Buddhism in France

The Buddhist population mainly consists of Chinese, Vietnamese, Lao, Cambodian and Korean immigrants, with a substantial minority of native French converts and "sympathizers."

The rising popularity of Buddhism in France has been the subject of considerable discussion in the French media and academy in recent years.

[3] A 1997 opinion poll counted as sympathizers young people who feel "an intellectual affinity with Buddhism or expressed a sympathy to a Buddhist worldview.

During the first half of the twentieth century, despite the constant flow of Chinese students into France, their number remained small.

[6] With the rapid growth of immigrants from mainland China to France in the 1980s, the landscape of the Chinese Buddhism has also changed over time.

Based on fieldwork research conducted in France, scholars of globalization distinguish between ethnolinguistic immigrant groups, transnational organizations, and communities centered on information technology.

The first pattern involves immigrants transplantating local cultural traditions; for example, people from similar backgrounds establish a Buddha hall (佛堂) within the framework of their associations for collective religious activities.

Xuanwu, the Pure Land of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara” (观世音菩萨玄武山佛教神坛).The second pattern features the transnational expansion of a large institutionalized organization centered on a charismatic leader, such as Fo Guang Shan (佛光山), Tzu Chi (慈濟) or the Amitabha Buddhist Society (淨宗學會).

[11] A prominent French monk in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition is Matthieu Ricard, a longtime student of Dilgo Khyenste Rinpoche.

"Wisdom of Buddhism", a weekly French TV program, draws about 250,000 viewers, according to the Buddhist Union of France.

[11] Philosopher Luc Ferry, appointed Minister of Youth and Education in 2002, published an article in Le Point magazine in which he asked, "Why this Buddhist wave?