Buddhism in New York City:

Height of the city’s tallest Buddha statue, housed at the Mahayana Buddhist Temple in Chinatown: 16 feet

Number of times His Holiness the Dalai Lama has visited: 9

Year that the city’s first Buddhist temple was founded (New York Buddhist Church): 1938

Estimated portion of America’s total Tibetan population in New York City: 1/3

Percentage of adults that identify as Buddhist: 1%

Distance covered by the Thai monk Phra Sutham Nateetong in a four-month peace walk from Santa Monica to New York City: 3,114 miles

Number of Buddhist Centers: 71

Number of Tricycle subscribers: 662

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View past installments of Buddhism by the Numbers: 30 Years of Tricycle, Climate Change and Pilgrimage Sites, COVID-19, The Economics of Mindfulness, Hong Kong,  Massachusetts, Australia, Oregon, New York, Armenia, Hawaii, California, Chicago

Buddhism in Chicago:

Number of Buddhist organizations, according to the World Buddhist Directory: 62

Year when the Buddhist Temple of Chicago and Midwest Buddhist Temple were founded: 1944

Year the Nine Dragon Wall, a mural made of glazed tiles, was erected in Chicago’s Chinatown: 2003

Number of Buddhist monks arrested at a PETA-sponsored “Glue-In” protest at a Chicago Starbucks in June 2022: 1

Year the Ling Shen Ching Tze Buddhist Temple was built in Chicago: 1894

The number of Buddha heads across Chicago associated with Ten Thousand Ripples, a public art project by Indira Freitas Johnson intended to promote introspection and peace in a city too often affected by violence: 100

Number of Tricycle subscribers: 249

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View past installments of Buddhism by the Numbers: 30 Years of Tricycle, Climate Change and Pilgrimage Sites, COVID-19, The Economics of Mindfulness, Hong Kong,  Massachusetts, Australia, Oregon, New York, Armenia, Hawaii, California.

Buddhism in Hong Kong:

The number of steps to the Bug Buddha, a massive bronze statue that is 112 feet tall: 268

The year the Centre of Buddhist Studies, University of Hong Jong, was established: 2000

The years that Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo and Pema Chödrön were ordained in Hong Kong: 1973 & 1981

Of the 34 Buddhist centers in Hong Kong listed on BuddhaNet: 10 Mahayana, 6 Theravada, 14 Tibetan, 4 Nonsectarian

The number of people arrested during the 2019-2020 protests against tighter national security laws: 10,200

The number of exhibitors at Art Basel Hong Kong 2022: 130 galleries, 28 countries

Number of Tricycle subscribers: 22

View past installments of Buddhism by the Numbers: 30 Years of Tricycle, Climate Change and Pilgrimage Sites, COVID-19, The Economics of Mindfulness, Massachusetts, Australia, Oregon, New York, Armenia, Hawaii, California.

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Data from Buddhanet’s World Buddhist Directory, Alliance for Bhikkhunis, Buddhistdoor Global, The Hindu, and The Guardian

Buddhism in Massachusetts:

Percentage of adults who meditate at least once a week: 31%

Number of Buddhist organizations: 90

Year that Sharon Salzberg, Jack Kornfield, and Joseph Goldstein founded the Insight Meditation Society in Barre: 1975

Year that the New England Peace Pagoda, the first of Japanese monk Nichidatsu Fujii’s shrines to world peace in the US, was constructed in Leverett: 1985

Year that The Dial published a translated excerpt from the Lotus Sutra: 1844

Year of the Dalai Lama’s first visit to Boston: 1991

Percentage of Buddhist adults: 1%

View past installments of Buddhism by the Numbers: 30 Years of Tricycle, Climate Change and Pilgrimage Sites, COVID-19, The Economics of Mindfulness, Australia, Oregon, New York, Armenia, Hawaii, California.

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Data from BuddhaNet’s World Buddhist Directory, Pew Research Center, New England Peace Pagoda, Insight Meditation Society, and The Boston Globe

Buddhism in Oregon:

• Number of times a bell is rung to begin the annual Portland Buddhist Festival in Colonel Summers Park: 108
• Year Yangsi Rinpoche founded Maitripa College in Portland: 2005
• Year of Dalai Lama’s first visit: 2001
• Percentage of Buddhist Adults: <1%
• Number of Buddhist centers: 70
• Percentage of adults who meditate at least once a week: 39%
• Size of Bhod Khang, headquarters of the Northwest Tibetan Cultural Association in NE Portland: 17,000 sq. ft.
• Number of Tricycle subscribers: 798

View past installments of Buddhism by the Numbers: 30 Years of Tricycle, Climate Change and Pilgrimage Sites, COVID-19, The Economics of Mindfulness, New York, Armenia, Hawaii, California, Virginia, Kentucky, South Korea, and the African Great Lakes Region.

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Data from BuddhaNet’s World Buddhist Directory, Portland Buddhist Festival, The Oregonian, Maitripa College, The New York Times, Pew Research Center, Northwest Dharma Association

Buddhism in Armenia:

• Portion of the population that identifies as Buddhist: < 0.1%
• Single­-religion households: 96%
• Year the Armenian constitution was amended to allow freedom of religion: 2005 (The Armenian Apostalic Church remains the national church, however, and enjoys privileges that other groups do not.)
• Total number of people who attended meditation workshops given by Thai monk Luang Phi John Paramai when he visited three Armenian cities in 2017 : 250
• Number of 10-­day Vipassana retreats planned this year: 4
• Members of a free meditation group in Yerevan, Armenia’s capital city: 32
• Number of Tricycle subscribers: 0

View past installments of Buddhism by the Numbers: Climate Change and Pilgrimage Sites, COVID-19, The Economics of Mindfulness, Hawaii, California, Virginia, Kentucky, South Korea, and the African Great Lakes Region. 

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Data from the US Department of State’s Report on International Religious Freedom, the Pew Research Center, Vipassana in Armenia, the Peace Revolution Project, and Meetup.