Buryatia: Is a Buddhist Vertical Possible?

Abstract

In the 60s of 18th century, Russian government organized management structure of Buddhist religious life of the Buryats according to the traditional model for the empire — in the form of a vertical institution headed by Pandito Hambo Lama. In this form the Buddhist faith existed until 1917. Soviet government’s struggle with religion affected Buryat Buddhists to the same extent as other religions in the vast USSR. Before the Great Patriotic War, there was no legal Buddhism. In 1948 Buddhism in the USSR was legalized and existed officially only in Buryatia, where the Central Spiritual Administration of Buddhists (CDUB) was created and were registered two parishes. The revival of Buddhism in Buryatia began in 1990. In 1995, Khambo Lama Ayusheyev reformed the CDUB, changed its name to the Traditional Buddhist Sangha of Russia (TBSR) and adopted a new Charter. In accordance with which the Hambo Lama placed datsans under his administrative and financial control, which provided the top of the TBSR with power over the Buddhist clergy. TBSR began to act as a defender of traditional religiosity (within the framework of the local school of Gelug Tibetan Buddhism) and the national identity of the Buryat people. At the same time, several alternative Buddhist associations have emerged, causing a sharp rejection of the TBSR. The leader of the TBSR, Khambo Lama Ayusheev, is constantly in conflict with local secular authorities and alternative Buddhists for the primacy and choice of the path of development of the Buryat people.