Buddhism in Russia

[2][3] Besides the historical monastic traditions of Buryatia, Tuva and Kalmykia (the latter being the only Buddhist-majority republic in Europe), the religion of Buddhism is now spreading all over Russia, with many ethnic Russian converts.

The first evidence of the existence of Buddhism in the territory of modern Russia (more specifically Siberia, the region nearest East Asia) belongs to the 8th century AD and is associated with the state of Balhae, which in 698–926 occupied part of today's Primorye and Amur.

[7] The Mohe, a people whose culture was greatly influenced by neighboring China, Korea and Manchuria, practiced a form of Mahayana Buddhism.

Early Russian explorers and Christian missionaries described Tibetan Buddhism as a "superstition", "false creed", or "idolatry" among other similar labels.

[8] With the advent of Buddhist studies in western Europe in the 19th century, Russian society was similarly exposed to the idea that Buddhism contained an impressive philosophy and history.

However, Russian elites and academics saw true Buddhism a religion of the past or existing in certain regions like Sri Lanka.

[9] When the Soviet Union came into being, all religions including Buddhism began to be viewed as "tools of oppression", and Buddhists in positions of authority were looked upon unfavourably.

[12] By the 1930s, during the Stalinist repressions, Buddhists were suffering more than any other religious community in the Soviet Union[3] with lamas being expelled and accused of being "Japanese spies" and "the people's enemies".

[2] In 1943, all Kalmykians were forcibly exiled to Siberia due to government suspicions that they were collaborating with Nazi Germany when it had occupied part of Kalmykia.

[14][5] However, Buddhism did not disappear from Russia as a result of the efforts of Bidia Dandaron, a follower of Tsydenov and a famous Buddhologist and thinker.

Dandaron attempted to revive Buddhism in the atheist state by introducing the concept of Neo-Buddhism, a combination of Buddhist teachings and contemporary Western philosophy with scientific theories.