The Panam Buddhist Mission is an endearing legacy of the Toronto Panam and Parapan Am Games -- the largest sporting event ever held in the Americas. It was called "the biggest attraction" in the Athlete's Village by the National Post and went on to be visited by some of Canada's most influential leaders. However, some people felt that the Panam Buddhist Mission was exclusively catering to Olympians and Panam Athletes and so we had to rebrand to be "less elitest and more inclusive" to all members of society. That is why we started using Samurai Center as our main handle -- especially as we are blessed to be the only North American organization to be linked to the Samurai of Japan - who were the greatest patrons and protectors of non-denominational Sino-Japanese Buddhism which is the biggest sect of Buddhism worldwide. Even today, most famous Buddhist temples in Japan carry Samurai insignia and emblems on their doors, temple walls and even on the altars to show the close connection between the Samurai and Buddhism.

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The Panam Buddhist Mission and Samurai Center promote Samurai Buddhism or non-denominational East Asian (Mahayana) Buddhism by maintaining a temple with one of the world's most important Buddhist altars -- with ancient Buddha statues going back 2000 years. However, we also aim to make Buddhism cool and relevant to those who do not visit temples and monasteries. Therefore we have represented Buddhism and the Samurai culture at the world's top forums -- from the Olympic Games & Canadian Legislature -- to the US Congress & Faith Council that liaisons with the White House. Furthermore, inspired by Samurai Sempo Sugihara who on behalf of the Govt of Japan saved 6000 Jewish families or 100,000 Jews during the Holocaust, we fight for human rights and against antisemitism as well as bigotry in all forms, and we even organized the first Multifaith Commemoration of the Holocaust in association with the Simon Wiesenthal Center. The Samurai stood for Bushido qualities the world is losing today -- Honor, Compassion, Courage, Respect, Loyalty, Truth and Justice. They were engaged Buddhists who believed in promoting Buddhist wisdom, compassion and heroism in the real world. That is why we work to empower the vulnerable and marginalized -- from prisoners and pensioners to dalits and untouchables. 

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Our offices are located in the historic Samurai neighbourhood of Tokyo and in the prestigious Bay Street financial core of Toronto --making us the first and only Buddhist Samurai Center outside of Japan. We also house an unrivalled Buddhist Samurai Museum with one of the world's largest collections of Samurai and Buddhist objects and artifacts outside of any major museum -- and our Buddhist, Samurai and Asian Art Exhibit sponsored by the Govt of Canada and attended by the Lt. Governor on behalf of the Queen, as well as Indian and Japanese Diplomats, was dubbed the "most successful ever held in Canada". Furthermore, we set records at the Olympics and the Panam Games by teaching Buddhism and Bushido to a record number of medalists. In addition, we house a Samurai Buddhist Temple to continue the Buddhist traditions of the Samurai of Japan, Shaolin of China and Hwarang of Korea -- though we also welcome Buddhists of all sects and traditions from Tibet to Bangladesh.

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Furthermore, you can visit our sub-sites like Dalits.net and RevNio.org 

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