Why are French people attracted by Buddhism?

Buddhist Spectrum, July 27, 2005

Temple of the 1,000 Buddhas in Bourgogne

IN France, Buddhism is considered the fourth largest faith - after Christianity, Islam and Judaism - with an estimated 550,000 practitioners. Many French Buddhists are Asian immigrants, who retain the religion of their ancestors.

Year-round, hundreds of French and foreign visitors enrol for professional retreats and individual study and meditation sessions offered in different Buddhist centres in France, among them, the Temple of the 1,000 Buddhas in Bourgogne (see picture) or the sprawling Buddhist centre in Dordogne.

There, in the deepest heart of France, the students of Karma Kagyu are colourful new visitors to regions famed for foie gras and hearty red wine, thick-stoned villages and winding country roads.

More broadly, however, the surging attendance at Buddhist establishments testifies to the religion's stunning growth in France, and elsewhere in Europe.

"A lot of Buddhist masters consider France to be somewhat the centre of Europe, both geographically and perhaps symbolically," aid Louis Hourmant, a specialist on Buddhism for the Paris-based Group on Religion and Secularity.

Hourmant attributes the phenomenon partly to France's colonial past in Southeast Asia, partly to the popularity of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader who won the Noble Peace Prize in 1989.

A weekly French TV program, "Buddhist Voices", draws about 250,000 viewers, according to the Buddhist Union of France, an umbrella group representing the different Buddhist currents. Hundreds of Buddhist centres have also opened across the country over the last few decades.

Frederic Lenoir, a French philosopher has carried out some studies to understand this new trend in France.

In his book, Buddhism in France (1999), he explains that Buddhism attracts French people as it is considered more as a philosophy than a religion. Without any God and dogma, French people feel attracted to this way of thinking.

According to Frederic Lenoir, Buddhism goes hand in hand with modernity. This image can be explained by different factors. Firstly, the non-dogmatic view of Buddha's learning.

Each person should follow the Buddha's principles according to their own feelings.

The individual experience is in the very heart of Buddhism whereas Catholicism has a much more dogmatic speech on what one should believe or not.

Besides, Buddhism's philosophy and techniques are interesting to scientists who are working on Human thought and emotions. Buddhism is a real science dedicated to human being, and this does not exist in Western countries.

For Frederic Lenoir, Western people are trying to understand the world through external phenomenon whereas Buddhism tends to observe one's mind, psychology and body. A lot is to be Learnt from this philosophy.

According to a survey led by Frederic lenoir in 1999, French people explain their attraction to Buddhism through 6 factors: moral values, such as compassion, liberty, respect and tolerance, is one such factor.

The advantages of the practice: the exercise on mind and body, and the serenity it brings, are also reasons explaining this attraction.

Answers related to rationality and pragmatism are also often given.

The need to have spiritual guidelines seems to have an important place for them while in a less important way, Buddhism attracts French people for its exotic side.

Courtesy - News from France

source: http://www.dailynews.lk/2005/07/27/fea07.htm