|
The Buddhistic Temple in beautiful St. Petersburg, a Russian Vajrayana Buddhist datsan |
|
Small Buddhist pavilions around the Elista Buddhist Temple in Kalmykia |
Buddhism in Russia: The Story of Agvan Dorzhiev: Lhasa's Emissary to the Tsar
It is mostly of the
Mongolian Vajrayana or Tibetan/Himalayan tradition, as also found in Nepal and Bhutan.
It is a fascinating story of political and religious intrigue. Buddhism in Russia tells the story of Agvan Dorziev, a Mongolian Buddhist lama.
|
I hate those FEMEN troublemakers. |
Stalin desired a "cultural revolution"[357], entailing both creation of a culture for the "masses" and wider dissemination of previously elite culture [358]. He oversaw a proliferation of schools, newspapers, and libraries, as well as advancement of literacy, science, and numeracy [359], but... The government's anti-religious campaign was re-intensified [363], with increased funding given to the League of Militant Atheists [355], so
Buddhist monks, Christian priests, and Muslim
imams faced persecution [351]. Many religious buildings were demolished, most notably
Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior, destroyed in 1931 to make way for the (never completed) Palace of the Soviets [364].
Religion retained an influence over much of the Russian population; in the 1937 census, 57% of respondents were willing to admit to being religious, indicating that the number was actually higher even after communist abuses.
MoreWhen Wisdom Quarterly visited, officially "atheist" and communist Russia was nevertheless full of
Eastern Orthodox Christianity, like Moscow's Red Square, and the monastic catacombs, where a long tradition of ancient [sort of Coptic] Christianity was still being practiced, with the government banning the export of icons or depictions of a Black African Jesus and famous disciples.
No comments:
Post a Comment