History of Buddhism being influential and temples being rebuilt with government aid. An example of a recent modern form of Korean Buddhism is Won Buddhism. Tibet remained a traditional theocratic state (the Ganden Phodrang) with the Dalai Lamas at the head, until the Chinese communist invasion in 1950. The 14th Dalai Lama fled the country in 1959. A Tibetan exile community was established in India, with its center at Dharamsala, which today contains many Buddhist monasteries. The 14th Dalai Lama has become one of the most popular Buddhist leaders in the world today. During the Red Guard period (1966-7), Chinese communists destroyed around
Buddhism in Bulgaria several centers spread over the country. Shechen has a mountain retreat center not far away from Sofia; access is granted to members, and it is not generally open to the public. Buddhism in Bulgaria Buddhism is a small minority religion in Bulgaria, with about a thousand practitioners. The Vietnamese community in Bulgaria traditionally practices Mahayana Buddhism alongside Ancestor Worship, but the population of this community, which mostly hails from North Vietnam, has declined from tens of thousands before 1990 to around 1,000 now. Some Buddhist believers in Bulgaria are of Chinese descent. A small number of native Bulgarians are converts