Buddhism in the 'West

The Sanbo Kyodan is an international Zen Buddhist organisation. The Sanbo Kyodan ((Fellowship of the Three Treasures) was founded on the teachings of Harada Dai'un Sogaku Roshi (1871-1961. Harada did not teach in the traditional Soto Zen style in which he had been ordained as a priest and authorised as a Zen Master; he taught both Soto and Rinzai meditation techniques (having also received transmission in Rinzai tradition); he treated monastics and lay-practitioners as equals; and he developed introductory talks for novice monks, rather than leaving them devoid of verbal instruction as was the way in Soto Zen. In 1954 Harada's successor, Yasutani Haku'un Ryoko Roshi (1885-1973, formally separated from the Soto lineage in which he had been ordained and founded a new organisation, the Sanbo Kyodan, based on Harada's teachings. The Sanbo Kyodan is considered an independent lay stream of Soto Zen that incorporates aspects of Rinzai Zen.

Scholarship on religion has often centered on the gaps between academic analysis and the self-understanding of religious people. In the study of Buddhism in America, however, many scholars and practitioners share cultural histories, material circumstances, and textual space. This article examines the nature of the relationship between particular academics and particular convert Buddhists to argue that they share a way of thinking about religion: perceiving a strong dichotomy between modernity and tradition, and a resulting willingness to take Buddhist modernist narratives at face value as descriptions of religious life. This normative modernism, along with reactions against it, leads to the collapse of descriptive and prescriptive discourse on American Buddhism. By contrast, scholarship that does not participate in the dichotomy between modern and traditional religion reveals a much richer, messier, and more accurate picture of Buddhism in America, and the Buddhists whose practices and self-representations exceed the boundaries of modernism.

La tesis explora etnográficamente el proceso de adaptación que viene dándose hace algunas décadas del budismo tibetano al contexto bonaerense y, especialmente, dentro de la comunidad del centro de práctica y enseñanza budista tibetano, el Kagyu Tekchen Chöling.
Realizamos un breve recorrido histórico a modo de introducción al budismo, sus escuelas y el proceso de globalización de esta tradición a partir del cual se hizo presente en la diversidad religiosa argentina. Mostramos algunas de las ideas más recurrentes en el centro de Dharma, las cuales dan forma a lo que presentamos como "comunidad de habla o de lenguaje", ordenadas en tres entradas de un Glosario Conceptual. Realizamos también una descripción etnográfica del centro de Dharma como contexto de práctica del "entrenamiento espiritual budista" en vías de alcanzar una transformación de sí a partir del conocimiento anclado en la experiencia que, en su grado más alto de compromiso, supone un modo de vida: el camino del bodhisattva. El objetivo de transformación fue problematizado a partir de la idea de trabajo de sí y, para eso, tuvimos en cuenta la inscripción de dicho entrenamiento en el linaje Kagyu del budismo tibetano y el rol de los lamas dentro del centro. Desarrollamos la idea de que las prácticas del dar se convierten en modos de relación enraizados en la moral budista y, a partir de una reflexión sobre otra práctica central, la meditación analítica, revisamos la categoría de dividuo desde el debate individuo, dividuo, porosidad.
Para ello, problematizamos antropológicamente la traducción y la articulación con sentidos locales como una vía para abordar el fenómeno de la adaptación del budismo tibetano al contexto bonaerense y estudiamos la transformación que los argentinos conversos al budismo sin antepasados orientales realizan en sus modos de experimentarse a sí mismos, su relación con otros seres y su relación con lo existente.

This  study  examines  the  ways  in  which  Buddhists  in  North  America
in the early twentieth century utilized the language of race sciences in
order to present themselves as carriers of a superior religious tradition.
This  tradition  was  presented  as  spiritually  and  racially  superior,  and
therefore overturned colonial narratives of Asian Buddhist inferiority.
By studying interactions of Buddhists and race sciences, we are able to
nuance the historiography of Buddhism in North America, connecting
it  to  broader  global  networks,  as  well  as  display  instances  of  Asian
agency  in  the  development  of  Buddhist  Modernism.  Furthermore,
the  place  of  race  sciences  in  American  society  in  the  early  twentieth
century,  and  connections  between  Buddhism  and  scientific  racism
problematizes  reified  terms  like  “modern”  and  “science.”  What  was
once  considered  the  most  cutting-edge  scientific  development  of  the
age,  utilized  by  early  Buddhist  in  North  America,  is  now  considered
socially repugnant.
Keywords:  History,  Buddhism  in  North  America,  Buddhism  and
Science.

