Dhammakaya traditionThe Dhammakaya Tradition or Dhammakaya Movement, sometimes spelled as Thammakaai movement, is a Thai Buddhist Tradition founded by Luang Pu Sodh Candasaro in the early 20th century. It is associated with several temples descended from Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen in Bangkok. The Tradition is distinguished from other Thai Buddhist traditions by its teachings on the Buddhist concept of Dhammakaya and the practice of Dhammakaya Meditation (Vijja Dhammakaya), a method which scholars have connected to the Yogavacara Tradition, which predates the 19th-century reform of Thai Buddhism.
DeekshabhoomiDeekshabhoomi is a sacred monument of Navayana Buddhism located in Nagpur city in the state of Maharashtra in India; where B. R. Ambedkar with approximately of his followers– mainly Dalits, several thousand of whom had been converted to Christianity– embraced Buddhism on Ashoka Vijaya Dashami on 14 October 1956. Ambedkar played a significant role in the revival of Buddhism in India, and inspired many such mass conversions to Buddhism.
Buddhism in EuropeAlthough there was regular contact between practising Buddhists and Europeans in antiquity the former had little direct impact. In the latter half of the 19th century, Buddhism came to the attention of Western intellectuals and during the course of the following century the number of adherents has grown. There are now between 1 and 4 million Buddhists in Europe, the majority in Italy, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. European contact with Buddhism first began after Alexander the Great's conquest of northwestern India in the 3rd century BC.
Buddhism in AustraliaIn Australia, Buddhism is a minority religion. According to the 2016 census, 2.4 percent of the total population of Australia identified as Buddhist. It was also the fastest-growing religion by percentage, having increased its number of adherents by 79 percent between the 1996 and 2001 censuses. The highest percentage of Buddhists in Australia is present in Christmas Island, where Buddhists constitute 18.1% of the total population according to the 2016 Census.
Buddhism in the PhilippinesBuddhism is a minor religion in the Philippines. In 2016, Buddhism was practiced by around 2% of the population, according to the Permanent Mission of the Republic of the Philippines to the United Nations. Indian influences in early Philippine politiesReligion in pre-colonial PhilippinesHistory of the Philippines (900-1521) and List of India-related topics in the Philippines The oldest archeological evidence of Buddhism's presence in the Philippines date back to the 9th century, when Vajrayana was known as the dominant branch of Buddhism.
