The roots ofBuddhism inPoland can be found in the early 20th century in the nation's connections to the origin countries of the religion, likeVietnam,[1][2]China,Japan, andKorea.[3] AfterWorld War II, primarily expatriate Poles joined various Buddhist groups and organizations. Since the breakdown of theEastern Bloc, which had promoted anantireligious campaign, Buddhism has been able to develop further in the more tolerant atmosphere.
Today all of the principal schools of Buddhism includingMahayana (Zen andJodo Shinshu) andTibetan Buddhism can be found in Poland. Movements like theTriratna Buddhist Community are also active in the country. Umbrella organizations like theBuddhist mission (Misja Buddyjska) and the Buddhist Union of Poland unite more than two dozen groups of Buddhists. TheDiamond Way centers founded and directed byLama Ole Nydahl are also active in Poland. Nydahl gave teachings on Buddhism to audiences in Poland twice every year since his first visit in 1976.[4]
The roots ofBuddhism inPoland go back to the beginning of the 20th century and are related to the sudden fascination of Poles with the religions and culture ofChina,Japan,Tibet andKorea. Polish orientalists referred to Buddhism in scientific journals. One of the most famous wasAndrzej Gawroński (1885-1927), who held the position of professor ofSanskrit at theUniversity of Lwów. In addition to articles written for numerous journals, he was the author of two works that have gained the rank of classic in Poland: "Studies about Sanskrit Buddhist Literature" ("Studies on Buddhist literature in Sanskrit",Kraków, 1919) and "Sanskrit handbook" (Krakow, 1932). Stanisław Franciszek Michalski, a lecturer at theUniversity of Łódź, contributed to the study of thePali language. He translated theDhammapada in 1925, supplementing the text with a long commentary and a general overview of Buddhism. He also translated "Buddhism" byRhys Davids (Warsaw-Krakow, 1912) and left behind an unfinished grammar of the Pali language.
Professor ofIndian philosophy at theUniversity of Warsaw,Stanisław Schayer, was the founder of the Institute of Oriental Studies in Warsaw and co-editor of the Polish Bulletin of Oriental Studies ("Polski Biuletyn Orientalistyczny", 1937–1939). He studied the philosophy of mahāyana and thanks to his participation in international conferences he was also known abroad. His interests included not onlyPali and Sanskrit texts, but also Tibetan scriptures .[5]
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The first Buddhist group in Poland was organized by Piotr Boniński fromGliwice and Władysław Misiewicz fromRadom in 1949, when they founded the Circle of Friends of Buddhism in Radom. Boniński was very active in translating Buddhist texts (about 140 translations ofsuttas, based on the German translation), enabling a wider audience to get acquainted with theDhamma. His premature death in 1968 caused a significant slowdown in the spread of Buddhism in Poland. Misiewicz was the editor of the Buddhist magazine "Ehi passiko" in Polish, as well as the correspondent of the Pala Buddhist Union, based at Gwardii Ludowej 12/23, in Radom. In 1961, he translated "The Word of the Buddha" byNyanatiloka (Ed. People of Good Will, USA, 1961) with the support of Teofil Drobny.[6]
Only at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s, a group of people associated with the studio of paintersUrszula Broll and Andrzej Urbanowicz, at ul. Piastowska 1 inKatowice, on the path of her artistic and spiritual explorations, she began to practice meditation. The direct inspiration was "The Three Pillars of Zen" edited byPhilip Kapleau. This book arrived at the studio in 1967. In December 1971, joint weekly meditation meetings began. The first informal leader of the group was Henryk Waniek. In 1973, Andrzej Urbanowicz completed several years of experimenting with LSD. He had an experience after which, he said, everything except Buddhism made no sense to him. In February 1974, the inaugural issue of the first Buddhist periodical in the Polish People's Republic is published. The first four notebooks were titled "The Way" and the next "The Way of Zen". The anonymity common to the illegal publishing activities of the time was broken. Urszula and Andrzej are the publishers of the first issues, with the address Piastowska 1 Katowice. In August 1974, in Kamieńczyk in theŚwiętokrzyskie Mountains, Andrzej Urbanowicz organized a 5-day group zazen based on sessin (an intense period of meditation practiced in Zen monasteries). A group that identifies with Buddhism is formed and later transforms into the Circle of Zen. Andrzej Urbanowicz brings Buddhism to life in Poland. A year later, in August 1975, at the invitation of Urszula and Andrzej, Zen teacherPhilip Kapleau came to Poland. Over time, people associated with the group on Piastowska initiate the formation of new Buddhist groups.[7][8][9][10][11]
In May 2000, the XIV Dalai LamaTenzin Gyatso opened a Buddhist department in thePomeranian Library inSzczecin.
The "Diamond Way Buddhist Association of the Karma Kagyu Lineage" (Buddyjski Związek Diamentowej Drogi Linii Karma Kagyu) is a religious association registered in Poland on January 27, 1984. On April 7, 1990, it entered into the register of churches and other religious associations kept by the Ministry of Interior and Administration.
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