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The only Buddhist region in Europe

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Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#111

Post by Mediterraneo10 »

Archelaos wrote: post #4

I always find it quite embarrassing when right-wing politicians here in Germany come up with this or that does not belong to Europe. In all cases this only shows their geographical and historical ignorance. Kalmykia is a good example. Most of these politicians have never understood that Buddism has been part of Europe for centuries. My favorite example, however, is that they mostly do not know that we have had a perm…

While Kalmyk Buddhism is geographically in Europe, it is in a very peripheral part of the continent with virtually no impact on European culture in general. So, it is still reasonable to claim that Buddhism is something foreign to Europe. After all, Buddhism only began to have a real impact culturally in the 19th century with translated literature coming from India and East Asia, not Kalmykia.

With regard to Islam in geographical Europe, yes there is Tatarstan (and bits of adjacent regions), but Muscovy conquered that Muslim power in the mid 16th century and subsequently made it very clear that while Islam exists there, it is only at the mercy of Christian rulers. Historically, during the tsarist era Muslims were forbidden from trying to convert the Christian population.

Perhaps a better example of "Muslims have been in Europe for a long time" (excepting Ottoman converts, as they are seen as forced conversions/uninvited guests/traitors by nationalist demagogues) would be those Tatars (same name as the Kazan Tatars but not closely related) who settled in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, but again their impact on the surrounding culture was minuscule, and ultimately they assimilated into the Slavic-speaking Christian population.

Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#112

Post by skywal_l »

tengbretson wrote: post #108
boxed wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't need to know much about it. Christians believe in a god. That's open and shut right there.

I don't think the belief in creation by God requires any more leaps of faith than a belief in other cosmologies, such as the big bang, etc.

The big bang is a scientific hypothesis. You don't have to believe in it. You can accept it because it was proven, reject because it was disproven or suspend your judgement in between.

Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#113

Post by slakrems »

string wrote: post #10
elros wrote: post #2

Bald has been there couple of years ago, that's when I first heard about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR_eA_c_Yts

Just a friendly heads up: I used to be a huge fan of this YT channel until I saw some pretty damning evidence that the guy is a predatory sex tourist/pick up artist. I really enjoyed the content (the editing is a breath of fresh air on YT), but ultimately unsubbed and stopped watching. I'd encourage others to look into it and make your own judgement, of course.

He travels around the world to sleep with women. What exactly is wrong with that?

Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#114

Post by DataGata »

tengbretson wrote: post #108
boxed wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't need to know much about it. Christians believe in a god. That's open and shut right there.

I don't think the belief in creation by God requires any more leaps of faith than a belief in other cosmologies, such as the big bang, etc.

The Big Bang has physical evidence for its existence that you can personally verify.

Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#115

Post by dragonwriter »

trainsplanes wrote: post #56
cmrdporcupine wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gross, man -- he actually brags about raping/coercing girls. "Oh, you'd like a taster? Well how about the time when Vorkuta boasts of forcing a young hitchhiker to give him a blowjob in exchange for $6. On the threat that if she did not comply he might leave her in the middle of nowhere as they were travelling alone in a car on some deserted highway somewhere in the FSU. You can only imagine how scared she must have…

People post a lot of wild stories on forums and places like reddit. Oftentimes they exaggerate or make up crazy events. It's not enough to push me to go after them.

There’s two possibilities:

(1) He’s a proud rapist who is actively legitimizing and normalizing rape.

(2) He thinks its cool to pretend to be a rapist and normalize rape, even though he isn’t himself a rapist.

While there’s a big difference if you are, say, prosecuting rape, both are reasonable grounds on which someone might decide not to support a creator’s output.

Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#116

Post by throwaway894345 »

yowlingcat wrote: post #107
throwaway894345 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is Hinduism indigenous? Wasn’t that a product of Aryan migrations from the north? (genuine question: what constitutes “indigenous”? if one native american tribe drives out another in a particular region, is the conquering tribe still indigenous? What about cases where people mix to become a new people? Is it correct to say that the Irish, British, Germans, Italians, etc are indigenous Europeans?)

> Wasn’t that a product of Aryan migrations from the north? I know this isn't a great answer, but "yes and no" -- it is certainly true that the Proto-Indo-Europeans brought with them Rigvedic religion. But that religion itself was syncretized with other beliefs across Central Asia and South Asia over quite a long period of time. While it is often dramatized as a "violent" invasion (no doubt reminiscent of later "viol…

Yeah, which I guess beckons my other question: what makes something indigenous considering how frequently changes are produced gradually by cultural exchange, gradual migrations, etc?

Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#117

Post by dkarl »

KingMob wrote: post #72
u9rptDjqLl0Pdcz wrote: post #65

Also of interest is the Mari Native Religion which is practiced in the Mari El Republic of Russia[0]. I believe this is the only example of an indigenous religion surviving with continued practice into the modern day. RT made a documentary about it[1]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mari_Native_Religion [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ_2kpTJvj0

Perhaps in Europe, but globally, I can think of plenty of others off the top of my head: the various religions of Native Americans/First Nations peoples, the beliefs of Aboriginal people in Australia, even Japanese Shinto probably qualifies.

Maybe shamanism in Korea and Siberia as well.

Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#118

Post by hangonhn »

Tangentially related, there is a Greek influence on Buddhism in East Asia because Buddhism arrived in China via the Greek Bactrian kingdom. The Buddha as depicted in East Asia is wearing Greek robes and there are elements of Greek philosophy in Buddhism as practiced in East Asia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greco-Buddhism

Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#119

Post by anoncake »

rat87 wrote: post #105
anoncake wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Muslim headscarves are banned because we're a secular state and the state has to be neutral in religious matters. The Christian Democratic Union would never discriminate on the basis of religion. There is a cross in every classroom because the previous sentence was an obvious lie.

That's the opposite of neutrality True neutrality/freedom of religion would let people make personal choices about religous clothing. I'm not surprised that France has something so ridiculous but I'm somewhat disappointed that Germany would also fail to understand this

I think you misunderstood me. Of course it's the opposite of neutrality -- that's merely a fig leaf because Christianity isn't officially the state religion so conservative politicians cannot directly ban headscarves for being unchristian.
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