Some thoughts on the Buddhist population of Nepal
Razen Manandhar
We all like to say that Buddha was born in Nepal. Some make world records, some make TV shows, some make films and some wear T-shirts. But if you ask what percentage of people of Nepal have adopted Buddhism, then we Nepalese should feel ashamed. This is the reality here.
The latest data from the 2021 census shows that 8.21 per cent of Nepal’s total population are Buddhists. This is what the government figures of the country show this, leaving aside the details. In other countries, Cambodia is 97.1 per cent Buddhist, Thailand 93.4 per cent, Myanmar 87.9 per cent, Bhutan 84.3 per cent, Sri Lanka 70.2 per cent and Laos 64.7 per cent. What’s more, even in China, where Buddhism was smashed in the name of the Cultural Revolution, 18.2 per cent of the people are still following Buddhism.
This is a question that has been revolving in my mind since I was young — why is the population of Buddhists in Nepal so small? Why is it so embarrassing for the Nepalese people to embrace Buddhism? Here, an attempt is made to find or dig the general answers to these questions.
Nature of Buddhism
Before wondering why the population of Buddhists is low, we need to understand that Buddhism is a “dhamma” (religion in Buddhist common translation) that is quite different from other religions practised in the region and even around the world. Why there is so much difference is that Buddhism does not accept existence in any divine power. There is no element in Buddhism that when we call with folded hands, someone will descend from heaven or is sitting somewhere and solve our problems or fulfil our wishes. Naturally, when people can’t achieve anything with their strength or knowledge, they want to get their work done by some invisible power. Knowing that this is not encouraged in Buddhism, it is natural for people not to have any attachment or faith in it.
2500 years ago, the Buddha realized that the old beliefs of divine power were not worthy for humans and discovered a new path for us. It teaches us to believe not in any power but in our habits and actions or Karma. Therefore it is not stress-free to follow this path and that is why many people do not want to accept Buddhism.
The Buddhist way of thinking
It is not easy to practice Buddhism or to make oneself happy by living the life taught by the Buddha. Moreover, some Buddhists, and especially the gurus or guides, make statements publicly that Buddhism is beyond the comprehension of common people, secret, unexplainable or it is only for those who bring those qualities or something like that from their past life. To some extent, this is true, because as I said above, it is difficult. But it certainly closes the door for the newcomers to a great extent. Those who say so may be lacking the skill to present the truth correctly, or some religious gurus often have, are close-hearted want to keep some secret of teachers or are just arrogant that they only know everything about Buddhism.
Instability of some Buddhist gurus
Despondently we have to admit that while talking about Nepal, only a very small percentage of those who call themselves Buddhists are Buddhists in the real sense.
When Buddhists adopt things that are not exactly compatible with the Buddha’s teachings, even if they know what their scriptures say, they cannot abandon the rituals and customs that are opposite of Buddhist philosophy. As a result, their spiritual life is like travelling on two boats. What destination will they make? This is something that everyone understands. We know that Buddhists must be careful while propagating Buddhism.
Attachment with orthodox
It is said that old habits die hard. It is the same here also. The religion that has bound the people of this region for thousands of years cannot be broken easily. People accept whatever religion, belief or tradition they see around them while sleeping and waking up. In such a situation, it is natural that the propaganda that was done in the name of Sanatan Dharma these days, which was adopted and protected by the political systems here, would get an opportunity to flourish. Therefore, non-Buddhism spread here and Buddhism declined.
Role of the Hindus
A Western friend said one day — that even if Buddhism spreads all over the world, there is less possibility of it spreading well in India and Nepal because here Buddhism has to fight day and night with Hindus. It is obvious, due to various reasons Buddhists are in the minority here. Hindus are in the majority and have links with the state power. Many of the learned Hindus spend a lot of time in propagating against Buddhists and by doing so, they save their existence.
Some would say that Buddha was the first Hindu, that Buddhism and Hinduism are essentially the same, or that Buddhism is a branch of Hinduism etc. They do not think that they can preserve Hinduism without arguing with Buddhists. They are satisfied and happy just continuing to practice Hinduism without any interruption. And even when the Buddhists talk about their existence, they pop up to argue that Buddhism and Hinduism are one. Further, they do not hesitate to allege the Buddhists that they have come to create religious unrest in the country.
