History

• Despite the fact that on a superficial level Buddhism was known in Ukraine long ago due to the regular contacts of the Ukrainian Cossacks with the Kalmyks, who profess Buddhism, the interest in Buddhism in its philosophical and ethical aspects among the Ukrainian cultural and scientific intelligentsia arose not earlier than in the 19th century. Closer acquaintance with Buddhism was interrupted in the Soviet period, when any interest in religious teachings different from Soviet ideology
  Marxism-Leninism
  Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology, officially based upon the theories of Marxism and Vladimir Lenin, that promotes the development and creation of a international communist society through the leadership of a vanguard party over a revolutionary socialist state that represents a dictatorship...
  
   was persecuted. As a result, such interest could not be fully satisfied and, moreover, grow into certain organizations. Therefore, the first open systematic lectures on Buddhism, sermons and lessons on Buddhist studies, date back to 1989, when the political and ideological pressure of the Soviet system was considerably eased. At that time the first Buddhist consecrations took place in Ukraine, and the first secular followers of Buddhism appeared. They passed the canonical rite of taking Buddhist refuge
  Refuge (Buddhism)
  Buddhists "take refuge" in, or to "go for refuge" to, the Three Jewels . This can be done formally in lay and monastic ordination ceremonies.The Three Jewels general signification is:　* the Buddha;* the Dharma, the teachings;...
  
   in the Three Jewels: Buddha, the Teaching (Dharma) and the Community (Sangha).

• This activity was mostly undertaken in three eastern Ukrainian areas: the Donetsk
  Donetsk
  Donetsk , is a large city in eastern Ukraine on the Kalmius river. Administratively, it is a center of Donetsk Oblast, while historically, it is the unofficial capital and largest city of the economic and cultural Donets Basin region...
  
  , Luhansk
  Luhansk
  Luhansk also known as Lugansk is a city in southeastern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Luhansk Oblast . The city itself is also designated as its own separate municipality within the oblast...
  
   and Kharkiv
  Kharkiv
  Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
  
   regions.

• Ukraine’s first officially-registered Buddhist community was set up in Donets in 1991. Today Ukraine has nearly 100 Buddhist communities and groups, 49 of them are officially registered and enjoy the status of legal entity. The largest communities and groups belong to the Tibetan tradition in Buddhism, that is, the tantric tradition of Vajrayana
  Vajrayana
  Vajrayāna Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle...
  
  (“Diamond Vehicle”). The most widespread among them are Karma Kagyu
  Karma Kagyu
  Karma Kagyu , or Kamtsang Kagyu, is probably the largest and certainly the most widely practiced lineage within the Kagyu school, one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The lineage has long-standing monasteries in Tibet, China, Russia, Mongolia, India, Nepal, and Bhutan, and current...
  
   communities, the main branch of the Tibetan Kagyu-pa School
  Tibetan Buddhism
  Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...
  
  . They are united into the All-Ukraine Religious Center Ukrainian Association of Karma Kagyu Buddhists. In Ukraine, the religious studies of this center are intended for laypeople only. Communities and groups of followers of this tradition are present in almost all regional centers of Ukraine. The official print publication of the Ukrainian Association of Karma Kagyu Buddhists is the “Buddhism Today Manual.”

• The Tibetan Nyingma-pa School
  Nyingma
  The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism . "Nyingma" literally means "ancient," and is often referred to as Nga'gyur or the "old school" because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan, in the eighth century...
  
   takes second place according to the number of communities and followers. Its first Ukrainian communities were united in 1993 to provide the most efficient spread of Buddhism in Ukraine into the All-Ukraine Spiritual Administration Buddhist Monastic Order Lunh-zhonh-pa (which means “The Wardens of the Commandments” in the Tibetan language). In Ukraine, this school conducts both lay and conventionally monastic activities; therefore a Buddhist monastery is being constructed in the village of Olhynka, Volnovask district, Donetsk region.The Nyingma-pa communities were the first to profess Buddhism systematically in Ukraine and to receive official registration. The official print publication of the Buddhist Monastic Order Lunh-zhonh-pa is “The Lion’s Roar” newspaper; the first issue of the enlightening manual “Dao” has also come out. This organization also has its web-sites in Ukraine ([www.ningma.agava.ru] and [www.ningma.kiev.ua]), which are said to be the best Russian-speaking information database on Buddhism there is, and it belongs to the Dharma-net international circle of Buddhist sites.

• The Dzogchen School
  Dzogchen
  According to Tibetan Buddhism and Bön, Dzogchen is the natural, primordial state or natural condition of the mind, and a body of teachings and meditation practices aimed at realizing that condition. Dzogchen, or "Great Perfection", is a central teaching of the Nyingma school also practiced by...
  
  is in third place according to the number of its followers and communities in Ukraine. It developed as a separate Buddhist School in the West in the late 20th century through the efforts of Chogyal Namkhai Norbu
  Chogyal Namkhai Norbu
  Chögyal Namkhai Norbu is a Dzogchen teacher who was born in Derge, Kham district on 8 December 1938. When he was two years old, Namkhai Norbu was recognized as the 'mindstream emanation', a tulku, of the great Dzogchen teacher, Adzom Drugpa , at five he was also recognized as a mindstream...
  
  , the Tibetan Lama in emigration. Like Karma Kagyu, this school is oriented to lay Buddhists in Ukraine.

• These three schools happen to be the main Buddhist centers in Ukraine.

• There are also several groups and communities of other Buddhist traditions:

1. 1. The Son School – the Korean branch of the Chan or Zen
      Zen
      Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
      
       School
   2. Nichiren Shu
      Nichiren Shu
      Nichiren Shū is the name of a confederation of several Nichiren Buddhist schools that go back to Nichiren's original disciples...
      
      – the Japanese school, represented by the Nippondzan-Mehodzi Monastic Order in Ukraine
   3. Groups and communities without clear-cut orientation towards any of the Buddhist schools, declaring that they belong to Mahayana tradition
      Mahayana
      Mahāyāna is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice...
      
      (“Great Vehicle”)