Buddhism is very popular these days. It is said it is currently the third largest religion or ‘life style’ in the Netherlands. Courses in mindfulness are taught across the country and every event where the Dalai Lama shows up is jam-packed. Statues of Buddha are sold in every garden centre. All around the Netherlands people practice Zen or meditate in other ways.
In Asia, things are different. Even among the monks there is only a small minority that meditate. On top of that Buddhism in Asia is not a unity at all; there are many separate schools and movements within the religion.
Prof. dr. Paul van der Velde poses the question as to what conclusion we would arrive at when we compare the Buddhism of Asia and that of the Western world. Is Buddhism as it is practiced in the West actually Asian, or are there other factors influencing its development?
Thursday, 28 January, 8 pm | Auditorium, Minderbroedersberg 4-6 | Speaker: prof. dr. Paul van der Velde, Professor of Asian religions, RU Nijmegen | Entrance: Free | Dutch Spoken
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