The Neo-Buddhist "White Lotus" movement in search for legitimacy

ENThe White Lotus is one of the new religious movements originating from the former Soviet bloc. It started in the Ukraine at the end of the Soviet era and spread to other countries of the former Soviet Union. Based on Vajrayana Buddhism, the movement draws a lot from the post-Soviet cultic milieu for its spiritual outlook and on a mythology that integrates Vajrayana theism with a mythology about aliens that had transmitted knowledge to humans in prehistoric times. This chapter details the strategies and attempts of the movement to legitimize itself in both religious and secular societal spheres as well as provide an interpretation as to why the movement has declined in Lithuania. Research was carried out in 2002-2003 and in 2009. It included observation, taking field notes, the study of the literature produced by the movement, the available press articles and Internet materials, as well as a visit to the headquarters of the movement in Cherkassy, Ukraine. [Taylor & Francis]