Life of the Only Buddhist Community of Kyrgyzstan

3,257 religious organisations are registered in Kyrgyzstan, including only one Buddhist. It was hard to find it since Kyrgyzstan has no pagodas. However, there’s an unusual summer house in Gornaya Mayevka near Bishkek, which is called by Buddhists “The place of path”, run by a Buddhist monk.

The only registered Buddhist community in Kyrgyzstan is called “Chamsen”, which is translated from Korean as “liberation”. It exists since 1996, and the initiators of its creation were ethnic Koreans.

In Kyrgyzstan, Buddhism has two branches — Nipponzan Myohoji and Karma Kagyu. Chamsen is not a supporter of any single school and it’s open for all Buddhists wishing to join it. According to Oleg Tsoi, chairperson of the organisation, their community has nearly 100–120 members, mainly Koreans, Russians and Kyrgyz.

Aleksey Shmyglia. Photo: CABAR.asia

A Buddhist mini-pagoda, or usually called “The place of path”, is located 30 kilometres from Bishkek, in the village of Gornaya Mayevka. It functions since 2001 and is run by monk Aleksey Shmyglia, a follower of the traditions of Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist order, which was brought to Kyrgyzstan by a famous monk Junsei Terasawa back in 1993.

“I was born and grew up in Kazakhstan, and I became a monk in 1996 in Moscow, where master Terasawa was at the moment. I was 21 years old then and I considered myself a Buddhist for 2 years by then. The age and experience are not mandatory in Buddhism. One can become a monk in a day, while others can spend ten years and fail. Everything depends on a person and their willingness to devote oneself to the ideas of Buddha. It was then when I started to visit Kyrgyzstan and then I stayed here.” — Aleksey Shmyglia

There Buddha relics are at the altar of “The place of path”. They are considered the most significant sacred thing in Buddhism. They were brought to Kyrgyzstan by Junsei Terasawa.

[embed]Life of the Only Buddhist Community of Kyrgyzstan 3,257 religious organisations are registered in Kyrgyzstan, including only one Buddhist. It was hard to find it since…cabar.asia