Such reactions continue to occur in the political, economic and social spheres. In such a situation, as stated above, due to their nature, Buddhists are less likely to have disputes with Hindus, and Buddhism cannot have considerable influence in society.
Religious Conversion
In today’s modern era, people do not like to become slaves of religion. In the Western world, religion is either overlooked or at least taken as a matter of personal choice. This is what is called religious freedom. Nepal was declared a secular federal, democratic, republic on 28 May 2008. Along with Hinduism, there are Budhism, Christianity and Islam as major religions here in Nepal. But even today, a strong factor, including top leaders are demanding for “Hindu state”. The Hindus praise the adoption of Hinduism from other religions, while they consider religious conversion into other religions as a crime. Therefore, it is not easy for those who left or were obliged to leave Buddhism in the past and became Hindus to return as Buddhists.
That being said, the situation is such that some people from the Buddhist community have left their religion and joined Christianity, perhaps, expecting some material benefits. On the other hand, there is now a campaign going on among some so-called lower-caste Hindus who refuse to tolerate untouchability and discrimination and have also joined Buddhism too. However, since the number of people entering Buddhism is negligible compared to those leaving Buddhism, it is unlikely that the Buddhist population will increase due to this change.
Education system
A cursory glance at the textbooks of Nepalese students reveals that Nepal’s education system does not recognize Buddhism as a separate religion. With exceptions, most textbooks refer to Hinduism as the only religion, Hindu temples as Hindu Mandir, Hindu deities as Hindu Deuta, and festivals as this or that Hindu festival. Somehow, apart from telling the fact that Buddha was born in Lumbini, Nepal and was considered a national icon, neither his principles nor philosophy are taught nor it is told that Buddhism is now spread throughout the world. Yes, it is often shown that Buddhist religious sites can attract tourists and derive economic benefits from them. And how will the common Nepalese people know that there is Buddhism in Nepal?
The Pariyatti teaching, which is designed for all, has not received full formal recognition and because of its structure, it presently cannot go out of Buddhist society except occasionally. This also is hindering Buddhism from increasing its number in the country.
In addition, this is the reality that even though we have a Buddhist university, from which Buddhists have great hopes, has not been able to make an impact in the country and produce a great number of Buddhists as such. However, since it is not an educational institution for producing Buddhists, it seems irrelevant to have such a hope.
State policy
It is well known that the state system has the biggest role in the growth and decline of any religion. After the mahaparinirvana (demise) of the Buddha in India, the most extensive expansion of religion took place during the reign of Emperor Ashoka and along with his death, this expansion came to an end in a way. The practice of expanding religion takes place if the king likes it, and it is just destroyed along with valuable heritage if the king just does not like it — this has been going on in India. The result was that the Buddhists, who built amazing world heritage sites like Ajanta and Ellora, had to struggle for their existence after the eighth century.
The history of Buddhism in Nepal is different from that of India for some reasons. Except for the Kathmandu Valley, some Himalayan districts and some parts of the Far West, the largest part of Nepal has never received the patronage of Buddha Dharma from the monarchs of the respective principalities in history.
King Suddhodhana of Kapilvastu had great respect for the Buddha and invited to preach. But other texts also reveal that the Shakya dynasty weakened and the development of Buddhism also did not gain any momentum soon. Apart from one or two places, there are no Buddhist monuments there and at present, there is no community of tribal Buddhists around the Lumbini area. Otherwise, why would Buddhism, which has successfully made an impact in the whole world not be able to show its significant presence in and around the Lumbini region itself?
So far as the Kathmandu Valley is concerned, when we look at the history, right from the time of the Licchhivi dynasty, we find that a couple of inscriptions have mentioned the name of Buddhism or that some Buddhist monuments received state patronage. ; at that time, it was rare to find an environment in which the state system provided such guardianship to Buddhism and Buddhists. On the contrary, we come to know that a king forced Buddhist monks to start a family life and the Buddhist society was restructured from the Hindu formula of caste division.
