref> Influential figures on post-war [[Buddhism in the West|Western Buddhism]] include [[Shunryu Suzuki]], [[Jack Kerouac]], [[Alan Watts]], [[Thích Nhất Hạnh]], and the [[14th Dalai Lama]]. While Buddhist institutions have grown, some of the central premises of Buddhism such as the cycles of rebirth and [[Four Noble Truths]] have been problematic in the West.{{sfnp|Konik|2009|p=ix}}{{sfnp|Hayes|2013|p=172}}{{sfnp|Lamb|2001|p=258}} In contrast, states Christopher Gowans, for "most ordinary [Asian] Buddhists, today as well as in the past, their basic moral orientation is governed by belief in karma and rebirth".{{sfnp|Gowans|2014|pp=18–23, 76–88}} Most Asian Buddhist laypersons, states Kevin Trainor, have historically pursued Buddhist rituals and practices seeking better rebirth,{{sfnp|Keown|2009|pp=60–63, 74–85, 185–187}} not nirvana or freedom from rebirth.{{sfnp|Fowler|1999|p=65}}

{{multiple image
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 | width = 220
 | footer = [[Buddhas of Bamiyan]], Afghanistan in 1896 (top) and after destruction in 2001 by the [[Taliban]] Islamists.<ref>{{cite book|author=Jan Goldman |title=The War on Terror Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bjeaBAAAQBAJ | year= 2014|publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-61069-511-4|pages=360–362}}</ref>
 | image1 = Nouvelle géographie universelle - la terre et les hommes (1876) (14592652167).jpg
 | alt1 = Buddha statue in 1896, Bamiyan
 | image2 = Destroyed Statue, July 17, 2005 at 15-53.jpg
 | alt2 = After statue destroyed by Islamist Taliban in 2001
 }}
Buddhism has spread across the world,{{sfnp|Henderson|2002|p=42}}{{sfnp|Tamney |1998|p=68}} and Buddhist texts are increasingly translated into local languages. While [[Buddhism in the West]] is often seen as exotic and progressive, in the East it is regarded as familiar and traditional. In countries such as [[Cambodia]] and [[Bhutan]], it is recognised as the [[state religion]] and receives government support.

===Neo-Buddhism movements===
{{main|Dalit Buddhist movement|Navayana|Twenty-two vows of Ambedkar}}

A number of modern movements in Buddhism emerged during the second half of the 20th century.{{sfnp|Paranjpe|1998|p=351}}{{sfnp|Pavāra|2009|pp=xv–xviii}} These [[Buddhist modernism|new forms of Buddhism]] are diverse and significantly depart from traditional beliefs and practices.<ref>{{cite journal | last=McMahan | first=David L. | title=Buddhism: Introducing the Buddhist Experience (review) | journal=Philosophy East and West | volume=54 | issue=2 | year=2004 | pages=268–270 | doi=10.1353/pew.2004.0006 | s2cid=170189446 }}</ref>

In India, [[B.R. Ambedkar]] launched the Navayana tradition – literally, "new vehicle". Ambedkar's Buddhism rejects the foundational doctrines and historic practices of traditional Theravada and Mahayana traditions, such as monk lifestyle after renunciation, karma, rebirth, samsara, meditation, nirvana, Four Noble Truths and others.{{sfnp|Keown|Prebish|2013|p=25}}{{sfnp|Queen|2013|pp=524–529}}<ref name="Skaria 2015">{{cite journal |last=Skaria |first=A. |title=Ambedkar, Marx and the Buddhist Question |journal=Journal of South Asian Studies |volume=38 |issue=3 |year=2015 |doi=10.1080/00856401.2015.1049726 |doi-access=free |pages=450–452}}</ref> Ambedkar's Navayana Buddhism considers these as superstitions and re-interprets the original Buddha as someone who taught about [[Class conflict|class struggle]] and social equality.<ref name=Zelliot>{{cite book|author=Eleanor Zelliot|editor=Knut A. Jacobsen|title=Routledge Handbook of Contemporary India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tPBWCgAAQBAJ|year=2015|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-317-40357-9|pages=13, 361–370|access-date=15 August 2017|archive-date=11 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111060324/https://books.google.com/books?id=tPBWCgAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfnp|Keown|Prebish|2013|pp=24–26}} Ambedkar urged low caste Indian [[Dalit]]s to convert to his Marxism-inspired<ref name="Skaria 2015"/> reinterpretation called the [[Navayana]] Buddhism, also known as Bhimayana Buddhism. Ambedkar's effort led to the expansion of Navayana Buddhism in India.<ref>{{cite book |author=Gary Tartakov |editor=Rowena Robinson |title=Religious Conversion in India: Modes, Motivations, and Meanings |year=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-566329-7 |pages=192–213 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eNsoAAAAYAAJ |access-date=4 December 2018 |archive-date=6 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206144339/https://books.google.com/books?id=eNsoAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Zelliot/>

