Globalised Buddhism

The Dalai Lama arrived in France yesterday for a twelve-day visit. Raphaël Liogier, director of the research institute Observatoire du Religieux, analyses in this context the Western enthusiasm for Buddhism: "The traditional Buddhism of Southeast Asia came to France with successive waves of migrants but is not being practised by the younger generation. Thanks to the global influence of the Dalai Lama [however], Western Buddhism, which emerged from Tibetan Buddhism, is growing. .. The Dalai Lama has managed to [globalise] the Tibetan cause. Ultimately he has created a spiritual Tibet, whose new citizens are Buddhists from all over the world. That is what his predecessors were lacking. ... Nowadays there may be a certain aversion to making political use of events. But this Dalai Lama ... has managed to combine politics and spirituality. ... His is a new political message which transcends the borders of the nation state and is anchored in the Buddhist tradition."

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