Buddhism in Russia Buddhism in Russia Historically, Buddhism was incorporated into Russian lands in the early 17th century. Buddhism is considered as one of Russia's traditional religions, legally a part of Russian historical heritage. Besides the historical monastic traditions of Buryatia, Kalmykia and Tuva, Buddhism is now widespread all over Russia, with many ethnic Russian converts. The main form of Buddhism in Russia is the Gelukpa school of Tibetan Buddhism, informally known as the "yellow hat" tradition, with other Tibetan and non-Tibetan schools as minorities. Although Tibetan Buddhism is most often associated with Tibet, it spread into Mongolia, and via Mongolia into Russia.
Won Buddhism a form of Buddhism. The name "Won Buddhism" comes from the Korean words 원/圓 "won" ("circle") and 불교/佛敎 "bulgyo" ("Buddhism"), literally meaning "Round Buddhism" or "Consummate Buddhism." By "consummate," Won Buddhists mean that they incorporate several different schools of Buddhist thought into their doctrine; that is, where some schools focus only on practicing meditation ("samādhi"), some schools devote themselves fully to studying scriptures ("prajñā"), and still others practice only their school's precepts ("śīla"), Won Buddhism believes in incorporating all three into daily practice. According to Won Buddhist sources, Bak Jungbin (, , 1891–1943, aka Sotaesan) attained bodhi in 1916 and