Zen Buddhism in Brazil : Japanese or Brazilian?

The phenomenon of Buddhism is still very recent in Brazil. It has evolved much faster in the last decade than in the previous ones. Although much of what has been done was mirrored in the experiences of Buddhism in the United States and Europe, some of its Brazilian characteristics are already clear. Although incipient at this stage of formation, we are able to observe the merging of Buddhist teachings and rituals with non-Buddhist practices and concepts. Many practitioners had and still have a Roman Catholic background and migrated to African cults and Spiritism before finding Buddhism. A bricolage is evolving that, in due course, might create a Brazilian Zen and Brazilian Buddhism, innovatively combining the local and the global in a regionalized form of Buddhism.