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 List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

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 Dòngsh� ...

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 n ...

, 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 calm ...

(

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". Mahāmud ...

, Dzog Chen,

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 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 born in L ...

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 researche ...

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 no ...

, 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 t ...

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.

References

External links

Buddhist Channel His Holiness Concludes His Argentina VisitBuddhism in Argentina
{{Commons, position=left Religion in Argentina

Japanese Zen Buddhism

Chinese Buddhism

Theravada Buddhism

See also

References

External links