Buddhism in the West broadly encompasses the knowledge and practice of Buddhism outside of Asia. Occasional intersections between Western civilization and the Buddhist world have been occurring for thousands of years, but it was not until the era of European colonization of Buddhist countries in Asia during the 19th century that detailed knowledge of Buddhism became available to large numbers of people in the west as a result of accompanying scholarly endeavours. Increasing numbers of westerners began converting to Buddhism in the mid-20th century due to the wider availability of Buddhist texts and missionary efforts by eastern monks. Beyond direct converts, Buddhist thought has increasingly influenced Western popular culture and spiritual movements during that time. In the latter half of the 19th century, Buddhism (along with many other religions and philosophies) came to the attention of Western intellectuals. The first English translation of the Tibetan Book of the Dead was published in 1927 and the reprint of 1935 carried a commentary from C.G. Jung. The book is said to have attracted many westerners to Tibetan Buddhism.
