Buddhism in Venezuela

Buddhism in Venezuela is practiced by very approximately 52,000 people (roughly 0.2% of the population) as of 2015.^[1] The Buddhist community is made up mainly of Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans.

Most identify with the Mahayana tradition, reflecting the religious heritage of their emigrant countries.

However, in the mid-1990s Keun-Tshen Goba (né Ezequiel Hernandez Urdaneta), together with Jigme Rinzen, and under the guidance of Chugai Keisho (German financier né Burkhard Brauch), also a former disciple of Chögyam Trungpa founded a meditation center using the Shambhala Training method.

There are Buddhist centers in Caracas, Maracay, Mérida, Puerto Ordáz, San Felipe, and Valencia.

^ Usarski, Frank; Shoji, Rafael (2014), "Buddhism in Venezuela", in Gooren, Henri P. P. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 1–3, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-08956-0_125-1, ISBN 978-3-319-08956-0, archived from the original on 2023-01-16, retrieved 2022-12-16

[1] Usarski, Frank; Shoji, Rafael (2014), "Buddhism in Venezuela", in Gooren, Henri P. P. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 1–3, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-08956-0_125-1, ISBN 978-3-319-08956-0, archived from the original on 2023-01-16, retrieved 2022-12-16

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