ABSTRACT

When Buddhism originated in North India in the sixth century BCE, it was rapidly exported from its original cultural locality to new places, in Asia and beyond. Over many centuries, followers of various Buddhist traditions negotiated new expressions of the faith, doctrines and practices depending on their specific context. Buddhist communities in Canada are not alienated from this age-old process, and they continually need to redefine themselves in terms of the society in which they are now rooted. The primary goal of this chapter is to look at some manifestations of Buddhism in the greater Montréal region, and to underline the fact that it is composed of dynamic traditions that are anything but static – yet by no means does this chapter intend to provide a complete descriptive account of the various communities in Montréal.