Russian Buddhists revere Dmitry Medvedev as a deity, and the president seemed to live up to their expectations.
Medvedev promised financial support to the Buddhist community and to place Buddhist chaplains in the military during a visit Monday to the monastery in Ivolginsky Datsan, 30 kilometers from Buryatia’s capital, Ulan-Ude.
“We don’t need any support from abroad for that purpose. We will manage all the problems ourselves and find support to help people practicing Buddhism and to reconstruct palaces,” Medvedev said, according to a transcript of his remarks on the Kremlin’s web site.
“Russia is a special state, the only one in Europe where Buddhism is recognized as an official religion,” Medvedev said, adding that 203 Buddhist organizations are registered in the country.
He also said army units where at least 10 percent of servicemen were Buddhists would receive Buddhist clergy.
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Dmitry Astakhov / RIA-Novosti / Reuters
President Dmitry Medvedev visiting a Buddhist monastery in the village of Verkhnyaya Ivolga in Buryatia on Monday. Russian Buddhists revere Medvedev as a deity, and the president seemed to live up to their expectations, promising financial support and Buddhist chaplains in the military. |
Buddhism — which together with Russian Orthodoxy, Islam and Judaism share the special status of “traditional” faiths under federal law — is widespread in the republics of Buryatia, Kalmykia and Tuva. Last month, Medvedev signed a decree supporting the study of religion in schools and the hiring of military chaplains from the four faiths. A senior Buddhist clergyman will work with the Defense Ministry to help implement the military program.
State television showed monks wrapped in yellow and red robes and holding blue and white silk scarves welcoming Medvedev, dressed in his trademark dark-blue suit, at the monastery.
Russia’s Buddhist leader, Pandito Khambo Lama Damba Ayusheyev, showed Medvedev around the monastery, the biggest Buddhism center in Russia, and they drank tea together.
“For many centuries we, the Buddhists of Russia, have backed our country’s government,” Ayusheyev said.
Answering journalists’ questions about whether Russian Buddhists recognize Medvedev as White Tara, a top Buddhist goddess also known as the Wish-Fulfilling Wheel, Ayusheyev said that “this is a difficult thing to explain to non-Buddhists,” Interfax reported.
“The leader of this country is a man who bears a very serious responsibility for others,” Ayusheyev said. “The Buddhists must support him, identifying him as a deity.”
Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported Monday that the monks were planning to hold a special sacred ceremony for Medvedev that recognized him as the White Tara deity. The report said, citing monastery head Dagba Ochirov, a White Tara throne was constructed specially for Medvedev. It said details of the ceremony were secret.
The Kremlin had no immediate comment on the report.
Medvedev has said he is a fan of yoga, which is intimately connected to the religious beliefs and practices of Buddhism. He said in an interview before being elected president that he became interested in yoga with the encouragement of his wife, Svetlana.