By Chiara Mascarello and Francesco Tormen
The conference marking the 50th anniversary of the European Buddhist Union set the course for European Buddhism between memory, renewal, and ethical responsibility.
Vienna, April 25, 2025
Fifty years after its foundation, the European Buddhist Union celebrated its anniversary with a forward-looking perspective. The conference, titled Buddhism 2075: Shaping the Identity of European Buddhism, held at the Public Educational Centre in Vienna, turned out to be a bold, multidimensional reflection on the future of Buddhism in Europe.
Organized in collaboration with the Study Center of the Italian Buddhist Union, which provided scientific and planning support, and with the Austrian Buddhist Union, the generous host of the initiative, the conference brought together some of the most significant voices in contemporary Buddhism to explore what shape it might take in the next fifty years on European soil. The day revolved around three essential questions: three thematic sessions, three spaces for critical dialogue, all in an atmosphere of lively interaction with the audience.
An international panel for a transforming identity
The proceedings were led by five key figures in the international Buddhist landscape:
- Stephen Batchelor, British writer, known for his secular and philosophical reinterpretation of the Dharma;
- Bhikkhunī Dhammadinnā, Italian nun and scholar, expert in ancient texts and director of the Āgama Research Group;
- Peter D. Hershock, philosopher, director of the Humane AI program at the East-West Center (Honolulu, Hawaii), engaged in dialogue between Buddhism and technology;
- Gábor Karsai, philosopher, rector of the Dharma Gate Buddhist College in Budapest and Managing Director of Mind & Life Europe;
- Ioana Spataru, young activist and leader of the Buddhist Youth of the Austrian Buddhist Union, with a background in human rights and anthropology.
The composition of the panel — transgenerational, intercultural, and interdisciplinary — was itself an example of the plurality and creative tensions that shape Buddhism in Europe today.
Session I — How can European Buddhism relate to modernity?
The first topic addressed a central question: can Buddhism, born in a premodern and Asian context, truly take root in the heart of a secularized, science-based European society without betraying its nature?
European Buddhism is still in its formative stage. While in Asian contexts the cultural integration of the Dharma took centuries, in Europe it has been only fifty years. The idea that Buddhism must “purge” itself of all metaphysics in order to adapt to contemporary thinking was seen as inadequate: concepts such as karma and rebirth, often regarded as cultural obstacles, remain for many practitioners valuable tools for growth and reflection — particularly among younger generations.
Much attention was given to dialogue with science. Although science shares with Buddhism an experimental approach that intrigues many young people, it struggles to address consciousness as an object of study. This, the speakers suggested, offers Buddhism an opportunity to provide complementary knowledge — not in opposition but in dialogue with science — through phenomenological and contemplative tools rooted in lived experience. The conversation revealed the need for a shift: practitioners must move beyond a psychological-individualist concept of identity and toward conscious, social, and collective forms of agency.
Session II — How can European Buddhism be “engaged”?
The challenge is to reinterpret the issues of our time through the wise lens of Dharma.
If the first session addressed the philosophical identity of European Buddhism, the second focused on its ethical dimension: can Buddhism be an active force in society without betraying its contemplative vocation?
The debate on “engaged Buddhism,” a concept coined in the 20th century, sparked a lively and participatory discussion. The speakers recalled that, historically, Buddhism has always been embedded in the world, and the idea of a “non-engaged Buddhism” is a recent construct. Yet the need was stressed to distinguish between conscious engagement and ideological militancy, avoiding the political or identity-based use of the Dharma, which would contradict its founding principles: interdependence, compassion, non-violence.
Bhikkhunī Dhammadinnā pointed out that European Buddhism often remains confined to privileged contexts, hardly representative of marginalized groups. The absence of migrants or economically disadvantaged people in Buddhist centers raises crucial questions: who is excluded, and why? Ioana Spataru responded forcefully: spiritual practice is inseparable from commitment to social justice, climate, and relationships — a vision of engaged Buddhism as mindful action, not reactive, capable of facing complexity without succumbing to polarization or political reductionism.
Session III — Is a European Sangha possible?
The third and final session addressed a profound question: in a landscape shaped by religious pluralism, individualism, and constant mobility, is it realistic to imagine the formation of a European sangha?
Today, sangha is understood as a complex network of relationships between monastics and lay practitioners united in spiritual pursuit. Yet in Europe this fabric appears fragmented: different traditions — Zen, Theravāda, Tibetan — often coexist in the same cities but communicate little with one another, and Asian migrant-founded communities and European convert communities rarely interact. The precarious condition of monastic communities was also highlighted, and rebuilding the traditional alliance between monastics and laypeople, in new and contextualized ways, was identified as a crucial call for the future of European Buddhism.
While a fully unified sangha has never existed in Asia either, today there is a felt need to imagine a plural, interconnected community capable of fostering belonging that transcends ritual or doctrinal differences. As Gábor Karsai noted, what unites practitioners is a shared atmosphere of stillness, kindness, and presence. The hope is for new spaces of encounter between traditions: places to meet, share experiences, and build common projects.
An identity to imagine together
The Buddhism 2075 conference revealed European Buddhism as an open construction site. Certainties, language, and habits must be reconsidered within a tradition that is not reduced to rigid loyalty to the past, but lives in its ability to respond to the present and open to the future.
Without the younger generations, European Buddhism has no future. They do not seek Buddhism as a mere technique for individual well-being or a spiritual trend; they ask for coherence, depth, and tools to interpret the world. The conference showed that dialogue is not just a strategy: it is already a form of practice — and one that should become a regular appointment, not limited to Europe. A living network of mindful relationships, where the principle of interdependence is a shared experience.
About the authors
Prof. Chiara Mascarello holds a research grant at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, where she also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Tibetan Language and co-directs the Italian Buddhist Union’s Research Center. Her research focuses on the Indo-Tibetan contemplative tradition, the nature of mind, and mind training.
Prof. Francesco Tormen is an Adjunct Professor of Tibetan Language and Literature at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and Co-Director of the Italian Buddhist Union’s Research Center. He has published on Madhyamaka philosophy and Tibetan contemplative practices, and explores Buddhism’s relationship with Posthumanism and Transhumanism.
This article first appeared in EBU Magazine #14 – Celebrating 50 Years of the European Buddhist Union (Winter 2025). Download the full issue as PDF or browse all issues.