Buddhism in Latin America (extract)

In the first part the article offers a preliminary synoptic approach to Buddhism in South America in general. The latter part is based on a combination of different kinds of references, including academic sources, official statistics of religion launched by governmental and research agencies Buddhist directories, estimations of the statistical relevance of Buddhism by continent, by country or in a city, and homepages run by Buddhists institutions active in South America. Since research on Buddhism in Brazil is well advanced, the reader can expect more details in the second part of this essay dedicated to a description and interpretation of the situation in the only Portuguese speaking country in South America.

MODERNITY OF RELIGIOSITIES AND BELIEFS, 2021

The chapter problematizes manifestations of Buddhism in Latin American countries, especially in Brazil, that can be understood as the outcome of a process of “commodification” of Buddhist elements into “goods” and “services” that can be acquired independent of an explicit commitment to a Buddhist institution

This article offers an overview of the Buddhist groups created in Argentina in recent decades as a contribution to the study of pluralization within the national religious scene and as a way of comprehending the spread of Buddhism in the West. The first part of the paper examines the early textual appropriation of Buddhism by certain Orientalist literati and intellectuals. The second part describes the history and main features of the Buddhist groups linked to Asian immigration from China, Korea, Japan and Laos. The third part focuses on exploring the history and main sociocultural features of groups whose membership is mostly composed of Argentine converts who have no Oriental ancestors. The crossing of paths and the encounters between Argentine Buddhist groups are then described along with the appropriation of their ideas and practices by different alternative institutions having no links with official Buddhism, and the broader impact of this religion on national society. Finally, the conclusions reflect on the global decentralization process Buddhism is undergoing and the challenges this religious minority must face locally.

Buddhistdoor Global & Buddhistdoor Españoll, 2023

The knowledge about the practitioners and followers that make up the Buddhist social world in Spanish-speaking countries is still reduced despite its relevant history and roots 1. Most of the information about the Buddhist population comes from global data and surveys, such as the World Values Survey, with high representation from the Asian world (where most Buddhists live 2). Data on Buddhism in the West and Spanish-speaking countries are scarce and do not provide a comprehensive vision of what the Buddhist population outside Asia is like and its relationship with Buddhism, its values, and its individual and social practices. And hence our goal is to get a little closer to the characteristics of people who follow or are close to Buddhism and to their path of practice towards enlightenment. With this we also hope to better understand the processes of introduction and adaptation of Buddhism to the West and specifically to the Spanish-speaking world, characterized by being mostly Catholic.

The aim of this work is to account for the presence and diversity of Argentinean Buddhism by examining its history and the main social-cultural features of this religion’s associated centers.

Buddhistdoor Global, 2024

Our knowledge about the practitioners and followers that make up the Buddhist social world in Spanish-speaking countries is still minimal despite its relevant history and roots. Most of the information about the Buddhist population comes from global data and surveys, such as the World Values Survey, with high representation from the Asian world, where most Buddhists live. Data on Buddhism in the West and Spanish-speaking countries are scarce and do not provide a comprehensive vision of what the Buddhist population outside Asia is like and its relationship with Buddhism, its values, and its individual and social practices. And hence our goal is to get a little closer to the characteristics of people who follow or are close to Buddhism and to their path of practice towards enlightenment. To get a close look at the world of Buddhist practitioners, in July 2022 we launched the first international survey, in Spanish-speaking countries, centering our attention on their characteristics, values and practices (“Following the Buddhist path: Our values, religiosity, spirituality”). The responses obtained offer a first, but already rich, image of many dimensions of the life of Buddhism in Spanish-speaking countries.

Entry in the Encyclopedia of Latin American religions

The Journal of the Department of Buddhist Studies. University of Delhi, 1988

"The academic study of Buddhism in Argentina began with Vicente Fatone, a well- known argentinian philosopher who belonged to the 1925 generation. This generation endeavored to increase the interest for theoretical questions to gain a more direct access to the original sources of thought and to introduce in Argentina the most important European philosophical trends –the phenomenology and the existentialism– and also, in the case of Fatone, the philosophies and religions of oriental cultures, specially of India. For the present article I shall indicate only what Fatone did in the specific area of Buddhism."

International journal of Latin American religions, 2018

This article summarizes 130 years of Brazilian history since 1888, when slavery was abolished, to set the socioeconomic and cultural grounds which made possible the arrival of the first immigrants, particularly the Japanese, in 1908, who brought Buddhism as their religion. After the war, the Japanese colony in Brazil split up with violence and that opened up the door for the arrival of the first Buddhist missions. In 1952, the Shinshu Otani-ha Order, founded in 1321 in Japan, begins to build up its 64-year history in Brazil, with the construction of the first temples, up to the foundation of the Institute of Missionary Studies, which now makes public translations of sacred texts and other literature in Portuguese.

Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions, 2019