Buddhism in Uganda, Africa

Buddhism in Uganda, Africa: ancient tradition of alms round

(Uganda Buddhist Centre) Dec. 8, 2023: Under the guidance of Bhante Buddharakkhita, Theravada African Buddhist monks and nuns at The Uganda Buddhist Centre go on alms round (pindapata) in Bulega Village, Garuga, Uganda. Their mindful steps with alms bowls in hands reminds us of our journey to liberation.

• 'It's not weird or foreign': the Ugandan monk bringing Buddhism to Africa – photo essay | The Guardian
• Religion in Uganda
• Buddhism in Africa

Modern humans did not evolve in Africa

Modern humans did not evolve in Africa

(Highly Compelling) Oct. 22, 2025: The field of paleoanthropology continues to provide new perspectives on human evolution. Recent fossil discoveries are reshaping our understanding of ancient history and early humans. These advancements offer exciting insights in anthropology and science. 

SOURCES

• Dating of Kabwe to 300,000 (nature.com)
• Bodo and Kabwe are not ancestral to Homo sapiens (researchgate.net)
• The Origin of Our Species • Chris Stringer

Ancient Buddha statue found in Egypt

Ancient Egypt is the home of many stone statues and sculptures, now including the Buddha

Why this ancient statue of the Buddha from Afghanistan (ancient Gandhara, Scythia, Central Asia) discovered in Egypt has stunned archaeologists (msn.com)

It's a long way from home. Since the first pharaohs ruled Egypt at the end of the 4th millennium BC, the country has worshipped a wide pantheon of gods and goddesses, but it has never, as far as we're aware, embraced Buddhism.

It raised a lot of eyebrows, then, when archeologists recently unearthed a two-foot (60 cm) tall Buddha statue while excavating a temple to the Egyptian Goddess Isis in the ancient port city of Berenike -- reportedly the first such statue ever found west of Afghanistan [where the Buddha was likely born, not Nepal as popularly thought, west of proto-India, because "India" did not come into existence until the Buddhist Emperor Asoka united disparate kingdoms and territories two centuries or more after the passing of the Buddha, circa 600 BC].

Founded in the third century BC and an important Red Sea hub, Berenike became particularly prominent after the Roman invasion of Egypt in 30 BC, and a steady stream of artifacts have been discovered there in recent decades.

• Garum Masala | William Dalrymple | The New York Review of Books (nybooks.com) In March 2022 a team of American archaeologists was excavating a temple of the Egyptian Goddess Isis at the ancient site of Berenike, on the shores of the Red Sea in modern-day Egypt, when they stumbled across a series of remarkable finds [such as an ancient Buddha statue]. Berenike is today a bleak and desolate spot....
• VIDEO: Gravitas: Ancient Buddha statue discovered in Egypt (msn.com)
• Mystery of 'impossible' ancient Egyptian statue may be solved (msn.com)

• smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/buddha-statue-found-berenike-egypt-180982075 Archaeologists Unearth Buddha Statue in Ancient Egyptian Port City Researchers have discovered a two-foot-tall Buddha statue in Berenike, an ancient Egyptian port city. The artifact is the first Buddha ever...
• livescience.com/archaeology/ancient-egyptians/1st-century-buddha-statue-from-ancient-egypt-indicates-buddhists-lived-there-in-roman-times 1st-century Buddha statue from ancient Egypt indicates Buddhists A 1,900-year-old statue of the Buddha — discovered at the ancient Egyptian port city of Berenike, on the coast of the Red Sea — likely...
• buddhistdoor.net/news/archaeologists-unearth-ancient-buddha-statue-in-egypt Archaeologists Unearth Ancient Buddha Statue in Egypt Researchers in Berenike, Egypt, have discovered a 71-centimeter Buddha statue believed to date to the second century CE.
• jpost.com/archaeology/article-741997 Buddha statue uncovered in Egypt's Red Sea reveals ancient trade... In the Egyptian port city of Berenike, situated near the nation's southernmost point of the Red Sea, archaeologists have uncovered an...
• artnews.com/art-news/news/buddha-statue-uncovered-in-an-egyptian-port-city-sheds-light-on-trade-between-ancient-rome-and-india-1234666283 Buddha Statue Uncovered in Ancient Egyptian Port City A Buddha statue was found by archaeologists in the ancient Egyptian port city Berenike, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities...
• Scythia
• Sculpture

Was the Buddha (or Jesus Christ) black?

Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly  UPDATED

Who were the Khmer of Angkor (Cambodia) or Olmecs of Mesoamerica (Mexico)? Why do these twin megalithic jungle empires show African features? (Number9photo/flickr.com)

Aha! He looks black. He is certainly depicted that way sometimes. One of his chief male disciples was very dark, the Dravidian Brahmin Great Moggallana. But he had golden skin.

.

Was the Buddha black?

(No, but Jesus was a dark African according to the Bible)

Bactria was Hellenized Shakya Land.

Happy Black History Month! The Buddha was from a land now almost exclusively Muslim, the war-torn country oppressed by the American military-industrial complex, Afghanistan (once Scythia, Shakya-Land, with one of its seasonal capitals at Kapilavastu, possibly modern Bamiyan).

The texts, particularly those in which the Buddha describes how karma resulted in every aspect of his body (the lakkhana or "Marks of a Great Person"), indicate that the Buddha (the former Prince Siddhartha Gautama of the Shakya Clan) was gold.

• Physical characteristics of the historical Buddha
• The Buddhist meaning of Aryan does not refer to birth status but "nobility" -- realization of the liberating truth and entering one of the stages of enlightenment

Black gold Buddha? (Tatlmt)

There were three colors at that time -- black, brown, and gold. If we examine the appearance of Central Asians in modern Afghanistan, the Pashtuns and Hazaras, Iranians and the peoples living in the many "stans," we see a combination of Asian and Caucasian features. Indeed, the Caucasus mountains are not so far away.

In ancient times, this region was the northwest frontier of what today we call "India" (Bharat, Jambudvipa). But the Buddha was not depicted in human form with graven images, as it was not the custom of India make such representations.
 

Zealot (Reza Aslan/amazon.com)

But no such rule seems to have been prevalent among the Shakyans (Scythians), who were eventually overrun by the ancient Greeks in Scythia, Bactria, Seleucid Empire, and other countries. So the very first human representations of the Buddha come from Gandhara and Afghanistan, his own home country.

These are likely the most accurate depictions. But because of the widely held belief (or politically-motivated propaganda) that the Buddha was from Nepal or northern India, logic dictates that the Buddha was dressed in Greek togas and other marks of a Central Asian/Scythian king because artisans were making him over in their own image. This is unlikely, given that his descendants were not so different from the neighbors, who still lived on the land, the Indo-Sakastan/Afghanistan/Shakya Land.

African Jesus? Moors influenced Europe?

But the Buddha's teaching, the Dharma, is indeed universal. It is applicable to all peoples, all skin colors, all types of humans and devas. The Buddha did not discriminate. On the contrary, he actively welcomed all castes, all socioeconomic statuses, all types. Even today, the "untouchables" -- discriminated against in Indian society -- find a welcome home in Buddhism. And there is a large Dalit movement to convert to this more welcoming Dharma.

• Race and appearance of the historical Jesus The Book of Revelation includes John's vision of the Son of Man, which describes Jesus thus: "his feet were like unto burnt brass, His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow;" [other translations say "burnished bronze"], as if they burned in a furnace..." in a vision (1:13-16), but this vision is usually considered to refer to Jesus in heavenly form, not necessarily his appearance during his earthly life (Revelation by William C. Pender 1998, pp. 14-16; Revelation 1-11 by John MacArthur, Jr. pp. 37-39).
• VIDEO: "Israel" is in Northeast Africa not "Middle East"
• Was Lord Jesus a Nazi? (No, but Germans remade him)

Why do Khmer rulers, emperors in Southeast Asia, have black features? (Darryl Villaret)

.

Black is beautiful just like the child pharaoh, King Tut.

