Buddhism in Vietnam (Vietnamese Đạo Phật, 道佛 or Phật Giáo, 佛教), as practiced by the Vietnamese people, is a form of East Asian Mahayana Buddhism, according to 2019 figures [1].
Buddhism is the second religion in Vietnam (though arguably the first since the U.S. Department of State's 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom cites Vietnam's "White Book" that the Buddhist population increased from nearly 10 million in 2008 to approximately 14 million in 2021, which accounts for 13.3% of the overall population of Vietnam).
Korean Beauty Expo influences the Vietnamese
According to the Vietnamese government's 2019 National Population and Housing Census, approximately 4.6 million individuals officially identified as Buddhists, representing 4.8% of the total population at that time.
Roman Catholics represented 6.1% of the total population in the same 2019 census.
The vast majority (83.6%) in this officially atheistic communist country stated that they have no [organized] religion or practice [the traditional] folk religion. More
Hilton portrays Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, gently guided from a Buddhist lamasery, enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountain [1].
In the novel, the people who live in Shangri-La are almost immortal, living hundreds of years beyond the normal lifespan and only very slowly ageing in appearance [possibly in our Hollow Earth, called Agartha, or on another dimension within this world].
Shangri-La has become synonymous with any earthly paradise, particularly a mythical Himalayan Buddhist utopia -- an enduringly happy land, isolated from the world.
Ancient Tibetan Buddhist scriptures mention Nghe-Beyul Khembalung [2], one of seven utopian beyuls which Tibetan Buddhists believe were established in the 9th century AD by Padmasambhava as hidden, sacred places of refuge for Buddhists during times of strife [3]. More
Fundiscovery, 3 years later: He returns to find the Tibetan shepherdess who now owns a hotel she founded; CC Liu, Dhr. Seven, Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
(Luke Korns) July 28, 2024: What's up? My name is Luke Korns. I trekked to Everest Base Camp with a retired Nepalese Sherpa guide from the Himalayas. His name is Phanden. To contact him, email sherpa.phanden@gmail.com.
Follow me on Twitter (lukekorns ) or Instagram (LukeKorns).
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Once upon a time in Nepal...
Just give me a few years of silence.
Once upon a time in Nepal a boy sought enlightenment. He sat under a tree in the woods. But soon he attracted all the wrong kind of attention. It wasn't just the tree spirits and unseen beings who haunt the forest. It was devoted looky-loos and devoted observers. He got up and went somewhere else, acting like a modern-day Siddhartha.
[But Prince Sid Gautama was actually in Gandhara, what the ancient Greeks called Scythia, in the territory or mahajanapada of the Sakas (Indo-Scythians) called Kapilavastu. But never mind about that detail; historians have relocated him to tiny Nepal on the border of India where it's easier to safeguard his story and monuments, leaving the massive ones in and around his hometown in Afghanistan to languish for centuries with no one paying much attention until recently: Mes Aynak, Bamiyan, Ajina Tepe...]
I'm a do-it-yourselfer, a self-awakened buddha.
The boy's name was Ram Bahadur Bomjon (nicknamed "Buddha Boy" for some similarities to the story of Siddhartha), who eventually became an esoteric Vajrayana lama and spiraled into disrepute. Too much fame too soon does that to a meditator.
What would it have taken to ascend the mountain of wisdom and reach the pinnacle of knowing-and-seeing? Restraints on practice, boundaries, a solid disciplinary code (vinaya). "All we ever wanted was everything. All we ever got was cold," sings Bauhaus. Now could an American reach the Holy Land and get to the base of what is reputedly the tallest mountain in the world?
But, Son, what about avalanches? - Oh, Mom!
Thanks to CleanMyMac X for sponsoring the trip. Get Your Mac vacation-ready with a 7-day free trial of CleanMyMac X https://bit.ly/LukeKorns. Use my promo code LUKEK for 20% off. :D
Luke Korns, wandering in Nepal, 2024; Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
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