Development of Buddhism in Uganda: Successes, Failures and Opportunities

 By

Jacob Waiswa♣, formerly associated to Uganda Buddhist Center as Mindfulness Research and Development Associate.

Introduction

There existed behavioural aspects, philosophies, educational fields that either borrowed or shared critical aspects of Buddhism, like meditation and yoga, on which some aspects of our culture, personal and community expectations thrived on.

Purpose: establish the successes, failures, and opportunities of Buddhism in Uganda.

Specific Objectives: find out how Buddhism took root in Uganda, to identify its successes, challenges, and opportunities.

Findings:

Buddhism Roots in Uganda: it is widely believed that Buddhism was officially introduced in Uganda in 2005 by Venerable Buddharakhita Bhante, the monk of African decent. Successes: it provided room for diverse sections of people and diagnostic solutions to numerous ailments. Challenges: there was lack of local leadership to organise and facilitate humanitarian interests. Opportunities: Buddhism was highly permeable because of it all-embracing and all-respecting nature.

Conclusion: the biggest challenge at hand was lack of local leadership to organize community interests and direct them for the general good. There is, thus, a need to provide leadership and funding to the Buddhist interests in Uganda so that its presence can be felt truly by the local communities.