(Justin & Alina) The Trans-Siberian Railroad to the Asian part of Russia we are rarely shown: Buddhist Buryatia, Russia
- Buddhism in Buryatia
- Buddhism in Russia
- Religion in Russia
- Justin & Alina, YouTube; Amber Larson, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Showing posts with label Buryatia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Buryatia. Show all posts
Friday, January 16, 2026
Train across Siberia to Buddhist Russia
Saturday, December 27, 2025
Eli from Russia: 70 parts of Soviet Union
(Eli from Russia) One redhead, an adventure traveler, sees the former USSR through 70 regions
Saturday, December 13, 2025
Russia is BIG and full of native Asians
There are Asian Russians, Russian Asians?
What it's like being Asian Russian in 2025 and why you've never heard about us ๐คจ
- Who Asian Russians actually are ๐
- Why you’ve never seen us in Western (or Russian) media ๐
- Where we live inside Russia ๐ฌ
- Why English language creates confusion (“Russian,” one word = two meanings) ๐️
- The Indigenous peoples of Siberia and the Far East ๐ฒ๐ณ
- My Buryat-Mongol identity
- And comments like, “We got Chinese Russians before GTA6.”
- 00:00 Introduction
- 01:37 Who are Asian Russians?
- 02:34 Russian federal subjects
- 03:23 Identity: Russian or Buryat?
- 03:45 Why people get confused
- 04:18 Why they’ve never heard of Asian Russians
- 04:37 Buryat-Mongolian or Buryat?
- 05:36 Erasure of the “-Mongolian” part during USSR phase
- 06:29 Why I don’t look Russian
- 06:50 Why I started talking about this
- 07:18 Taiwan’s “Russian Girl” stereotype — storytime
- 08:56 Future content and upcoming Mongolia vlogs
- 09:25 Ending and goodbye
Why is Russia so darn BIG?
(Johnny Harris) March 24, 2021: The story of moving east and just...not stopping.
(Johnny Harris) March 24, 2021: The story of moving east and just...not stopping.
- (Eli from Russia) Former USSR (Soviet Union) Russia's hidden gem in Far East: the Kuril Islands
Ways to support: Patreon (johnnyharris). Custom presets and LUTs: https://store.dftba.com/products/john... Where to find JH: Instagram (johnny.harris), Tiktok (johnny.harris), Facebook (johnnyharrisvox). Iz's (Johnny’s wife’s) channel (iz-harris). How Johnny makes videos: Tom Fox makes his music. Work with him here: https://tfbeats.com/. He makes maps using this AE Plugin: aescripts.com/geolayers/?aff=77. All the gear he uses: izharris.com/gear-guide. His courses: Learn a language (brighttrip.com/course/language). Visual storytelling: https://www.brighttrip.com/courses/vi...
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ABOUT: Johnny Harris is a filmmaker and journalist. He is currently based in Washington, DC, reporting on interesting trends and stories domestically and around the world. His visual style blends motion graphics with cinematic videography to create content that explains complex issues in relatable ways. He holds a B.A. in international relations from Brigham Young University and an M.A. in international peace and conflict resolution from American University. Press: NYTimes: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/09/op... NYTimes: https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion... Vox Borders: • Inside Hong Kong’s cage homes Finding Founders: https://findingfounders.co/episodes/j... NPR Planet Money: https://www.npr.org/transcripts/10721...
Soviet Union, empire, Russia, Central Asia, Far East, Vlad Putin, Czar, communist regime, capitalism, European, country, size, largest, Alaska, Canada, Arctic Circle, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Ukraine, Mongolia, Turkey, Korea, China
- Eli from Russia, Dec. 13, 2025; Johnny Harris, March 24, 2021; Guzel; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Tuesday, January 28, 2025
Friday, December 6, 2024
Eli in Buddhist Russia: Kalmykia (video)
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| The lotus blooms in the East? Eastern Europe |
Buddhist Europe? New Years in Kalmykia
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TIMECODES
- 00:00 I'm going to celebrate the New Year with Kalmyks!
