DharmaNet and BDK present  

In 2005, the Society for the Promotion of Buddhism (Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai) [BDK] initiated a BDK TV Series shown in Southern California. The weekly 15-minute shows featured interviews and teachings from major American Buddhist followers and teachers.   In cooperation with BDK, DharmaNet will gradually be adding these programs to this page. Four new and different segments will be previewed each month.  We invite the world to share in the Buddha-Dharma through this new means of communication.

Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai (BDK) or the Society for the Promotion of Buddhism was founded in 1965 by international industrialist and Buddhist patron, the late Rev. Dr. Yehan Numata.  A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley in the 1920’s, Rev. Numata resolved early in his life to contribute to the furtherance of world peace and the promotion of an understanding of Buddhism.  Going on to found Mitutoyo Corporation, Rev. Numata built this company into the world’s leading manufacturer of precision measuring instruments.

First amongst Rev. Numata’s major undertakings was the publishing of “The Teaching of Buddha,” a pocket-size anthology of major Buddhist teachings which has been published in more than 40 languages with a total of more than 7 million copies distributed throughout the world to hotels, schools, hospitals and prisons.

As Buddhism continues its eastward spread from Asia, Rev. Numata’s second dream was to make all the major teachings of Buddhism available in the English language, and from these translations, the teachings could then be translated into other languages for the benefit of the world.  This is known as the “BDK English Tripitaka Series.”

A third major emphasis is in the arena of academic studies. Rev. Numata established the “Numata Chair Program in Buddhist Studies” at 14 major universities in North America and Europe, such as UC Berkeley, Harvard, Chicago, UCLA, Toronto, McGill, Oxford, Vienna, Hamburg and London which have incorporated BDK-funded programs into their respective Buddhist Studies curriculum.  Rev. Numata also established a BDK Fellowship program which coordinates an international search to bring one post-graduate student in Buddhist Studies each year to Japan to continue their studies at a Japanese university.

Rev. Dr. Yehan Numata passed away in 1994 and his dream is being carried on by his eldest son, the Rev. Toshihide Numata, who currently serves as Chairman of Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai.