Buddhism in Africa

Abstract

Some Africans were aware of Buddhism at a very early stage in history—indeed, some of the earliest evidence for Western knowledge of Buddhist traditions comes from Northeast Africa—yet today Africa is the least Buddhist of the inhabited continents. This chapter charts the complex history of Buddhist traditions in Africa and sketches the current distribution of these traditions on the continent. Inevitably, legacies of colonial occupation have affected the distribution of Buddhist traditions in Africa. In South Africa there is an overwhelmingly white (Caucasian) convert community that barely interacts with small ethnic Buddhist traditions. Only in recent years has a new approach to Buddhist traditions arisen, a service-oriented approach that sees Africa not as a potential source of converts, but as a field for the practical application of compassion.

The art of jieyuan: ethical affinity and the cultivation of Chinese Buddhist spirituality in Tanzania

“…In comparison to Hinduism, which has been ‘localized’ to various degrees and run by African locals, Chinese Buddhism, an equally spiritually charged and theologically resilient religion, thus far largely remains a ‘diasporic religion’ that is primarily practised within the ethnic Chinese communities in Africa (Clasquin‐Johnson 2017; Reinke 2020). While a similar conundrum is shared by Chinese Buddhism's global expansion schemes elsewhere (Chandler 2004; Learman 2004), efforts are made by Buddhist groups in different African countries to transmit dharma beyond a confined ethnic boundary (Reinke 2020).…”

Soka Gakkai International in Post-Apartheid South Africa

“…The relatively short history of Buddhism in South Africa has already been illustrated by the precious work of a handful of scholars ( van Loon 1980;Wratten 1995;Clasquin-Johnson and Krüger 1999;Clasquin-Johnson 1999, 2002. The early presence of Buddhist practices in the country has been documented among South African Indians in KwaZulu-Natal, from the 1920s until they eventually faded away in the 1970s.…”