By Ven. U Thitinyana, Myanmar, 1997

      Before the 19th century, France, like the rest of the Western world, had only fragments of knowledge of the Buddha and his teachings. In 1845 the French scholar Eugene Burnouf set the wheel of Buddhist scholarship rolling in Western Europe with the publication of his Introduction a l'histoire du Bouddhisme indien. With this work, and his later translations of Mahayana texts, Burnouf became the pioneer of a generation of French orientalists who, during the second half of the 19th century, introduced the Western world to the Buddha's teachings. Among the most well- known we find Sylvain Levi (1863-1935), Alfred Foucher (1865-1952), Stanislas Julien (1865- 1952), Edouard Chavannes (1865-1918), and Paul Demieville (1894-1979).

But the credit for having done a thorough study of Buddhism and Buddhist culture from field experience, and to have written about it, rests with a French Catholic priest who spend most of his life, including his last days, in Burma.

Bishop Bigandet was born in 1813 in Doubs, eastern France. After missionary training, he was sent first to Malaysia, and then to Burma where in 1852 he became Superior of the Mission of Burma, and later Vicar Apostolic of Ava and Pegu. Bishop Bigandet is known for his monumental two-volume study, The Life or Legend of Gaudama, in which he develops a wide range of topics, such as, The Ways to Neibban, and, Notice on the Phongyies or Burmese monks. His book, which introduced a large public to Buddhism, was first published in English in Yangon in 1854, and later published in French in Paris. Bigandet died in Yangon in 1894.

Two outstanding French personalties of the 20th century, who spent much of their lives studying Buddhism in Asian countries and contributed to the introduction and dissemination of Buddhism in France were both women.

Alexandra David-Neel was born in 1868. After studying Buddhism, Sanskrit and Tibetan at the College de France in Paris, she left for Ceylon and India at the early age of twenty-two. Her fascination with Tibetan culture took her to the Himalayas, where in 1924, after eleven long years of unsuccessful attempts and harrowing experiences, she finally reached the forbidden city of Lhasa, capital of Tibet, disguised as a Tibetan pilgrim. Upon her return to France she published her first book, Souvenirs d'uneparisienne au Tibet. In 1937 she set off again, travelling this time through Siberia, Manchuria, and a China at war which she crossed by foot, finally reaching Tibet in 1939. She stayed there until her return to France in 1946. Very active and intrepid, gifted with a strong character, a practitioner of Tibetan yogas, Alexandra David-Neel wrote books that were much appreciated by a large public and have undoubtedly contributed to the arousal of interest in Buddhism in France. She passed away in 1969 at the age of 101.

Suzanne Karpeles (died 1969) was another extraordinary woman whose efforts to develop Buddhism spread over continents. A gifted scholar with a triple degree from the University of Paris in Pali, Sanskrit and Tibetan, she went to Southeast Asia to further her studies. In 1930 she persuaded the French colonial authorities to establish Buddhist Institutes in the capitals of their Asian colonies. One was founded in Vientiane, Laos, and a second in Pnom Penh, Cambodia. For twenty years she acted as General Secretary of both Institutes. She will always be remembered in Theravada countries for having initiated, supervised, and brought to completion the printing of the Theravada Tipitaka, both in Pali and in the Khmer language.

In her own country, Suzanne Karpeles was very active in the first French Buddhist association "Les amis du bouddhisme" G. C. Lounsbery[Friends of Buddhism], founded in 1929 by a well-known expatriate American woman,. This association had a strong leaning for Theravada Buddhism, and in the 1930's organised a series of lectures on Buddhism at the Sorbonne University in Paris, as well as the publication of French books on Buddhism, among them some pioneering works on meditation.

THE SPREAD OF BUDDHISM IN FRANCE

We have to wait, however, until the second half of the 1960's and first half of the 1970's to witness a real implantation of Buddhism in France and an interest in its practice. Several unrelated factors combined during that decade to allow for the growth of Buddhism and the birth of a widespread interest in the practice of meditation in France.

The first and most important factor was the malaise many of the youth and young intellectuals were experiencing at that time. Dissatisfied by the materialistic values of their society. and by what their religion had to offer, and unable to find any satisfactory answers to their many doubts, many young people turned their intellectual and spiritual quest towards Oriental philosophies. The rational, pragmatic, and often scientific character of Buddhism attracted many --- even if its appeal often remained intellectual.

Just as this "fertile ground" was manifesting in the hearts of the young in France, there arrived from the East the first Tibetan masters who had fled Tibet and settled in India. Their visits to France also coincided with the coming of a number of Japanese Zen masters. Meeting these Tibetan and Japanese teachers was the first direct contact the French people had with authentic Asian Buddhist masters. At about the same time tragic events in Indochina were bringing to France large numbers of refugees, most of them followers of the Theravada school.

