In October, the Second International Scientific and Practical Conference "Vajrayana Buddhism in Russia: from Contacts to Interaction"was held in Moscow at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences on Rozhdestvenka.

It was organized by the Russian Association of Karma Kagyu Buddhists with the support of the Center for Cultural Studies of the Faculty of Philosophy of St. Petersburg State University, the Center for Philosophical Comparative Studies and Social and Humanitarian Studies of St. Petersburg State University, the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Committee for Relations with Religious Organizations of the City of Moscow.

The conference was attended by more than 100 scientists from Russia, Great Britain, Germany, Denmark, India, Spain, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, Ukraine, and France.

At the plenary session, members of the Presidium noted that the development of interaction between scientists, representatives of various schools of Buddhism and government representatives is very necessary in modern conditions. The conference participants discussed a wide range of issues related to the history of Buddhism in Russia, considered the mechanisms for institutionalizing the dialogue of cultures in Russia, as well as philosophical, artistic, aesthetic, socio-religious and other aspects of intercultural dialogue.

Of particular interest was the discussion of the problems of religious education in Russian schools and higher educational institutions, which took place within the framework of the round table "Buddhist Education in Russia: yesterday and today". Today in Russia, Buddhism is one of the four traditional confessions (originally practiced in such regions of Russia as Buryatia, Kalmykia and Tuva). According to the latest census of the population in Russia, 900 thousand people declared their belonging to the Buddhist religion. citizens of our country.

In his speech, co-chair of the conference A. M. Alekseev-Apraksin noted:: "Today, perhaps, there is not a single sphere of human activity that is not directly or indirectly connected with cross-cultural interaction. The relevance of this topic on a global scale is evidenced by the fact that UNESCO has declared 2010 the Year of Intercultural Rapprochement. The problem of interaction is no less important for today's multinational and multi-confessional Russia, which is actively involved in global processes, trying to recreate the history of cultural continuity, get away from ideological cliches, find semantic and value orientations, and form vectors of goals and priorities for future development."

(For more information about the conference program, please visit: www.vadjra-conference.buddhism.ru)

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