Largest Buddhist temple in Europe opens in Rome

[WisdomBeing]

Wonderful news to share about the opening of this temple in Rome! Talk about opening in the heart of Catholicism! I must say that Italy is pretty progressive. i did not know that Rome was also the location of the biggest mosque in Europe! It kind of puts the rest of Europe to shame! I was also surprised to learn that the first Chinese Buddhist temple in Europe was opened in 2005.

Other Buddhist temples of note:
Plum Village Buddhist Centre, also known as The Unified Buddhist Church, was founded in 1982 by the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh and his colleague Sister Chan Khong in the Dordogne in the south of France.

The Four Dhagpo centers in France began with Dhagpo Kagyu Ling in 1976, through which the Karma Kagyu lineage in Europe expanded in accordance with specific instructions left behind by His Holiness the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa.

Of course we must mention Samye Ling monastery in Scotland, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2007. This includes the largest Buddhist temple in western Europe. There is an associated community on Holy Isle which is owned by Samye Ling who belong to the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. The settlements on the island include the Centre for World Peace and Health and a retreat centre for nuns. Samye Ling has also established centres in more than 20 countries, including Belgium, Ireland, Poland, South Africa, Spain and Switzerland. The largest Buddhist temple in eastern Europe is the Golden Temple in Elista, the capital of Kalmykia, which was opened in December 2005.
(info extracted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_in_Europe)

03.04.2013
Largest Buddhist temple in Europe opens in Rome
http://www.wantedinrome.com/news/2002197/largest-buddhist-temple-in-europe-opens-in-rome.html

While much of the international focus was on Pope Francis delivering his first Urbi et Orbi Easter Sunday address in Piazza S. Pietro, another significant religious event was taking place in the suburbs to the east of the capital.

The largest Buddhist temple in Europe was inaugurated in Rome on 31 March in the presence of the city's mayor Gianni Alemanno, thousands of members of the capital's Chinese community, and Tibetan monks.

Located between warehouses on Via Omo in the Tor Tre Teste area, the “Hua Yi Si” temple is designed in the style of a pagoda.

It was funded by the city's Chinese community which Alemanno described as growing "in peace and harmony with the rest of Rome".

Alemanno hailed the temple as "another record of religious tolerance in our city. We already have the largest mosque in Europe and now this Buddhist temple."

The Chinese community living in the city and province of Rome is estimated to number between 5,000 and 7,000 people, with most of them coming from a specific area of ??the Zhejiang province in southern China.

In 2005 the first Chinese Buddhist temple in Europe opened on Via Ferruccio 8, near Piazza Vittorio in the Esquilino area of the city.

The Mosque of Rome is located in the Acqua Acetosa area, at the foot of the Monti Parioli, and it is also the seat of the Italian Islamic Cultural Centre. Designed by Italian architect Paolo Portoghesi, the project was financed by 23 Muslim countries including its main sponsor Saudi Arabia, and was inaugurated in 1995.

[Big Uncle]

The temple is interesting but I think what would be interesting for Rome would be to have the biggest temple to Dorje Shugden in Europe. However, having big temples is beautiful and provides a good place for Buddhists to pray but it would not be good if there's little Sangha members or no Sangha members at all. It is the monks that keep the spirit of Buddhism alive because of the vows they uphold and their total dedication to the Dharma. Well, on top of that, I am sure having a large Dorje Shugden temple will have a powerful effect on making the Dharma grow in Europe and beyond.

[RedLantern]

Rome has the largest mosque in Europe and now the largest Buddhist Temple,it is a record of religious tolerance in their city.
Buddhism is a cooperative endeavor,and people practice together and learn together,not because they share a belief but because they know the practice is difficult at times and there are hurdles that are difficult to overcome on one's own.We are who we are and our various cultures influence who we are.
That's one of the benefits of Buddhism in that you can maintain your culture while still living the teachings of the Buddha.

[kris]

So happy to hear big temple in Europe, more so in Rome It is a pity the link didn't have more photos. I googled this temple a bit but I can't find much information/photo. May be the websites are in Italian and that's why the search results didn't show up?

Can anyone help to find more photos about this temple?

