Asian Art

Buddhism in the Philippines

Buddhism is a minor religion in the Philippines. A recent nation-wide census in 2020 showed that the number of Buddhists in the country was at 160,000 adherents out of 112.2 million. This is much lower to what was initially estimated by a presenter at the United Nations in 2016, where it was initially thought to be at 2%. Buddhism is practiced by native Filipinos, Filipinos of Indian descent and by Filipinos of Chinese descent. The number of Buddhists in the country has been dwindling due to the lack or no significant presence of Buddhist missionary works where the teachings of the Buddha are translated and taught to the native regional languages. Unlike Christian missionaries which have expanded in the country further, Buddhist missionaries tend to be lax and less assertive, thus ineffective. Because of the lack of Buddhist missionaries, Filipinos who would like to convert to Buddhism find it hard to locate trained Buddhists who would help them in self-conversion.

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See also

• ▸Gilt-bronze Incense Burner of Baekje
• ▸Gebel Adda
• ▸Early modern period

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Text from Wikipedia; plate via Wikimedia Commons. Text CC BY-SA 4.0; plate freely licensed (see Commons). Source record. Images and catalogue data are reproduced from open-access collections.