Jesus of Nazareth, on the other hand, as distinguished from Fantasy Jesus the Christ of Christian lore, was black. There is only one physical description of him in the official Christian Bible. That comes in Revelation, where he is described as bronze colored with nappy hair like that of a sheep. But white Christians are outraged. They need someone to worship in their own image, so a tall Aryan Jesus was created, blue eyes in Africa (Israel and Egypt are both in Africa, though we are misled to think otherwise).

Europeans made me "white."

Biblical scholar Prof. Reza Aslan in Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth does a great job of distinguishing the real, historical Jesus (Issa, Y'shua, Ieosus, Joshua, Son of Zeus/Yahweh, devaputra) from the fantasy European creation that is widely circulated today. No one would worship him, but the Holy Roman Empire adopted and utterly changed him and his teaching to their own ends, so with the help of the Vatican/Catholic Church he is widely revered in name and given a great deal of lip service.

The Eastern Orthodox tradition seems to have a better handle on the actual, historical figure. Icons throughout Armenia, the Coptic region (Egypt), and Russia often depict Jesus as a black man, a Middle Easterner, a man who lived in Egypt in his early years and probably never even went to Bethlehem but had to be made to so as to accord with a prophecy about King David.

The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany

Susannah Heschel (Princeton University Press)

Was Jesus a Nazi? During the Third Reich, German Protestant theologians, motivated by racism and tapping into traditional Christian anti-Semitism, redefined Jesus as an Aryan and Christianity as a religion at war with Judaism. In 1939, these theologians established the Institute for the Study and Eradication of Jewish Influence on German Religious Life. In The Aryan Jesus, Heschel shows that during the Third Reich, the Institute became the most important propaganda organ of German Protestantism, exerting a widespread influence and producing a Nazified Christianity that placed anti-Semitism at its theological center. Based on years of archival research, The Aryan Jesus examines... More

Happy Festivus! Happy Kwanzaa! Yule! (video)

Sheldon S., CC Liu, Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly; FestivusWeb; OfficialKwanzaaWebsite

Post-apocalyptic holidays after "The Last Christmas Movie" (zombiehunters.org)

 

We'll stick with Kwanzaa, thanks (meetup).

"Happy Festivus" is the traditional greeting of Festivus, a holiday featured in "The Strike" episode of Seinfeld.

 

People have been inspired by this zany, offbeat Seinfeld holiday ever since and now celebrate Festivus like any other holiday. According to the Seinfeld model, Festivus is celebrated each year on December 23rd, but many celebrate it other times in December and throughout the year.

 

The Festivus slogan is "A Festivus for the rest of us!" The usual holiday tradition of a tree is manifested in an unadorned aluminum pole, which is in direct contrast to normal holiday materialism. Those attending Festivus may also participate in the "Airing of Grievances," which is an opportunity to tell others how they have disappointed you in the past year.

This is followed by a Festivus dinner and is completed by the "Feats of Strength," where the head of the household must be pinned down. All of these traditions are based upon the events in the Seinfeld episode.

Strangely enough, our Festivus traditions also have roots that pre-date Seinfeld, as it began in the household of Dan O'Keefe, a television writer who is credited for writing the episode. More

Kwanzaa

(Incredible Black, Part 1 of 2) Here's how to celebrate the new universal holiday Kwanzaa.

Looking for a new holiday tradition? The Seven Days of Kwanzaa run from Dec. 26th to Jan. 1st. It's open to all. How can we celebrate it? Let's do something that connects us back to Mother Africa and seven core cultural principles that were once commonly honored.

 

What does "Kwanzaa" mean?

OfficialKwanzaaWebsite.org

I love Ethiopia (and Egypt), Africa

Kwanzaa is an African-American and Pan-African holiday celebrated by millions throughout the world in African communities. 

Kwanzaa brings a cultural message that speaks to the best of what it means to be human and African in the fullest sense. 
 
Given the profound significance Kwanzaa has for African-Americans and, indeed, African communities throughout the world, we need a reliable source of information on it. 

