Buddhism in Poland Buddhism in Poland The roots of Buddhism in Poland can be found in the early 20th century in the nation's connections to the origin countries of the religion, like Vietnam, China, Japan, and Korea. After World War II, primarily expatriate Poles joined various Buddhist groups and organizations. Since the breakdown of the Eastern Bloc, which promoted an antireligious campaign, Buddhism has been able to develop further in the more tolerant atmosphere. Today all of the principal schools of Buddhism including Mahayana (Zen and Jodo Shinshu) and Tibetan Buddhism can be found in Poland. Movements like the Friends of the Western
Faith in Buddhism bird-like deities and violent spirits which previously were the focus of pre-Buddhist cults became guardians of the Buddhist teaching. This process of adopting deities as part of Buddhism often occurred when Buddhist devotees or monks did not fully renounce their former devotions when embracing Buddhism. In the early Pāli scriptures, as well as in some customs in traditional Buddhist societies, traces can still be found of the period that Buddhism competed with "nāga" worship and assimilated some of its features. In some Buddhist countries like Japan, a perspective arose of the human world as a microcosm of the macrocosmic realms