Thursday, March 05, 2020

2378 years to get to America



Lets says that Buddhism arrives in the USA in 1820 when Chinese immigrants begin immigration. You could say that in 1849, when larger numbers came, that Buddhism really arrives for sure. But let's say 1820.

The Buddha was born in 558 BCE. There's a lot of debate about this. I don't mean to gloss over it, but for addition sake we need a number.

That means Buddhism took 2378 years to get to the USA from India/Nepal. Today you can zip an email there in seconds. The world has changed quite a lot.

Additionally you could say that Buddhism has been in the USA for 200 years. It has been in the USA only about 10% of its existence. One tenth of its existence.

In 1965, monks from Sri Lanka established the Washington Buddhist Vihara in Washington, DC, the first Theravada monastic community in the United States. That's 55 years in the USA.

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