The Thai King [[Mongkut]] (r. 1851–68), and his son [[Chulalongkorn]] (r. 1868–1910), were responsible for modern reforms of [[Buddhism in Thailand|Thai Buddhism]].{{sfnp|Harvey|2013|p=385}} Modern Buddhist movements include [[Secular Buddhism]] in many countries, [[Won Buddhism]] in Korea, the [[Dhammakaya movement]] in Thailand and several Japanese organisations, such as [[Shinnyo-en]], [[Risshō Kōsei Kai]] or [[Soka Gakkai]].

Some of these movements have brought internal disputes and strife within regional Buddhist communities. For example, the Dhammakaya movement in Thailand teaches a "true self" doctrine, which traditional Theravada monks consider as heretically denying the fundamental ''anatta'' ([[Anattā|not-self]]) doctrine of Buddhism.{{sfnp|Williams|2008|pp=125–128}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Rory Mackenzie|title=New Buddhist Movements in Thailand: Towards an Understanding of Wat Phra Dhammakaya and Santi Asoke|year=2007|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-13262-1|pages=175–179|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Or99AgAAQBAJ|access-date=5 December 2018|archive-date=11 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111060325/https://books.google.com/books?id=Or99AgAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Martin Marty |author2=R Scott Appleby |title=Fundamentalisms Observed |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-50878-8 |pages=660–667 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qd5yzP5hdiEC |year=1994 |access-date=5 December 2018 |archive-date=11 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111060325/https://books.google.com/books?id=qd5yzP5hdiEC |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Sexual abuse and misconduct===
Buddhism has not been immune from sexual abuse and misconduct scandals, with victims coming forward in various Buddhist schools such as [[Zen]] and [[Tibetan Buddhism|Tibetan]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Oppenheimer |first1=Mark |date=2014-12-18 |title=The Zen Predator of the Upper East Side |work=The Atlantic |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/12/the-zen-predator-of-the-upper-east-side/383831/ |access-date=3 March 2019 |archive-date=4 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190304105305/https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/12/the-zen-predator-of-the-upper-east-side/383831/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Corder |first1=Mike |date=2018-09-14 |title=Dalai Lama Meets Alleged Victims of Abuse by Buddhist Gurus |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2018-09-14/dalai-lama-meets-alleged-victims-of-abuse-by-buddhist-gurus |access-date=4 March 2019 |work=US News |archive-date=16 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416075105/https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2018-09-14/dalai-lama-meets-alleged-victims-of-abuse-by-buddhist-gurus |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Sperry |first1=Rod Meade |last2=Atwood |first2=Haleigh |url=https://www.lionsroar.com/against-the-stream-to-investigate-allegations-of-sexual-misconduct-by-founding-teacher-noah-levine/ |title=Against the Stream to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct by Noah Levine; results expected within a month |date=2018-03-30 |website=Lion's Roar |access-date=2019-01-21 |archive-date=22 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181022163537/https://www.lionsroar.com/against-the-stream-to-investigate-allegations-of-sexual-misconduct-by-founding-teacher-noah-levine/ |url-status=live }}</ref> "There are huge cover ups in the Catholic church, but what has happened within Tibetan Buddhism is totally along the same lines," says Mary Finnigan, an author and journalist who has been chronicling such alleged abuses since the mid-80s.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Shute |first1=Joe |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/09/09/tibetan-buddhism-facing-abuse-scandal/ |date=2018-09-09 |title=Why Tibetan Buddhism is facing up to its own abuse scandal |website=Daily Telegraph |url-access= subscription|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210902101126/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/09/09/tibetan-buddhism-facing-abuse-scandal/| archive-date=2 September 2021}}</ref> One notably covered [[Sogyal Rinpoche#Abuse allegations|case]] in media of various Western countries was that of [[Sogyal Rinpoche]] which began in 1994,<ref>{{Cite book |author=Marion Dapsance |editor=Amanda van Eck Duymaer van Twist |chapter=When Fraud Is Part of a Spiritual Path: A Tibetan Lama's Plays on Reality and Illusion |page=171 |title=Minority Religions and Fraud: In Good Faith |date=2014-09-28 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |isbn=978-1-4724-0913-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BrGlBAAAQBAJ |access-date=11 October 2020 |archive-date=11 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111060325/https://books.google.com/books?id=BrGlBAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> and ended with his retirement from his position as [[Rigpa (organization)|Rigpa]]'s spiritual director in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sperry |first=Rod Meade |date=2017-08-11 |title=After allegations, Sogyal Rinpoche retires from Rigpa |website=Lion's Roar |url=https://www.lionsroar.com/after-allegations-sogyal-rinpoche-retires-from-rigpa/ |access-date=2020-10-09 |archive-date=17 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817203919/https://www.lionsroar.com/after-allegations-sogyal-rinpoche-retires-from-rigpa/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Classification ===
