Evolution
How Buddhism further evolved until today
The seventies brought lots of Buddhism-enthusiasts to The Netherlands. Among them was Paula Koolkin, a then 22 year old hippy from San Francisco. She joined a small group of people which often invited lamas from the Tibetan Samye-Ling monastery in Scotland. This group later developed into the Karma Deleg Chö Phel Ling, the first Tibetan Buddhist Centre that settled in de Hamtower near Vleuten. The centre is currently located near Hantum and run by lama Gawang. Furthermore, in 1979 Paula founded the well-known Maitreya Institute on request of the Nepalese lama’s Yeshe en Zopa Rinpoche.
The centre for meditation in Amsterdam, The Cosmos, was since 1969 an example of an unofficial, but valuable contribution to the development of Buddhism in The Netherlands. Through the teachings of Bruno Mertens, Erik Bruijn and Nico Tydeman, the Dutch people encountered the Buddhist thought and practice of the Zen-school. The Cosmos was later used for the implementation of the Buddhist Academy by Rob Janssen in 1984. People could visit the academy to study the sutra’s, practice meditation and its theory and even study Buddhist philosophy. Although it was quite a success, the academy eventually had to be dissolved due to a lack of members. Another typical example of something that could only be done in the seventies is Tidorp. This was a commune of people, founded by the artist Bruno Mertens in 1974. The commune lived and worked together on Buddhist grounds in an old orchard nearby Haamstede until 1994.
The cultural anthropologist Victor van Gemert drawed up the balance sheet of the development of Buddhism so far in 1990. He counted forty groups; 9 of them were generally orientated towards Buddhism (like the BUN), 10 were Zen movements, 11 groups were contributing to Vajrayana Buddhism and 6 of them relied on Theravada thought. The remaining 4 were ethnic groups; Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese and Thai. Although this seems to mean that there were a lot of people devoted to Buddhism in The Netherlands around the 1990’s, Gemert estimated the number of Buddhists at that time to be 16.600, of which only 4000 of them were Dutch. Another counting in 1996 estimated the number of Buddhists in The Netherlands at that time at 33.000 of which 20.000 were immigrants. In 2009 however, it is estimated that there were over 830.000 people who had an affinity with Buddhism. The number of practicing Buddhists however, was supposedly only 370.000. Since the 900 Buddhists of the seventies, many Dutch people found their way to Buddhist thought and practice. This could be due to Buddhism being an alternative for Christianity, globalisation, immigration or simply because the people who live in our time are fed up with consumerism and living a life that’s based on efficiency criteria. The BUN estimated the number of Buddhist immigrants in 2007 at 113.000. Through the spreading of these immigrants, it seems likely that even more natives are and will be encountering Buddhism.
Up until 1989, most new Buddhists were busy within their own small groups. After a congress in Paris, Rob Janssen and Aad Verboom revived the BUN which lead to major consequences. Through the revival of the BUN, an new way of spreading the message of Buddhism found its way to The Netherlands: the founding of the Buddhist broadcasting station in 1993. The process was slow, due to a lack of supporters and strict demands from the Commission of Media, but on January first 2001 the Boeddhistische Omroep Stichting (BOS) broadcasted for the first time on national television. The BOS stands as a symbol for the official recognition of Buddhism as a renowned religion in The Netherlands. Together, the BUN and BOS made Buddhism an official religion which deserves to be recognised by the Dutch. That Buddhism is recognised as such, is proven by the possibility to get an education from the Free University of Amsterdam to become a Buddhist spiritual caregiver. Furthermore, the rise of vipassana-meditation (also known as “mindfulness”) has opened up Buddhist thought to the large public.
The seventies brought lots of Buddhism-enthusiasts to The Netherlands. Among them was Paula Koolkin, a then 22 year old hippy from San Francisco. She joined a small group of people which often invited lamas from the Tibetan Samye-Ling monastery in Scotland. This group later developed into the Karma Deleg Chö Phel Ling, the first Tibetan Buddhist Centre that settled in de Hamtower near Vleuten. The centre is currently located near Hantum and run by lama Gawang. Furthermore, in 1979 Paula founded the well-known Maitreya Institute on request of the Nepalese lama’s Yeshe en Zopa Rinpoche.
The centre for meditation in Amsterdam, The Cosmos, was since 1969 an example of an unofficial, but valuable contribution to the development of Buddhism in The Netherlands. Through the teachings of Bruno Mertens, Erik Bruijn and Nico Tydeman, the Dutch people encountered the Buddhist thought and practice of the Zen-school. The Cosmos was later used for the implementation of the Buddhist Academy by Rob Janssen in 1984. People could visit the academy to study the sutra’s, practice meditation and its theory and even study Buddhist philosophy. Although it was quite a success, the academy eventually had to be dissolved due to a lack of members. Another typical example of something that could only be done in the seventies is Tidorp. This was a commune of people, founded by the artist Bruno Mertens in 1974. The commune lived and worked together on Buddhist grounds in an old orchard nearby Haamstede until 1994.
The cultural anthropologist Victor van Gemert drawed up the balance sheet of the development of Buddhism so far in 1990. He counted forty groups; 9 of them were generally orientated towards Buddhism (like the BUN), 10 were Zen movements, 11 groups were contributing to Vajrayana Buddhism and 6 of them relied on Theravada thought. The remaining 4 were ethnic groups; Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese and Thai. Although this seems to mean that there were a lot of people devoted to Buddhism in The Netherlands around the 1990’s, Gemert estimated the number of Buddhists at that time to be 16.600, of which only 4000 of them were Dutch. Another counting in 1996 estimated the number of Buddhists in The Netherlands at that time at 33.000 of which 20.000 were immigrants. In 2009 however, it is estimated that there were over 830.000 people who had an affinity with Buddhism. The number of practicing Buddhists however, was supposedly only 370.000. Since the 900 Buddhists of the seventies, many Dutch people found their way to Buddhist thought and practice. This could be due to Buddhism being an alternative for Christianity, globalisation, immigration or simply because the people who live in our time are fed up with consumerism and living a life that’s based on efficiency criteria. The BUN estimated the number of Buddhist immigrants in 2007 at 113.000. Through the spreading of these immigrants, it seems likely that even more natives are and will be encountering Buddhism.
Up until 1989, most new Buddhists were busy within their own small groups. After a congress in Paris, Rob Janssen and Aad Verboom revived the BUN which lead to major consequences. Through the revival of the BUN, an new way of spreading the message of Buddhism found its way to The Netherlands: the founding of the Buddhist broadcasting station in 1993. The process was slow, due to a lack of supporters and strict demands from the Commission of Media, but on January first 2001 the Boeddhistische Omroep Stichting (BOS) broadcasted for the first time on national television. The BOS stands as a symbol for the official recognition of Buddhism as a renowned religion in The Netherlands. Together, the BUN and BOS made Buddhism an official religion which deserves to be recognised by the Dutch. That Buddhism is recognised as such, is proven by the possibility to get an education from the Free University of Amsterdam to become a Buddhist spiritual caregiver. Furthermore, the rise of vipassana-meditation (also known as “mindfulness”) has opened up Buddhist thought to the large public.
Evolution sounds more exciting than it really is, so if you're a bit bored or if you're actually really excited and want to learn more, click the 'links' button and dive into the world of Buddhism a bit deeper. Otherwise, you could circle back to the origin of Buddhism in the Netherlands, or bravely head on to read about Dutch Buddhism today. If none if this takes your fancy, feel free to take a step back and get yourself back reacquainted with the website!
|