This thesis presents a study of the role of western lamas within Tibetan Buddhism in America, arguing that the role of the lama is as an influential and central aspect in the development and transformation of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition in the west. This thesis argues how western lamas holding a position of authority act as a catalyst of change within their group and in the overall process of change and adaptation of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition in America, creating what may become ‘American Tibetan Buddhism.’ Three relevant areas regarding the role of the lama within the transforming tradition are identified: 1) the basis of authority of the lama, or how authority is obtained; 2) the use of such authority as a tool for change; and 3) transmission of the teachings and lineage.

The article explores the main aspects of the worldview of Zen Buddhist groups of Argentina, which emerged on the last decades. First, the author makes a brief reviewer on the canonic Buddhist doctrine in order to contextualize the discussion. Then,he analyses the teaching of the local Zen masters, focusing on their ontological conceptions about the nature of reality and on the salvation doctrine, which is derived from the former. Third, he explores the way in which symbolic bridges are established, between Buddhist doctrine and value spheres, such as science and Christianity. The approach tries to know the ethnographic details of the universe of Zen meanings, and understand the interest of some Argentine people to this Oriental rooted discipline.

In the first part the article offers a preliminary synoptic approach to Buddhism in South America in general. The latter part is based on a combination of different kinds of references, including academic sources, official statistics of religion launched by governmental and research agencies Buddhist directories, estimations of the statistical relevance of Buddhism by continent, by country or in a city, and homepages run by Buddhists institutions active in South America. Since research on Buddhism in Brazil is well advanced, the reader can expect more details in the second part of this essay dedicated to a description and interpretation of the situation in the only Portuguese speaking country in South America.

This paper takes up the complexities and significance of the Tibetan stūpas (Tib. mchod rten),  especially  when these outstanding pieces of Buddhist material culture travel to other continents. It highlights examples wherein non-Buddhists erect them on public grounds and asks questions about relocated traditions. Can the spiritual values, symbolic meanings, and religious significance of the stūpa remain unchanged if it is constructed without the motivation of Buddhist beliefs? What new meanings might accrete that may never before have existed in the history of the stūpa? This essay is embedded in the ongoing debates over the transformation of art and architecture within cultural flows between Europe and Asia. Based on a case study of a stūpa located in a public botanic garden in Germany, it addresses some of the key issues and discussions that arise when an ancient tradition is emplaced in a new cultural context.

Les développements du bouddhisme zen en Occident ont entraîné un
habituel processus d’acculturation. Le zen a ainsi été refaçonné et reformulé
avec succès pour mieux cadrer à la culture occidentale. Les pratiquants
occidentaux du zen ont à présent le choix le pratiquer de nombreuses manières,
qui vont de la forme de pratique la plus traditionnelle jusqu’à un contexte
séculier ou psychothérapeutique ; et les pratiques effectuées dans le contexte
du zen comprennent maintenant des innovations telles que des sesshin menés
dans le désert et du soutien psychothérapeutique. Au regard de ces
changements, on pourrait ainsi envisager l’adjonction d’un nouveau koan, au
programme des koan du zen Rinzai : “ qu’est-ce que le zen ? ”. Dans cet
article, j’exposerai en détail quelques-unes unes parmi les différentes formes
du zen qui existent maintenant en Occident, et j’examinerai la manière dont
celles-ci sont encore légitimées comme étant des formes de bouddhisme zen.

Translation: As Zen Buddhism has developed in the West the familiar process of acculturation has occurred. Zen has successfully remarketed and repackaged itself to suit Western culture. Western Zen practitioners can now choose to practice Zen in a variety of styles, ranging from the more traditional to a secular or psychotherapeutic context; and the activities practitioners can undertake within the Zen context now include innovations such as wilderness sesshins and psychotherapeutic counselling. In view of these changes it could be argued that a new koan should be added to the Rinzai Zen koan curriculum: "When is Zen, Zen?" This article details some of the different form of Zen now existent in the West, and examines how these are still legitimated as forms of Zen Buddhism.

Charles Darwin, in his 1859 seminal book, On the Origin of Species, details the seemingly cruel way in which all the parts of nature struggle against themselves for survival. This view of nature permeated the minds and imagination of Victorian England. It gave a non-theistic explanation of creation for those rejecting religion and was considered heresy by those who believed in God’s exclusive role in creating the world. While it would be easy to simply describe Darwin’s impact on the view of nature as a polemic, those who agreed and those who objected, the reality is that Darwin’s theory resulted in views that were much more complex. This complexity requires a more nuanced investigation; one in which certain individuals become candidates for exploration because of their backgrounds and positions in society; these people help illuminate the complexity of outlooks regarding nature maintained by others. One such person is Ananda Metteyya (Charles Henry Allan Bennett); the first Englishman ever to become a Buddhist monastic and return to England. His views of nature not only accept and integrate Darwin’s theory of evolution, but he also expanded, converted, and sometimes refuted them based on his background in Theravada Buddhism. Exploring Ananda M.’s views on nature allows us to better understand how Darwin’s theories were accepted, applied, and how they were represented in Buddhism and the scientific view of Buddhism prevalent from the middle to end of the Victorian era.