There is consensus among [[religious studies]] scholars that Buddhism is a religion.<ref name="Goble 2019 p. ">{{cite book | last=Goble | first=Geoffrey C. | title=The History of Buddhism | publisher=ABC-CLIO | date=2019-10-11 | isbn=978-1-4408-6404-9 | chapter=Buddhism is Not a Religion}}</ref> However, Buddhism has posed problems to Western scholars of religion who define religion based solely on a "theistic conception".<ref name="Herbrechtsmeier 1993 p. 1">{{cite journal | last=Herbrechtsmeier | first=William | title=Buddhism and the Definition of Religion: One More Time | journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion | volume=32 | issue=1 | date=1993 | pages=1–18 | doi=10.2307/1386910 | jstor=1386910 }}</ref><ref name="Lion's Roar">{{Cite web |title=Is Buddhism a religion, philosophy, way of life, or science of mind? |author= |work=Lion's Roar |date= |access-date=16 February 2024 |url= https://www.lionsroar.com/is-buddhism-a-religion-philosophy-way-of-life-or-science-of-mind/}}</ref> Further, some [[Western Buddhism|Western Buddhist]]s and commentators like [[Alan Watts]] maintain that Buddhism does not constitute a religion but rather a philosophy, a [[psychotherapy]], or a [[Practical philosophy|way of life]].{{sfn | van der Velde | 2014 | p=22}}<ref name="Aich 2013 p. 165">{{cite journal | last=Aich | first=Tapas Kumar | title=Buddha philosophy and western psychology | journal=Indian Journal of Psychiatry | volume=55 | issue=6 | date=2013 | pages=S165-70 | issn=0019-5545 | pmid=23858249 | pmc=3705677 | doi=10.4103/0019-5545.105517 | doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Lion's Roar"/> This conception is rooted in 19th century [[Orientalism|orientalist]] writers, such as [[Theosophy|theosophist]] [[Henry Steel Olcott]], which reinterpreted Buddhism in a [[Protestantism|Protestant]] lens and viewed Buddhism in Asia as representing a debased religious form of what was originally non-religious and rational.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Southwold|1978 |pp=362–379}}: "From Olcott's catechism grew the tradition of Buddhist ambivalence (if not outright hostility) toward the concept of religion, but his catechism had a religious origin in Olcott's own liberal Protestant Christian background. He took his challenge to be one of purifying Buddhism by returning to the fundamental teaching of the founder as recorded in its authoritative scriptures. The teaching he found in these texts had much in common with the liberal Protestantism of the late nineteenth century. It was opposed to 'superstitious' practices, suspicious of miracles and the supernatural, and respectful of the canons of reason."|{{harvnb|Stewart|2018}}: "The view that Buddhism is a 'philosophy' and 'not a religion' is a prime example of nineteenth-century Orientalist scholarship entering into the Western public consciousness that persists even now [...] [b]ut such a view is overly reductionist."|{{harvnb|van der Velde|2014|pp=30–31}}: "What was practice in 19th and early 20th century Asia was often considered aberrational, a perversion of what was once a pure practice. The purity of this practice was supposedly lost once Buddhism changed into the religion it now was in Asia. The original dharma could be reconstructed if the teachings were liberated from the 'cultural' and 'local' Asian context [...] In fact, our perception of Buddhism is still colored by these presuppositions."}}</ref> Some Buddhist teachers and commentators, such as {{em|Dharmavidya}} David Brazier, have criticized the persistence of this view.<ref name="Brazier Brazier 2015 h916">{{cite web | last=Brazier | first=Dharmavidya David | title=It Needs Saying: Buddhism is a Religion | website=Tricycle: The Buddhist Review | date=2015-05-30 | url=https://tricycle.org/article/buddhism-is-a-religion/ | access-date=2024-02-07}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Why Are We Surprised When Buddhists Are Violent? |author=Dan Arnold and Alicia Turner |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2018 |access-date=16 February 2024 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/05/opinion/buddhists-violence-tolerance.html }}</ref> Among Buddhists in [[Sri Lanka]], Buddhism is parallel to [[Hinduism]], [[Islam]], and [[Christianity]] as an {{em|āgama}},{{sfn|Southwold|1978|p=363}} literally "scripture" or "teaching".<ref>See [[Āgama (Buddhism)]]</ref>