Buddhism in Denmark

[1] In the 19th century, knowledge about Buddhism was brought back from expeditions that explored the Far East but interest was mainly from authors, Buddhologists and philologists.

Hannah and Ole Nydahl founded the first Karma Kagyu Buddhist centers in Copenhagen.

However, according to Jørn Borup (Department of the Study of Religion, Aarhus University), there are approximately 30,000 Buddhists in Denmark today,[3] of which 80% are Asian immigrants.

[3] Despite Buddhism being a minority religion, the Dalai Lama is the Danes' preferred religious role model.

[11] Although members of this group has not been growing for the last ten years, it is still the largest Vajrayana school in Denmark, with 500 Danish affiliates.

[6] The Soka Gakkai International (SGI-DK) organization was established in Denmark in 1983 and had approximately 1,100 members in 75 local groups in 2015.

Another Lakha Lama project called Phendeling has subsequently taken over its role and now includes some non-Vajrayana Buddhist groups.

Two groups, the Diamond Way Buddhism and Soka Gakkai International, have reportedly not been invited to join the umbrella organizations.