It is a positive aspect that the Buddhists in India have taken refuge here in the Kathmandu Valley to escape the insurgency of the Hindus and the attacks of the Muslims, but since this period, Buddhism in Kathmandu has adapted itself to the colour of Hinduism and has developed its own Identity has been made with Vedic or Tantrik. But a very genuine question has arisen — is this expansion or divergence? Overall, the fact is not hidden from anyone that Jayasthathimala’s social division made Buddhism very close to or rather a part of Hinduism.
Throughout the Malla period and the Shah period, except in a few places under the influence of the state system, Buddhism did not get a chance to expand. Buddhism developed during this period was only the result of charity, hard work, simplicity and devotion of the local Buddhist community.
Furthermore, And, in 1926 and 1944, Buddhist monks were banished from Kathmandu, just because they were found propagating the Buddha’s teaching! This is the history of Nepal’s Buddhism. The stigma of this shameful episode of Nepal’s history continues to expose the hatred and vindictiveness of Nepal’s polity towards Buddhism. The world keeps asking whether Nepal is the country where Buddha was born or where the Buddhist monks were banished.
The present situation is as clear as the day before our eyes. That giant Shanti Stupa was demolished by the state when it was still being constructed during the Panchayat period. The police took away the Buddha statue to be installed in Surkhet. Some Buddha statues kept on the middle of the road at Tilottama, near Lumbini, were demolished overnight. The famous Buddha Park at Swayabhu was planned to be shrunk in the name of road expansion. The unique 1000-Buddha Chaitya there was planned to be demolished. People have to rage a demonstration to save their monuments. Apart from this, the Buddhist monks of Himalayan tradition have to face the charge of being Tibetan constantly by the Hindu authority here. These are just some examples of how the government of Nepal looks at Buddhism at present.
According to Buddhist organizations, the government do not manage the budget for the construction, conservation or reconstruction of Buddha statues, temples or monasteries. Many of the monasteries, which fell during the 2015 earthquake, are still waiting for conservation due to a lack of budget. Most of the construction works of Buddhist heritage is being conducted out of support from foreign Buddhist organizations or local donors. As we see, the government can spend lots of money on the decoration and construction of Hindu temples. The demand for a “Hindu State” is taking a height these days. This is the reality right now here.
A massive demonstration was organized to pressure the government to declare Nepal as a secular state in the Constitution made after the political changes of 1990. However, those who wrote the Constitution did not like to see all the religions of the country equal in front of the state. Even after the declaration of Nepal as a republic state, the new constitution did state that Nepal is a secular state but it did not oblige the governments to address all regions of the country equally. In such a situation, how can all religions flourish equally in Nepal? How can all Nepalese adopt the religion that suits them by using their intelligence and discretion?
Conclusion
The purpose of this article is only to give a cursory analysis of the religious politics of Nepal and the situation of Buddhists. It is not requested here to show a larger number of Buddhists in the population by forcibly confiscating someone or converting them into Buddhists.
Although it is a matter of freedom of an individual to adopt whichever religion he or she prefers, the number of people following a particular religion indeed reflects the image of that country in the world. The current reality is that only 8 in a hundred people in Nepal follow Buddhism. If the remaining 92 people do not like Buddhism but only shout that Buddha was born in Nepal and create drama in the international media, this only exposes their double character.
To sum up, we can say that the relatively lower population of Buddhists in Nepal can be attributed to historical, cultural, and demographic reasons. Buddhism, although originally having deep roots in Nepal, has faced challenges in terms of numbers compared to Hinduism. We all know that Nepal has a majority of Hindu population and has quite a strong influence in the political arena. You can hardly find any Buddhist reaching a top political position in Nepal.
Additionally, the geographical distribution of Buddhist populations in Nepal is not uniform, with certain regions having higher concentrations of Buddhist communities and other regions with no trace of Buddhists at all. Factors such as historical events, social structures, and migration patterns have also influenced the population distribution of Buddhists in Nepal. In this situation instead of saying that Buddha was born in Nepal, concentration should be given to propagate the Buddha’s teaching, develop Buddhist communities and to increase the number of Buddhists in the national policy.
(Translated and updated from an article by the author, published in Anandhabhoomi, Buddhist monthly in January 2021)
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