Occasional intersections between Western civilization and the Buddhist world have been occurring for thousands of years. Alexander the Great's conquest of much of Central Asia set the stage for contacts between the civilizations of Greece and India.

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. T. Shakya, "Review of Prisoners of Shangri-la by Donald Lopez".

The first Buddhists to arrive in the United States were Chinese and Japanese immigrants who established many temples mainly for their own purposes of worship. In 1959 Suzuki Roshi (a Japanese teacher) arrived in San Francisco. At the time of Suzuki's arrival, Zen had become a hot topic amongst some groups in the United States, especially beatniks. In 1965, monks from Sri Lanka established the Washington Buddhist Vihara in Washington, D.C., the first Theravada monastic community in the United States. In the 1970s, interest in Tibetan Buddhism grew dramatically.

Today, Buddhism is practiced by large numbers of people in the Americas, Europe and Oceania. Buddhism has become the fastest-growing religion in Australia and some other Western nations. Many Hollywood movies with Buddhist themes, such as Kundun, Little Buddha and Seven Years in Tibet, have had considerable commercial success.