Friday, May 14, 2021

Viking religion, Buddhism in Sweden (video)

Prof. Neil Price (Grimfrost, 12/21/20); Amber Larson, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

(Grimfrost) Grimfrost Academy is a documentary series with the purpose of educating and maintaining a historical record of the Viking Age and Norse mythology.

Heathen? PaganAsatru?
Episodes feature leading Viking experts sharing knowledge otherwise difficult or impossible to come by.

The second episode features Professor Neil Price of Sweden's Uppsala University who explains the Scandinavian religion, worldview, and magic of the Viking Age.

Prof. Price goes through the importance of the "ancestors" and unseen beings, the invisible population surrounding the people.

I went to Thailand to meditate (Dreamstime).
Funding and producing the series is a way for Grimfrost.com to pay respects to those who came before, to counter misconceptions regarding the time period, and to thank supporters interested in the Viking Age.
Swedish Buddhism in Sweden
Wikipedia entry edited by Wisdom Quarterly
Viking era bronze Buddha found at Helgo, Sweden
Buddhism is a small religion in Sweden, relatively speaking. Most practicing Buddhists are of Asian heritage (Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese).

But Buddhism may have arrived many centuries before: A 500 AD Kashmir bronze Buddha statue dating from the Viking era was found at Helgö in Sweden.
  • Helgö is derived from Proto-Norse Hailaga, which originally meant "dedicated to the gods."
The Swedish Buddhist Cooperation Council (Sveriges Buddhistiska samarbetsråd or SBS) had 7,901 members based on old 2015 statistics ("Statistik 2015: Myndigheten för stöd till trossamfund,sst.a.se).

Northern Light Vipassana Meditation, Sweden
Buddharam has five Thai Theravada Buddhist temples (viharas) in Sweden -- in Värmdö, Karlstad, Boden (with Northern Light vipassana meditation), and Ragunda. The other is in Fredrika (the Buddharam Temple or Wat Buddharama) that when finished will be the largest Buddhist temple in EuropeMore

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