The Buddhist community as a specific social group

The article is devoted to the identification of specific features of a new social group, formed in the Buddhist regions of the country and called a Buddhist community. Basic provisions defining its social significance and role in public life of the region are singled out. The study showed that according to the social composition the pilgrims differ, first of all, in three parameters: demographic (age), occupation and place of residence. The main general factor for the pilgrims themselves (laity Buddhists) and Buddhist clergy is value-moral. In addition, Buddhist religious organizations are becoming centers of increasing attention to the Buryat language, culture, and taking radical measures to protect them. We note that a religious situation in the country depends on the state policy. At the same time, there is a tendency to consolidate the alliance of state power and faiths as a kind of ideological basis for implementation of the state policy. The article cites the facts of active participation of Buddhist clergymen in elections, in public life. We draw a conclusion that in post-Soviet Russia the factors influencing the political activity of Buddhism have become more complicated, but at the core they have remained the same. The pragmatic approach of the Russian state, which seeks to ensure that Buddhist organizations act in the interests of state power, continues to dominate.