- 01:17 Welcome to the capital: Elista City
- 02:46 What did I find on the Lenin Square?
- 04:26 My chance to make a wish under the Golden Gate
- 05:47 Here is a Kalmyk lunch!
- 09:30 Is this really Europe?!
- 11:25 Locals came to get blessings from Buddhist lamas
- 12:31 It's New Year's Day in Kalmykia
- 16:47 A ritual to prolong life
- Buddhist Modernities: Re-inventing Tradition in the Globalizing Modern World
- Republic of Kalmykia » New Year Zul
- ๐ elinabakunova.com/russianclub: Russian Speaking Club to practice at any level
*Buddhism in Russia
In 2012, Russian Vajrayana Buddhism was the religion of:
- 62% of the total population of Tuva,
- 48% of Kalmykia (the only indigenously Buddhist part of Europe), and
- 20% of Buryatia [24].
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| Buddhists, Shamans, and Soviets: Rituals...Buryatia |
Buddhism also has adherents amounting to 6% in Zabaykalsky Krai, primarily ethnic Buryats, and 0.5% to 0.9% in Tomsk Oblast and Yakutia.
Buddhist communities are found in other federal subjects of Russia, between 0.1% and 0.5% in Sakhalin Oblast, Khabarovsk Krai, Amur Oblast, Irkutsk Oblast, Altay, Khakassia, Novosibirsk Oblast, Tomsk Oblast, Tyumen Oblast, Orenburg Oblast, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Murmansk Oblast, Moscow and Moscow Oblast, Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast, and in Kaliningrad Oblast [24].
In large cities like Moscow, Saint Petersburg (formerly Leningrad, capital of the Czar's Empire which became the Soviet Union), and Samara, where up to 1% of the population identify as Buddhists [26].
- Buddhism in Tuva
- Buddhism in Kalmykia
- Buddhism in Buryatia
- Datsan and Khurul - Buddhist temples in Russia
- Khambo Lama
- Datsan Gunzechoinei
- Tubden Shedubling - Buddhist temple complex in Moscow
- More: Buddhism in Russia
- Eli from Russia, YouTube; Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Sunday, December 1, 2024
Buddhist shamans of Siberia: Soyots
One of the most ancient peoples of Siberia, who are these Buddhists?
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| Indian by his teepee? No, Indigenous Swedish (Lapland) white Sรกmi peoples |
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| ะะฐะปััะธะบ ะฝะฐ ัะฐะผะฐะฝัะบะพะผ ะพะฑััะดะต: Boy shaman |
Due to intermarriage between Soyots and Buryats, the Soyot population is heavily mixed with the Buryat. In 2000, they were reinstated as a distinct ethnic group.
#soyots #indigenous #nomads #siberia #reindeer #yaks
- ►More episodes: Indigenous people
- ►All documentaries: All Videos
- ►Subscribe: @science-channel
Indigenous Buddhism in Siberia?
Inside a Russia we NEVER knew existed! (Buddhist Buryatia, Siberia)
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| Cham mystery dance (wiki) |
Check out our Siberian Travel Guide: mattandjulia.co.uk ๐
- Science, Aug. 28, 2024; Matt and Julia, Feb. 13, 2021; Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Revival of Buddhism in EU and Siberia
There's a piece of Asia in Europe, with indigenously Buddhist people?
Kalmykia: Europe's only Buddhist region | Europe To The Maxx
For the series "Europe to The Maxx," Euromaxx reporter Hendrik Welling has made his way to the southeasternmost part of Europe. Join him on his tour to see the highest statue of Buddha in Europe, to hear the sound of overtone singing, sleep in yurts, and to learn more about the rich culture of this special place in Europe. #EuropeToTheMaxx.
The Revival of the Buddhist Faith in Siberia
Once more the Buryat people wake to the sound of Buddhist conch shells and ritual chanting by lamas. The colored robes of Tibetan monks and gold topped temples are a common sight in this isolated land that has been Russia's cultural center of Buddhism for 300 years.
The Buddhist monastery's head lama is a pillar of the community, and locals seek his advice on just about everything from marriage to medical problems.
On a typical morning his office is full of peasants awaiting his wise words. At the turn of the century this part of Siberia boasted 46 Buddhist temples. Most were destroyed under communism, when it was decided religious faith was not necessary to a good life [for the state].
Now the ordinary people are rebuilding that spiritual practice all over the former Soviet Republic [or USSR, even recognizing that Russian Dictator Vladimir Lenin's grandparents (Lenins/Ulyanov were Mongolian from Buddhist Kalmykia, and his mother was half Jewish)].
Find out more at:
journeyman.tv/film/164. Like on Facebook: journeymanpictures. Follow on Twitter: journeymannews/journeymanvod and Instagram: journeymanpictures. Produced by ABC Australia: Ref. 164. Distributed by Journeyman Pictures. Subscribe.
- Journeyman, March 20, 2008; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Monday, November 4, 2024
Cure for autism: Buddhist๐shamanism
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| Oh, Bojack Horseman, you're not for kids. Real living horses can heal children. |
Words of Wisdom: Rupert Isaacson on how horses bring us happiness
Healing autistic children with Shamanic Healer Dawn Paul
THE HORSE BOY (official US trailer)
(ZeitgeistFilms) Now on DVD from Zeitgeist Video. How far would you travel to heal someone you love?
An intensely personal yet epic spiritual journey, The Horse Boy follows one Texas couple and their autistic son as they trek on horseback through Buddhist Outer Mongolia in a desperate attempt to treat his condition with shamanic healing.
When 2-year-old Rowan was diagnosed with autism, Rupert Isaacson, a writer and former horse trainer, and his wife, Psychology Professor Kristin Neff, sought the best possible medical care for their son — but traditional therapies had little effect.
Then they discovered that Rowan has a profound affinity for animals — particularly horses — and the family set off on a quest for a possible cure.
The Horse Boy is part travel adventure, part insight into shamanic tradition and part intimate look at the autistic mind.
In telling one family's extraordinary story, the film gives voice to the thousands who display amazing courage and creativity every day in the battle against this mysterious and heartbreaking epidemic.
The filmic companion to Isaacson's best-selling book of the same name and a festival favorite, this ravishing documentary odyssey gives insight into how, in life's darkest moments, one can find the gateway to joy and wonder. More: zeitgeistfilms.com/horseboy
- Zeitgeist Films, July 17, 2009; Dawn Paul, Sept. 6, 2019; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Friday, May 26, 2023
Buddhism in Russia (PHOTOS)
John Snelling (amazon.com); Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
There is Buddhism in Russia, Ukraine, Siberia, Kalmykia (Europe), Buryatia, Afghanistan and the other formerly-Buddhist stans of Central Asia below Ukraine (formerly in the USSR/the Tsar's Empire) -- and there has been for a long time. Lenin's mother was from Kalmykia, the only indigenously Buddhist part of Europe.
This paperback from January 1993
by author John Snelling (now with a foreword by Stephen Batchelor) has earned 4.8 out of 5 stars (with 4 ratings). It is available in various formats and editions.
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. More
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| Close up of the largest depiction of the Buddha in Russia: Buryatia (buddhistdoor.net) |
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| It's hard to imagine how big it is on the mountainside among the Russian pines. |
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| Moscow's "Red Square" is like a fairytale Nutcracker church-and-castle of a capital. |
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| The Buddhistic Temple in beautiful St. Petersburg, a Russian Vajrayana Buddhist datsan |
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| Small Buddhist pavilions around the Elista Buddhist Temple in Kalmykia |
Buddhism in Russia: The Story of Agvan Dorzhiev: Lhasa's Emissary to the Tsar
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| Buddhism in Russia: Lhasa's Emissary to Tsar |
It is mostly of the Mongolian Vajrayana or Tibetan/Himalayan tradition, as also found in Nepal and Bhutan.
There are datsans (Buddhist university-monasteries like Rinchin Datsan from the Tibetan Gelukpa school) all over the hinterlands of North Asia.
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| Russian Buddhism and anti-Putin FEMEN |
It is a fascinating story of political and religious intrigue. Buddhism in Russia tells the story of Agvan Dorziev, a Mongolian Buddhist lama.
He was instrumental in the founding of Buddhism in Russia. It includes an update of the status of Buddhism in Russia since glasnost with photos.
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| Russians are stunning beauties (like Maria Sharapova) on par with Scandinavian neighbors |
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| Russian Buddhism is very old, like the datsan or Buddhist university of Ivolga Monastery |
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| Russian Buddhism in the great Elista Temple of Kalmykia, now part of Europe. |
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| There are European Buddhists? Yes. Young Buddhists Convention, Berlin (Hannah Prinzler) |
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Didn't Communist Dictator Stalin destroy Russian Buddhism?
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| I hate those FEMEN troublemakers. |
When 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.
Unveiling massive Russian Buddha
Wednesday, March 1, 2023
Best classical: Prince Igor: Polovtsian Dances
Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; Dianne Nicolini (kusc.org, 3/1/23)
Listening to classical DJ Dianne Nicolini on USC's radio station (KUSC 90.7 FM) afternoons is a treat, leading to many wonderful surprises. One such is Alexander Borodin's symphonic poem In the Steppes of Central Asia and the opera "Prince Igor: Polovtsian Dances" performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus led by Sir Georg Solti (Decca, Catalog #460977) at 1:39 pm. The crescendos shoot in out of the sky, like snow all over the nearby hills above Los Angeles. Students chase paper all over campus, working ChatGPT to the breaking point to get their work in on time, and the faculty and researchers ease into the world of knowledge listening to masterpieces. And that's just a piece of jumbled life in Lost Angeles.
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| Prince Igor 1909. (The Scythians/Shakyians/Sakas of Central Asia were the Buddha's family) |
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| Alexander Borodin, 1865 |
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Shamanism and Buddhism in Buryatia (video)
Dhr. Seven and Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly; RT (InstitutulHermetic.ro/Scoalamisterelor)
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| Russian, like European "shamans" (Pagans, Wiccans, followers of the Earth-based "Old Religion") as was the case around the world with amazing uniformity, were most often women (not Medicine "Men") and autistic-like introverts, psychics, and poets, who serve the people by interfacing with the unseen spirit world. Early Buddhists were shramans (WQ). |
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Shamanism/Buddhism in Russia, Part II
(RT) Faces of Russia: Russian Far East above Central Asia, home of the Buddha and his relatives' "Shakya Land" (ancient Scythia/Bactria), near Mongolia, still thrives in Kalmykia and Buryatia.
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| Russian Buddhism: Vajrayana Buddhist temple in Buryatia, Russia (VOA.com/J. Weeks) |
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| Far East Russia: rural Buryatia |
In 1722 the border was delineated between Mongolia and Russia. Buryat tribes living nomadically in the northern part of Mongolia then became part of Russia. The Russian government closed off the border, induced the Buryat nomads to take on a relatively settled lifestyle, and made itself the authority on the region's religious matters.
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| Buddhism in Russia (Snelling) |
In 1741 Empress Elizabeth (Yelizaveta Petrovna) adopted a decree recognizing the existence of a "lamaist faith": She legally recognized the existence of eleven datsans, and with them 150 lamas. Buddhism was formally accepted as an official religion in the Russian Empire.
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| Kalmykia, indigenous-Buddhism in Europe |
- Buddhist Revival in Buriatia: Recent Perspectives (Anna Bernstein, Mongolian Studies, Vol. 25, 2002, pp. 1-11, Mongolia Society)
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