[7][8][9][10][11] The Buddhist Prison Chaplainship, 'Boeddhistische Zendende Instantie', is formally recognized by the government, gets at equal subsidy to other mainstream religions and is busy setting up a professional training in cooperation with the Free University of Amsterdam.
[14] The scientific study of Buddhism began in the Netherlands with the appointment of Hendrik Kern as the first professor for the chair for Sanskrit at Leiden University.
Kern was succeeded by Jacob Speyer (1849–1913), who translated several Mahayana texts and the Jatakamala for the series ‘The Sacred Books of the Buddhists’.
The subsequent chair, Jean Philippe Vogel (1871–1958), became famous as an archaeologist by proving that Kasia in India must have been Kusinara, the place of the Parinirvana of the Buddha.
The Dutch secretary of the Theosophical Society Adyar, Mrs. Spruitenburg, returned from India and started ‘gatherings’ in her home in Huizen that attracted dozens of people from all over the country.
The centre changed its name in 1978 to ‘Stichting Vrienden van het Boeddhisme’ (Friends of Buddhism Foundation).
And the SVB still being relevant as an ecumenical entry-level organisation, and as publisher of the only generic Buddhist (quarterly) magazine available in Dutch kiosks.
[23] There are several Zen organisations in the Netherlands: In 1971 the Dutch merchant Monshouwer gathered some people in order to discuss the possibility of founding a Theravada temple with the support of Thai ambassador Sompong Sucharitkul.
Mettavihari, there still is the Sangha Metta Buddhist temple in Amsterdam centre; next to this two countrywide organisations being the general Vipassana-oriented SIM and the Burmese-oriented Sagya U Bha Khin .
In 1977 Han de Wit, an authorized pupil of the Kagyu lama Chogyam Trungpa, founded a centre in Amsterdam which is engaged in teaching the Dharma and meditation according to Tibetan tradition.
[35] There is a smaller centre in Oegstgeest, also founded by de Wit, and groups in two other towns (Utrecht and Nijmegen).
Other Karma Kagyu centres from different lineages have also sprung up, e.g. Naropa Institute in Cadzand, the locally famous Stupa temple in Hantum and Diamond Way Buddhism (Ole Nydahl).
In the first place the Triratna Buddhist Community (TBC, formerly FWBO) connected with the large movement of Ven.