Vad händer när yogamattor rullas ut i kyrkorummet, när meditation leds under valv prydda av ikoner och när stillhet, andning och rörelse blir en del av församlingens vardag? I Svenska kyrkan har kroppsliga praktiker som yoga, meditation och dans under de senaste decennierna blivit allt vanligare – och de väcker frågor om hur kyrka, kropp och andlighet förstås i en samtida folkkyrklig kontext.Denna bok analyserar hur nya andliga praktiker formas, tolkas och ges legitimitet inom Svenska kyrkan. Med etnografiskt material, textanalys och teologisk reflektion undersöks hur praktikerna ramas in i kyrkliga miljöer, hur de förstås av deltagare, ledare och kyrkoherdar, samt hur de relateras till teologiska traditioner och samtida forskning.Genom begrepp som religiös sammanflätning och immanent vändning bidrar boken till forskningen om levd religion och till samtida diskussioner om folkkyrkans former, gränser och självförståelse. Boken vänder sig till studenter och forskare inom teologi och religionsvetenskap, liksom till yrkesverksamma inom kyrka och omsorg, och till läsare med intresse för religion, kropp och andlighet i dagens samhälle.

This article examines the emergence of a range of new spiritual practices reshaping traditional religious expressions within Nordic Lutheran churches over the last fifty years. These holistic practices, which include meditation, yoga, sacred dance, and other creative forms of expression, integrate influences from Eastern traditions, folk religiosity including New Age practices, and secular approaches to wellbeing. Rather than existing as peripheral or fringe phenomena, these innovative practices have been woven into daily church life, serving not only as vehicles for spiritual progress but as expressions of holistic care and community building. The article argues that these practices are part of an ‘immanent turn’ in Protestant spirituality that has been ongoing since the 1970s. By adopting a bottom-up, lived religion perspective, the study challenges conventional top-down theological frameworks. It shows that when the focus shifts to laypeople’s everyday practices in local parishes, Lutheran Christian practice is revealed to be more flexible, inclusive, and deeply connected with embodied experiential spirituality. This approach encourages a rethinking of how Lutheran Protestantism is conceptualized, highlighting the importance of personal bodily centred experiences in the pursuit of engagement in the world and the ongoing evolution of church practice in contemporary society.

This chapter explores the development of Buddhism in Sweden. It highlights early teachers and the influence of migration, particularly from Vietnamese, Chinese and Thai communities. The impact of Swedish legislation on religious organisations is discussed, along with the secularisation and re-sacralisation of practices like meditation and yoga. Using a methodological perspective of lived religion, the chapter emphasises personal narratives that illustrate the interplay between personal experiences and institutionalised forms of Buddhism. The chapter also addresses challenges posed by changing demographics, including secularisation among second-generation Buddhists, particularly in mixed marriages. The chapter also identifies research gaps.

This book provides new unprecedented research on Buddhism in the five Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Aiming at comparisons between the different Nordic countries, the chapters identify possible unique characteristics of Nordic Buddhism. Buddhism in the Nordic Countries contributes to the growing literature on Buddhism in the West. Identifying a number of similar cultural and social trends that have been at work in the Nordic countries, the book shows that these have favoured the growth of Buddhism in northern Europe. The chapters on each of the Nordic countries describe the establishment of the main Buddhist traditions in the country, temple institutions, monasteries, demography, estimation on the number of Buddhists, geography, economy and funding. They discuss tensions between ethnic Buddhist and converts, if any, and controlling mechanisms of who is a proper Buddhist and how Buddhism should be presented in public space, about societal tensions. The contributors analyse representation in media and images of Buddhism in popular culture and present relevant scholarly interest in Buddhism. Additionally, the book includes chapters on significant Buddhist individuals in the Nordic countries who have played major roles in the development of Buddhism. The first book to examine the characteristics of Nordic Buddhism, its connection to the ideology of the Nordic welfare society and to establish if Nordic Buddhism might differ from other forms of Buddhism, this work will be of interest to researchers in the field of Religious Studies, religion in context and Buddhist Studies

Buddhism has been present in the Nordic countries for centuries, from the small bronze Buddha statues of the sixth century to contemporary Thai temples and mindfulness practitioners. The Nordic context has significantly shaped the culture and organisational forms of this growing minority religion, where approximately 200,000 Buddhists practise or belong to a variety of groups, with migrants and descendants from Asian countries representing the vast majority. The conclusion summarises key findings from all chapters, highlighting common trends across the five Nordic countries and proposing questions for future research on Nordic Buddhism.

The introductory chapter outlines the book’s objectives and provides an overview of the Nordic context, arguing that the Nordic countries can be seen as a shared cultural region. It discusses common features such as the historical dominance of Lutheranism, the Nordic welfare state model, religious legislation, the financing of religion and the processes of secularisation and pluralisation. The chapter also explores early encounters with Buddhism, including Buddhist artefacts, texts and interactions with Buddhists in Asia. Additionally, it examines the contemporary presence of Buddhism in the Nordic countries, offering overviews of Buddhist organisations and the demographic landscape of Buddhism in each Nordic country.