Also, agreed with Big Uncle, it would be even better if this is the biggest Dorje Shugden temple in Europe

[fruven]

The local Buddhist Chinese community does have strong faith to support and finance the building of a Buddhist temple. Such faith doesn't come overnight. They have to get the land, do the paperwork, make the architectural plan, manages the construction, furnish it, and run the temple. It requires tremendous resources and time contributing towards it. It is definitely a group effort to the success of building such a large temple.

It would be cool to have more pictures. 

[DS Star]

The fact is that Rome, or rather Europe, had very early interaction with Buddhism since between 22 BC and 13 CE where an embassy was sent by the "Indian king "Porus" to Caesar Augustus.

"The embassy was travelling with a diplomatic letter on a skin in Greek, and one of its members was a sramana who burned himself alive in Athens to demonstrate his faith. The event made a sensation and was described by Nicolaus of Damascus, who met the embassy at Antioch (near present day Antakya in Turkey) and related by Strabo (XV,1,73 [1]) and Dio Cassius (liv, 9). A tomb was made to the sramana, still visible in the time of Plutarch, which bore the mention:

" ?? ??"
("Zarmanochegas from Barygaza in India") "


Considering the strong 'presence' of Buddhist influence' within the religions of Europe i.e. Christianity & Catholicism, it actually took too long to have a large Buddhist Temple built in Italy.

[pgdharma]

This is something to rejoice; to know that Rome has the largest mosque and the largest Buddhist temple in Europe. This show religious tolerance even in a western country where Christianity is the main religion.

European contact with Buddhism first began after Alexander the Great's conquest of northwestern India in the 3rd century and there are now between 1 and 4 million Buddhists in Europe with  the majority in Germany, Italy, France and the United Kingdom. It will be great if there is a big Dorje Shugden Temple  there as well

[WisdomBeing]

Actually why not? Perhaps HE Gangchen Rinpoche may build a huge Dorje Shugden Temple there, since his base is in Italy. It is interesting though that Gangchen Rinpoche does not publicly promote Dorje Shugden even though he is most definitely one of the most well known Shugden lamas in the world. Instead, he promotes healing and Peace which are more universally accepted. Perhaps he is being respectful of the Dalai Lama? I have not heard him to say anything negative about the Dalai Lama ever.

[samayakeeper]

Actually why not? Perhaps HE Gangchen Rinpoche may build a huge Dorje Shugden Temple there, since his base is in Italy. It is interesting though that Gangchen Rinpoche does not publicly promote Dorje Shugden even though he is most definitely one of the most well known Shugden lamas in the world. Instead, he promotes healing and Peace which are more universally accepted. Perhaps he is being respectful of the Dalai Lama? I have not heard him to say anything negative about the Dalai Lama ever.

Who knows??? A big monastery dedicated to Dorje Shugden may be in the offing in Rome, Switzerland.......
That would be really cool!

[Jessie Fong]

While the Pope was delivering his Easter Sunday address, the largest Buddhist temple in Europe was opened in Rome, amidst the celebrations for Easter.

There are about 7,000 Chinese residing in Rome.  The temple was opened in the present of the mayor of Rome, with members of Rome's Chinese community and some Tibetan monks.

The temple is designed in the style of a pagoda.  Funding came from the Chinese community most of whom origination from Zhejiang, Southern China.

Rome is now the seat of the largest Buddhist temple in Europe, the largest mosque and also houses the first Chinese Buddhist temple in Europe. 

May there be more large religious buildings be constructed in/around Rome, where so much religious tolerance is present.

[rossoneri]

This is a very good, as this could be a start and is a sign for Buddhism beginning to spread in the headquarter's of Catholic. Let's just hope that the in the near future Gangchen Rinpoche will give teachings to all the Romans and one day there will be a huge Dorje Shugden temple in the city just like what Big Uncle said.

[diablo1974]

Its nice to see a Chinese Buddhist architecture in a catholic country in Rome.  i believe there are people who are in need of a place to worship although the country is a catholic country. Its very nice to see Rome giving religious freedom to their native countryman. in time to come, not only the chinese will go to the temple but many local Rome Caucasians will visit and more temples/centres of different Buddhist tradition will open in and out of Rome.

[bambi]

Interesting! Indeed good news! You may be right samayakeeper, for all we know, there could be a Shugden largest temple coming soon in Rome! And wisdombeing, you are right too, Gangchen Rinpoche should build a huge Shugden temple there! I do hope that temples and Dharma continue to grow in Europe and every where else!