Buddhist monks pray at Borobudur temple on Vesak Day, commonly known as “Buddha's birthday”, at the Borobudur Mahayana Buddhist monument on May 17, 2011 in Magelang, Indonesia. (Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

A Buddhist nun walks along a path as a stupa is seen at a temple in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka October 16, 2016. (Photo by Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters)

Shokyo Miura, a Buddhist monk and one of the on-site priests, poses for pictures outside Tera Cafe in Tokyo, Japan, April 1, 2016. At first glance, the cafe, which also serves alcohol, looks like any other except for an altar next to the countertop bar with a Buddha statue set against a gold backdrop. The menu confirms this is something different. It lists classes for 1,500 yen ($14) in weaving prayer beads, calligraphy with sutras, or lines of scripture, and consultations with a Buddhist priest. (Photo by Yuya Shino/Reuters)

Buddhist nuns watch a parade during a Novitiation Ceremony at the Hlegu Township in Yangon on March 15, 2025. (Photo by Sai Aung Main/AFP Photo)

Buddhists carry a dragon-shaped lantern during a lotus lantern parade in celebration of the upcoming birthday of Buddha in Seoul, South Korea, May 7, 2016. (Photo by Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)

Buddhist monks wait for a lantern parade ahead of the upcoming birthday of Buddha at Dongguk University in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, May 11, 2024. (Photo by Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo)

A Tai Yai boy waits for a ceremony to begin at Wat Don Chedi on April 7, 2014 in Mae Hong Son, Thailand. Poy Sang Long is a Buddhist novice ordination ceremony of the Shan people or Tai Yai, an ethnic group of Shan State in Myanmar and northern Thailand. Young boys aged between 7 and 14 are ordained as novices to learn the Buddhist doctrines. It's believed that they will gain merit for their parents by ordaining. (Photo by Taylor Weidman/Getty Images)

Shan boys pray before they have their heads shaved in anticipation of their ordination in the Poy Song Long Ceremony at Wat Pa Pao in Chiang Mai, Thailand on April 3, 2018. Poy Sang Long (“The Festival of the Crystal Sons”) is a ceremony that marks a rite of passage among the Buddhist Shan people in Myanmar and northern Thailand. Boys between seven and fourteen years of age are ordained as Buddhist novices during a three day ceremony. Before the ceremony starts the boys have their heads shaved. (Photo by Jack Kurtz/ZUMA Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)