Japanese Zen is derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the Middle Chinese word 禪 (Chan) which traces its roots to the Indian practice of dhyāna ("meditation"). Buddhism was introduced to China in the first century CE. According to tradition, Chan was introduced around 500 CE by Bodhidharma, an Indian monk teaching dhyāna. He was the 28th Indian patriarch of Zen and the first Chinese patriarch. Buddhism was introduced in Japan in the 8th century CE during the Nara period (710-794) and the Heian period (794–1185). Zen was not introduced as a separate school in Japan until the 12th century during the Kamakura
Buddhism in the West Rosen Takashina Roshi. In the 90s, there was an a rise in interest in Tibetan Buddhism, and other forms of Asian Buddhism such as Thai, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese traditions are also present in the country. The first Brazilian Tibetan Buddhist center, the Tarthang Tulku Nyingma Center, was founded in 1988 in São Paulo. In other Latin American countries such as Argentina and Peru, there was also the introduction of Buddhism through immigration and conversion, though populations remain small (20,000 in Argentina in 2012). Japanese Zen and Tibetan Buddhism has been especially influential in these countries in the post-war 20th