These three traditions --- Tibetan, Japanese, Southeast Asian --- represent the present landscape of Buddhism in France.

1. TIBETAN BUDDHISM IN FRANCE

Tibetan Buddhism is today the most developed Buddhist school in France. In 1971, a great Tibetan master, Kalu Rimpoche, visited France for the first time. His spiritual influence was such that only three years later an ancient castle, le chateau de Paige in Bourgogne province, was purchased by his followers to became the first Tibetan centre in France. Many other centers were created in the following years by different Tibetan masters, such as the Kharmapa, and more recently Sogyal Rimpoche. Today all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism (Gelugpa, Kargyupa, Sakyapa, and Nyingmapa ) are represented in France, which, with 84 registered centers, is the country in Europe with the largest number of Tibetan centers. Some of these are modest urban centers: places for meetings, lectures, and visits from travelling lamas. Others, found usually in rural settings, are well established monastic communities offering a systematic training for European monks and nuns. Many Western followers of the Tibetan tradition have come to these French centers from different countries to undertake meditation retreats of various lengths, sometimes up to the traditional period of three years, three months, three weeks, and three days.

2. JAPANESE BUDDHISM

The introduction and popularization of Japanese Buddhism in France is mainly due to the influence of Zen master Taishen Deshimaru, who arrived in Paris in 1967. Penniless and unable to speak a word of French, his direct style of teaching and unconventional approach attracted many followers. Within a few years, "dojos" (Japanese meditation centers) multiplied in France and soon spread to different parts of Europe. After the master's death, in 1982, the Association Zen Internationale he had founded has remained a strong spiritual force in and outside France.

In 1991, there were already in Europe 90 centers linked to Deshimaru's Association. Deshimaru belonged to the Soto school of Zen, which stresses the practice of Zazen, (meditation). A gifted teacher, he knew how to conciliate tradition and the modern world. Deshimaru was followed by other Japanese teachers who continued to propagate the Zen tradition.

3. BUDDHISM FROM SOUTHEAST ASIA

The situation here is somewhat different: it is a Buddhism of exile, brought by and for refugees, devoid of a will to propagate. This presence --- essentially Vietnamese, Khmer (Cambodian), and Laotian --- is intimately linked with the conflicts that affected Indochina during the years 1960 - 1970, and whose outcome precipitated entire populations on the road to exile. This Buddhism is mostly Theravada, but within the Vietnamese community both Theravada and Mahayana schools are found. In a land of exile the temple or monastery is at the same time a place of worship, a centre for social activities and help, and a place for national festivities. Each center is usually established around one monk or a group of monks, themselves refugees.

Unlike their Tibetan and Japanese Zen counter parts, which are frequented almost entirely by French people, Southeast Asian Theravada Buddhist centers in France cater only for the Asian devotees who are supporting them. Most of the time they do not hold any teaching programs in the French language.

THE PRESENT STATE OF BUDDHISM IN FRANCE

Today, there are around sixty centers in France belonging to the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism, and more than forty dojos representing the Japanese Zen tradition. The Theravada is represented by more than fifty centers belonging to the Laotian, Khmer and Vietnamese communities, including some Thai and Sri Lankan centers. Altogether there are now in France more than two hundred established Buddhist centers representing all the different Buddhist traditions.

Although there are only 50,000 registered Buddhists in France, the Union Bouddhiste de France claims that there should be close to half a million Buddhists in France: 350,000 Asians and 150,000 French.

THE FUTURE OF BUDDHISM IN FRANCE

French people, like those throughout the Western world, live in a stressful environment. Unable to find peace of mind through sense pleasures or through the alternatives offered by their own religion, Catholicism, they seek methods or ways of practice to appease their mental and emotional malaise and to reach some peace of mind in their daily lives. Dissatisfied with their own organized religion, many shun any institutionalized spiritual belief, and only seek a tangible practice based on reason, which can bring peace to their hearts. Tibetan and Japanese Zen masters have successfully met their needs, and have inspired a large number of centers in their respective schools in France, centers which are --- and this is an important point---completely supported by French people. Unfortunately, this has not been the case with most Theravadin teachers as of yet, who tend to bring to their French audience their own traditional and scholastic approach, seemingly unaware of the spiritual and emotional needs of their foreign hosts.

The French government has officially recognized Buddhism as the sixth religion of France and does not hamper its development in any way. Buddhism, or more exactly, the practice of Buddhism, can only grow and develop in today's France. What is needed are skilled and learned Dhamma and meditation masters well attuned to the psychology and the spiritual needs of French people, and able to offer them a practice--- not found in their own spiritual tradition --- leading them out of their suffering and to the penetration of the Four Noble Truths.

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