Question

Why do western dharma practitioners come to Nepal to study Buddhism?

Answer 1

Buddhism first came to North America through Chinese immigrants who settled in the western parts of the United States beginning in the 1840s, as well as by North Americansand Europeans who visited Asia and brought back with them Buddhist texts.

Answer 2

Explanation:

Buddhism in Nepal started spreading since the reign of Ashoka through Indian and Tibetan missionaries. The Kiratas were the first people in Nepal who embraced Gautama Buddha’s teachings, followed by the Licchavis and Newars.[1] Buddha was born in Lumbini in the Shakya Kingdom. Lumbini is considered to lie in present-day Rupandehi district, Lumbini zone of Nepal.[2][3] Buddhism is the second-largest religion in Nepal. According to 2001 census, 10.74% of Nepal's population practiced Buddhism, consisting mainly of Tibeto-Burman-speaking ethnicities, the Newar.[4] However, in the 2011 census, the Buddhist population in Nepal was just 9% of the country population.[5] It has not been possible to assign with certainty the year in which Prince Siddhartha, the birth name of the Buddha, was born, it is usually placed at around 563 BCE.[6] In Nepal's hill and mountain regions Hinduism has absorbed Buddhist tenets to such an extent that in many cases they have shared deities as well as temples. For instance, the Muktinath Temple is sacred and a common house of worship for both Hindus and Buddhists.[7]