With a rough estimate of fifty thousand Buddhists, Buddhism is practiced by around 0.5% of the Czech population. The World Buddhist Directory lists 70 Buddhist places in the Czech Republic.[1]
The overseas Vietnamese community form the mainstay of the Buddhist population in the Czech Republic. The Vietnamese practice mainly Mahayana Buddhism with some syncretism of ancestor worship, Confucianism and Taoism. 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.[2] The remainder consists of a significant number of Czechs who have converted (mainly to Theravada or Vajrayana Buddhism small number of overseas Chinese.
Buddhism is found mainly where the Vietnamese people reside, in the cities of Prague and Cheb. Thein An Buddhist Pagoda in the northern province of Varnsdorf 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 centre of Vietnamese culture and teaching Vietnamese language.[3]
The Vajrayana practitioners are mainly centered on the Nyingma and Kagyu schools. The Karma Kagyu tradition has established about 50 centers and meditation groups. The Diamond Way tradition of Vajrayana Buddhism, founded and directed by Ole Nydahl is active in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
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