Talk:Buddhist world

The subject is very unclear

Dear colleague @Josephite 25: The first sentence contains three terms ostensibly based on the book by Harvey. The book is available and searchable, . As far as I can tell, there is no mention in this book of the terms Buddhist cultural sphere and Buddhist Sangha, the term "Buddhist world" is used only three times without an attempt to define it. What is the topic of this article? Unlike Islamic or Christian worlds, the East Asia does not have a common religion, as noticed, for example, in

• Kin, Bunkyo (2021-04-06). Literary Sinitic and East Asia: A Cultural Sphere of Vernacular Reading. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-43730-2. Unlike the Christian and Islamic cultural spheres, one cannot represent East Asia as a "single religion-based" cultural sphere-for example, as either a Confucian or Buddhist cultural sphere.

How did United States and Canada with Australia get into Buddhist world on the map? What are the sources for that? Викидим (talk) 08:52, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

@Викидим

Dear colleague,

Thank you for your careful reading and for raising these points.

I think there is a bit of misunderstanding about the aim of the article. The term “Buddhist world” is not meant to be a strict or formally defined category like the “Islamic world” or “Christian world.” It is used in a broader, descriptive sense to refer to regions that have been historically influenced by Buddhism.

You are right that Peter Harvey does not define terms like “Buddhist cultural sphere,” and the wording in the lead can be improved so it does not suggest that. I will fix that and add clearer sources where needed.

The point from Kin (2021) is valid, but it does not contradict the article. East Asia is not a single religion-based sphere, but Buddhism is still one of its major historical influences. The article should reflect that balance more clearly.

Regarding the United States, Canada, and Australia: their inclusion is meant to show the modern global spread of Buddhism. However, I agree that this is not clearly explained in the current version. These should be distinguished from historically Buddhist regions to avoid confusion.

I will:

improve the wording in the lead,

add better sources,

and clarify the map so the distinction is clear.

The topic itself—Buddhism as a historical and global cultural presence—is valid. The issue here is clarity, not the existence of the topic. Star Rider X ❯❯❯ 💌 17:29, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

Dear colleague, please do not use the machine-generated text (like the one above) when discussing issues with human editors on Wikipedia. See WP:LLMTALK for details. Викидим (talk) 18:28, 17 March 2026 (UTC)