Russia launches Buddhist
messenger service for 500 million users
June 1,
2016 KIRA EGOROVA, RBTH
Russia is home to approximately one million
Buddhists.
A new messenger service that seeks to unite 500
million Buddhists all around the world will be launched in
Kalmykia, a Russian region with a large Buddhist population,
the NSN
news agency reported on May
26. Approximately $1 million will be invested in the project.
The main investor and creator of the project is the former
President of Kalmykia, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.
He has already
developed the application for the App
Store and Google Play.
“It is similar to other messengers: free, capable of
sending video, mail, making phone calls,” Ilyumzhinov said.
“Additionally it will disseminate sermons from Buddhist
patriarchs.”
Initially, the messenger service was scheduled to be
launched in May to coincide with Gautama Buddha’s birthday. It has
been postponed until summer, when the 14th Dalai Lama celebrates
his 81st birthday, which is on July 6.
The Dalai Lama's opinion was taken into account
during the creation of the application, according to Ilyumzhinov.
He said that the concept of a Buddhist messenger occurred to him
while he was speaking at an international conference in Thailand
three years ago.
“When I saw [so many] people sitting in front of me
in the lotus position, the idea flashed through my mind,” he
said.