Buddhist group buys two closed Catholic churches

from The Buffalo News

A Buddhist group with locations across the United States and Canada has purchased two former Catholic churches in the Lovejoy section of Buffalo.

The International Sangha Bhiksu Buddhist Association paid $250,000 for the former St. Agnes Church and its accompanying buildings and $110,000 for the former Visitation Church, according filings with the Erie County clerk’s office.

The sale, in the works for months, was finalized Monday.

“I don’t know much about the group,” said Buffalo attorney Mark Peszko, who handled the closing for the buyers. “All I know is they’re going to use it for Buddhist meditation purposes.”


And from their website

The practice at this temple is an untypical mix of Chinese Zen, or Chan, and Pure Land.

"There is also a unique Vietnamese form of Buddhism which evolved in the southern provinces, and is a successful combination of Theravada and Mahayana. While much of the philosophy is Mahayana, the Sangha (monks and nuns) follow the Vinaya rules (code of ethics) quite strictly, and go on the traditional alms round every day. As for example, the Venerable Minh Dang Quang (see picture below) who was the founder of the Vietamese indigenous Buddhist order."

We are not associated with Cloud Water Zendo but this is a good explanation about this combination practice.

So there. Catholicism, it is not.

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