This site is available to give an accurate and expansive account of Kwanzaa's origins, concepts, values, symbols, and practices. Moreover, given the continued rapid growth of Kwanzaa and the parallel expanded discussion of it and related issues... More

Is everyone just copying Europe?
Lana (Radio 3 Fourteen, Red Ice Radio)
WARNING: In her enthusiasm to celebrate European culture and Yule, Lana says some very offensive things that could make one wonder about her motives, implicit bias, white privilege.
 
Yule

"Stop stealing from my people" - Barbie

In the multicultural West we are told to say "Happy Kwanzaa," "Happy Hanukkah," ["Happy Festivus"], and "Merry Christmas" or these days just "Happy Holidays" so as to not offend others.

Lana talks about the true origins of newcomer holidays such as Afrocentric Kwanzaa and Jewish Hanukkah. Where did these holidays originate? Are they original or copycats? Why are they also in December, like Christmas?

Let's learn about the true origins of Christmas, which is entirely borrowed from Yule, the pre-Christian [pagan] European celebration of the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere.

We stole soul, jazz...but you stole Kwanzaa.

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa [and Festivus] are all impostors, culturally appropriating from the ancient European Winter Solstice celebration.

[But, Lana, was "Yule" a rip off of ancient Roman Saturnalia, which took most of what it celebrated from ancient Greece, which stole most of what made it famous from ancient India, which borrowed most of what made it great from the Indus Valley Civilization... No, probably not. It's easy to be Eurocentric. But the world is much bigger and much older than Europe. People all over the planet celebrate in winter, which is when we most need to cheer up, get along with one another, and survive the cold. So, please, Ixnay on the racismay, Eva].

Let's learn about the myth, symbolism, and tradition of Yule.

• redicecreations.com
• rediceradio.net

Buddhist Global Relief, L.A. (Bhikkhu Bodhi)

Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Bhikkhu Bodhi (BuddhistGlobalRelief.org)

Monastics in Theravada Burma tour by foot promoting generosity or dāna (mirror.co.uk)

  

Buddha in walking pose

Join Bhikkhu Bodhi, Wisdom Quarterly, Dharma Punx, Dharma Vijaya, Insight LA, and others for a day of compassionate action to promote food aid, sustainable farming, and education for girls and women in Asia, Africa, North America, and Haiti. Where? Santa Monica, California. When? Sunday, Nov. 17, 2013. How? Check in time begins at 8:30 am and continues until the walk starts at 9:30 am. We will begin and end at Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society (West), 1001a Colorado Blvd., Santa Monica 90401-2809. The distance we will cover is three miles looping through the beautiful beachside city and tourist mecca of Santa Monica (Los Angeles). Register online or donate. To give life a percentage of the proceeds will benefit the Westside Foodbank.

• Info: Tom Moritz (310) 963-0199 (tom.moritz@gmail.com)

(BGRelief) Ven. Bodhi presents the mission of Buddhist Global Relief

at Clodagh Design, New York City in November 2009.

Secret Tibetan Book of the Dead (video)

Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly; DP (video); BD (art)

Tibetan Book of the Dead Comic (Bardo Thodol/flickriver.com)

  

Tibetan lamas in elaborate ritual (sacbee.com)

What will we do at death? Unless we are guided during the dying process, many of us will react habitually in the liminal intermediate (bardo) world. That world of loud and scary spirits, shapeshifters and oddities (where the wild things are), is not likely to lead us to good choices. A confident guide in this world can lead one to more profitable options for rebirth.

(bardo thodol/flickriver.com)

Of course, this is dependent on cultural norms and assumptions. These instructions would not likely help Finnish Christians or African Buddhists (yes, there are African Buddhists) because they are not steeped in Tibetan lore. Other groups will have other lore that applies. Why? It is because so much of our experience is based on perception, assumptions, and a general paradigm religion introduces us to. We think science is our religion, with white clad priests, a secret language open to all but mastered by only a few in ultra exclusive journals, strict rituals (experimental design), and gatekeepers galore.
 
But even that belief system, far from being "objective" or able to find absolute truth, is full of lore and expectations about postmortem experience. Consciousness persists, form persists (in subtler states of matter), feeling, perception, formation all persist. Death is no obstacle to anything but memory and opportunity. Do what can be done now with a long future in mind. Enjoy what can be enjoyed here because soon it will be forgotten in detail yet traced in our karma. Actions lead to habits, which lead to the formation of our character. But what about doubters? We survive death; we pre-exist life?

