Alchi Monastery topographic conditions, only two survived, one of them the esteemed scholar and translator Rinchen Zangpo who established Buddhist activity in the Ladakh region and other areas of India including Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim. During his sojourn there, he also went to the neighbouring countries of Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet. Zangpo became known by the epithet "Lohtsawa" or the "Great Translator"; he is credited with building 108 monasteries in the trans-Himalayan region in his quest to disseminate Buddhism. He institutionalized Buddhism in the region; these monasteries are considered the mainstay of Vajrayana of Tibetan Buddhism (also known as Lamaism). Zangpo engaged
Faith in Buddhism modern Asia, the rational and intellectual aspects of Buddhism were mostly emphasized in the West, as Buddhism was often favourably compared with Christianity. The author and Buddhist teacher Stephen Batchelor has endeavoured to advocate a form of Buddhism which he believes to be original, ancient Buddhism, as it was before it became "institutionalized as a religion". In contrast to these typical modernist trends, it has also been observed that some western Buddhist communities show great commitment to their practice and belief, and for that reason are more traditional religious than most forms of New Age spirituality. Furthermore, several Buddhist teachers