Lamaism IS a term introduced in European science to denote a set of teachings and practices of Tibetan Buddhism. This term is never used by the Buddhists themselves, but it is firmly established in the turnover of European Buddhology, because it fixes the main characteristic of the system of views designated by it-the worship of the Lama, the Teacher, as the Buddha himself.

The first evidence of the existence of Buddhism on the territory of modern Russia belong to the VIII century ad and are associated with the state of Bohai, which in 698-926 occupied part of today’s Primorye and Amur region. The Bohai people, whose culture was heavily influenced by neighboring China, Korea, and Manchuria, professed Buddhism in one of the Mahayana directions.

The second penetration of Buddhism in Russia occurred in the XVI–XVII centuries, when the nomadic tribes from Western Mongolia-themselves called Oirats, and others known as Kalmyks-came to the Volga region through Siberia. The Oirats adopted Tibetan Buddhism as early as the thirteenth century, and they received their initial initiations from the lamas of the “red-capped” Sakya and Kagyu schools. By the time they arrived in the Volga region, due to the peculiarities of the political situation in Tibet, they had mostly transferred to the Gelug school of the Dalai lamas.

Since the XVII century, Tibetan Buddhism has spread in Buryatia – it came here thanks to local ascetics who studied in Tibet, mainly in Gelug monasteries, and then brought the Teachings of the Buddha to their country.

In 1747, by decree of Empress Elizabeth, Buddhism was recognized as the official religion of the Russian Empire. It was Buddhism that took the form of Lamaism, and it is in this form that Buddhism still exists in Russia, Mongolia, and Tibet. In addition to traditional Lamaist regions, Lamaist centers exist today in many Russian cities (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, Irkutsk, etc.), as well as in America, Germany, France, Holland, etc. for Centuries, Buddhist culture has developed on the territory of Russia. The presence of two Buddhist regions within the Empire and the close proximity of other countries with Buddhist culture largely contributed to the fact that in the XIX – early XX century in Russia formed one of the world’s strongest Oriental schools. Departments of sanskritology, Tibetology, and Sinology were opened at the universities of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan, and Kharkiv, as well as other major scientific centers, and major Buddhist treatises were translated and expeditions to Asia were equipped. Works Of V. P. Vasiliev (1818-1900), F. I. Shcherbatsky (1866-1942), E. E. Obermiller (1901-1935) and other outstanding Russian Orientalists serve as a model for scientists around the world. With the active assistance of leading buddhologists and the support of the tsarist government, the Buryat Lama Agvandorgiev built a datsan (Buddhist temple) in St. Petersburg in 1915.

In the difficult 30s of the XX century there was a period of persecution of Buddhism and Buddhology as a science. Many lamas and monks died in the camps, and most temples and monasteries were closed or destroyed. For almost two decades, any Buddhist research in Russia completely stopped.

A partial revival of Buddhism and the Buddhist tradition began in the 50s and 60s, but they were officially rehabilitated only at the turn of the 80s and 90s. In 1989, a group of Buddhist Saint-Petersburg branch of the Institute of Oriental studies under the leadership of V. I. Rudy – the first since stcherbatsky Buddhist formalized direction. Since then, there have also been other departments and departments of Buddhology in several universities, and the process of restoring Oriental science in General is moving faster. At the same time in Buryatia, Kalmykia, Tuva remaining Buddhist temples were restored and new, in monasteries schools were established, invited a Tibetan teacher. Currently, many Buddhist schools are represented in Russia: Theravada, Japanese and Korean Zen, several areas of Mahayana and almost all existing schools of Tibetan Buddhism in the world. According to the latest census, about 900 thousand Russians call themselves Buddhists.

Today, the Russian Association of Diamond way Buddhists of Karma Kagyu Tradition is the largest Buddhist organization in the Russian Federation on representation in the regions.