Liberation through Hearing

Wisdom Quarterly Wikipedia edit

The Bardo Thodol, or Liberation Through Hearing in the Intermediate State, is often referred to in the West by the more casual title, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, a name which draws a parallel to another funerary text, The Egyptian Book of the Dead.

The Tibetan text describes experiences the individual consciousness has after death, during the interval in between death and the next rebirth. It is is intended to guide one through safely. The interval is known in Tibetan as the bardo. The text also includes chapters on the signs of death and rituals to undertake when death is closing in, or has taken place. It is internationally famous, the most widespread work of Tibetan Nyingma literature.

Tibetans bow at Chinese confiscated palace

According to Tibetan tradition, the book was composed in the eighth century by Padmasambhava, as written down by his primary student, Yeshe Tsogyal. It was buried in the Gampo hills in central Tibet and subsequently discovered by a Tibetan terton, Karma Lingpa, in the 14th century. There were variants of the book among different sects. 

It was first published in 1927 by Oxford University Press. Dr. Walter Y. Evans-Wentz chose this title because of the parallels he found with the Egyptian work. It is recited by Tibetan Buddhist lamas over a dying or recently deceased person, or sometimes over an effigy of the deceased.

• (Saba Jakeman) It doesn't matter where or when someone important is born. That's 99% of the problem right there. Ignorant sheep[ple] believe that it takes a special magical man to save us from ourselves. "Oh, but he was born here, belongs to us...and we're correct." What a bunch of rubbish. We're all equally accountable to one another. We're ALL as important as the Buddha or Jesus. It is WE who must change things. The time is always NOW. And the "savior" is always US.
  
  (Peter Hackman) I don't believe in mystical Sky People or magical Messiahs [like Wisdom Quarterly does]. I'm comfortable with the idea of a complete Void after I die. [Who wouldn't prefer that? Wouldn't it be nice if it all just ended and we could rest without consciousness or karmic consequences?] However, I'm also aware that our brains are alive seven minutes after we die and are completely cut off from external stimuli, which then frees processing speed that is otherwise bound to everyday functioning, rendering time irrelevant and allowing the mind to craft its own reality, yielding an eternity's worth of experience before we finally wink out... [In Buddhism this dangerous, albeit comforting, view is called Annihilationism, the idea that the person is utterly annihilated at death. It is the counterpart to another wrong view called Eternalism. It is a very weighty wrong view, particularly when accompanied by the view that karma has no efficacy after this life.]
  

Africa: Buddhist "Fire and Water" ritual (video)

AFP, March 5, 2012; Wisdom Quarterly

(LINK) African Buddhists come together in Kenya with female Japanese master Shinso Ito, head of the Shinnyo En Order

More than 300 religious and spiritual leaders from around the world, Kenyan musicians, dancers, and tribal elders gather for Africa's first Buddhist "Fire and Water" ritual to nurture spiritual awakening.

Venerable (Bhante) Buddharakkhita, Uganda Buddhist Centre,
 is planting Dharma seeds in Uganda, Africa

Kony, we are all Africans (video)

TheWorld.org (PRI); Mark Memmott (The Two Way, NPR.org); Wisdom Quarterly

KONY 2012 YouTube Campaign aims to stop infamous Uganda militia leader. If only the world could stop our own American warlord, B.S. Obama, and the racist Republican cronies who want to replace him with a lot more of the same.

More than [39] million people have watched the video “Kony 2012″ on YouTube this week. The video is about Joseph Kony, infamous leader of the Ugandan guerrilla group, the Lord’s Resistance Army. The new video is introducing Joseph Kony to a lot of people, but it’s also generating a lot of criticism. More

• The Dharma in Africa is gaining ground
  

(NPR) The hashtag term #stopkony has been trending on Twitter all day, Reddit.com has been deluged with posts about Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, and he's suddenly the subject of a quickly growing number of blog posts and news stories.

All, apparently, because of an activist group's quite successful effort to have its latest video about atrocities done by Kony's Lord's Resistance Army go viral.

The organization is Invisible Children, and the 30-minute video is indeed a powerful piece of work. It skillfully tells the tale of Kony's army, which as NPR's Michele Kelemen has previously reported, "has been terrorizing Uganda and surrounding nations for decades ... [and] has specialized in kidnapping children and forcing them to fight."

Last October, President Obama announced he was sending 100 U.S. troops to central Africa to train and advise militaries that are trying to track down Kony and his fighters.

According to The Daily Dot, on Tuesday night Invisible Children's video "exploded across multiple Web communities," More

• Proud Black Buddhist.org: Introduction to Buddhism
  

Happy Kwanzaa (African Buddhists)

Annual Kwanzaa Founder's Message: As an African American and Pan-African holiday celebrated by millions throughout the world African community, Kwanzaa brings a cultural message which speaks to the best of what it means to be African and human in the fullest sense. Given the profound significance Kwanzaa has for African Americans and, indeed, the world African community, it is imperative that an authoritative source and site be made available to give an accurate and expansive account of its origins, concepts, values, symbols, and practice. More>>

• OfficialKwanzaaWebsite.org
• ProudBlackBuddhist.org (Introduction)
• Buddha the African (zenbuddhism.tribe.net)
• D.T. Suzuki: from an Introduction to Zen
• Africa: Buddhism Gaining Ground (WQ)

Black Buddhists?

Wisdom Quarterly
Are there really Black Buddhists? Of course! In fact, the Buddha's chief male disciple (who was foremost in spiritual mastery) was black. He was noted for being extremely dark-skinned, not African but a brahmin named Maha Moggallana. He was a beloved and enlightened monk who help establish the Dharma in India. Then as now Buddhism is open to everyone regardless of race or ethnicity or "caste" (socioeconomic status). Today, Bhante Buddharakkhita (pictured) is an excellent example of a Buddhist monk spreading the Dharma in Africa.

The Uganda Buddhist Centre in Kampala is a major initiative to secure a firm and lasting spiritual home for original Buddhist teachings and practice on African soil.

Ven. Buddharakkhita first encountered Buddhism in 1990, when he met Thai monks in India. He began practicing meditation in 1993. After living in Asia for seven years, he decided to continue his Dharma practice in the U.S.A., first in San Jose, California in the Burmese tradition then in West Virginia (Bhavana Society). He is the author of Planting Dhamma Seeds: The Emergence of Buddhism on African Soil and is founder of the Uganda Buddhist Centre.

(Go278) Ven. Buddharakkhita, who was born in Uganda, East Africa, learned from various masters in India, Burma, and the US and was ordained by the late Burmese monk Sayadaw U Silananda in 2002. In 2005, he founded the Uganda Buddhist Center, the first Buddhist Center in Uganda.

Buddhism in Africa has grown in major African cities since the 1970s. There has been a proliferation of distinct traditions: Theravada, Mahayana, Zen, Nichiren, and Tibetan. The Fo Guang Shan Buddhist order has erected Nan Hua Temple, the largest Buddhist temple and monastery in Africa, in the town of Bronkhorstspruit near Pretoria.

Another notable Buddhist center in the country is the Buddhist Retreat Centre in Ixopo, KwaZulu-Natal. The Nichiren Buddhist lay group Soka Gakkai International also has a community center in Parkwood, Johannesburg. A community of lay and ordained Buddhist practitioners live in the beautiful suburb of Blairgowrie/Rand-burg/Johannesburg at the Vajrapani Buddhist Centre and various other venues in Gauteng.

African Buddhist Map

Religiously Remapped

Mapping Religious Trends In Africa

Map 13: Presence of Buddhism

The proportion of the population of each African country that adheres to Buddhism. This is in reality a map of countries with a "sizable" Buddhist community (where sizable means there are enough Buddhists to constitute a recognized community OR the community is vocal enough to be recognized). No African country boasts a Buddhist population proportion in excess of Libya and Mauritius's 0.3%.

• Source: http://www.religiouslyremapped.info