O artigo reflete sobre o Budismo de imigrantes japoneses que é no Brasil o segmento histórico e numericamente mais importante do chamado " Budismo étnico ". O último representa, ao lado do Budismo de conversão, uma das duas principais subcategorias analíticas do universo budista do País. O texto começa com uma reconstrução da trajetória desta corrente religiosa em relação a outras tendências observáveis no campo budista em geral. Por razões analíticas, a história da Budismo de imigração japonesa é subdividida em quatro fases. A segunda parte do artigo submete os dados anteriormente apresentados à uma avaliação sociológica. Tal interpretação apropria-se, sobretudo, das estatísticas referente ao Budismo fornecidas pelo IBGE por meio dos censos nacionais desde 1950. Os dados indicam um declínio gradativo do Budismo de imigração no decorrer das últimas décadas que culminou em uma crise generalizada do segmento do Budismo em questão. Na busca para os possíveis fatores responsáveis por desenvolvimento negativo, o artigo contempla aspectos como a falta de recursos e falhas logísticas por parte de instituições budistas ou a dificuldade das famílias de descendência japonesa em transmitir sua herança religioso-cultural para seus filhos.

The article reflects upon Buddhism of Japanese immigrants, which is the historically and numerically most important sub-segment of the so-called " ethnic Buddhism " in Brazil. The latter represents-in distinction from the " Buddhism of converts "-one of the two principles analytical subcategories of Buddhist universe of the country. The text starts with a reconstruction of the trajectory of the religious sub-segment in question by relating it to other observable tendencies in Brazil's Buddhist field in general. For analytical reasons, the history of Buddhism of Japanese immigrants is subdivided into four phases. In the second part of the article the aforementioned data are interpreted from a sociological point of view. This interpretation refers mainly to the statistics of the National Census from 1950 onwards conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). The data indicate a gradual decline of Japanese Immigrant Buddhism during the last decades that has cumulated into general crises of the Buddhist segment in question. As for factors possibly responsible for this negative development, the article discusses aspects such as logistical failures on the side of the Buddhist institutions or the difficulties of the families of Japanese descendants in handing down their cultural and religious heritage to their children.

O Budismo brasileiro caracteriza-se por uma heterogeneidade muito além da sua “clássica” divisão nos três “veículos" asiáticos Theravada, Mayahana e Vajrayana. Inicialmente, o artigo elabora quatro categorias inter-relacionadas que servirão, no decorrer da segunda parte do artigo, para capturar com mais precisão a configuração diversificada do campo budista brasileiro contemporâneo.

This paper focuses on a Neo-Orthodox Tibetan Buddhist movement’s shifting trans-European positioning on the web and in its media self-representation with regard to public discourses around homosexuality. The analysis presented also
proves methodologically relevant, exemplifying through reflexive ethnography how outsider/insider scholars can manoeuvre religious politics.
As a global movement of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, the Diamond Way of the Danish lay teacher Ole Nydahl has been particularly successful in its proselytising efforts throughout Eastern and Central Europe. Previous research has noted the selectively socially conservative and mildly homophobic tendencies of the Diamond Way (Scherer 2011; 2013). In the trans-European context, from Russia to the U.K., Nydahls and the movement’s mild homophobia/strained LGBT-neutrality appears to draw public criticism for either being too pro-LGBT or too anti-LGBT. The investigation highlights the shifting public perceptions and socio-religious political frontlines in Russia and the U.K. and reveals a pattern of opportunism and (non-)negotiating public opinions.

Although Soto Zen first reached Peru with the Japanese immigration process of 1899-1936, it almost disappeared from the country’s religious landscape after World War II. It is in recent years that a strong transplantation process into Peru has been taking place. The present paperuses M. Baumann’s “processive modes” to describe such transplantation. As part of a broader research on Buddhism in Peru, this study draws upon qualitative data collected through semi-structured interviews and written questionnaires in two waves, the first one between 2007 and2009, and the second one in 2013. In this context, it concludes that contemporary Soto Zen presence in Peru can be better characterized by the modes of Confrontation, Ambiguity and Re-orientation. Looking into the future, and from the perspective of a “religious economy” approach, the increase of an urban-educated population and the situation of free competition within the “religious market,” as well as the presence of Soto Zen “religious capital” in Japanese-Peruvians, appear as key factors that are favorable to its transplantation. However, this positive prospect may become compromised if it does not adapt more fluidly to Peruvian culture.

This essay has two sections, each with its own distinct goal, forming an interrelated whole. The first introduces “locus of awakening,” and applies it to the relative success in America of Zen and Tibetan Buddhisms, compared to Pure Land Buddhism. The explanatory power of the concept is demonstrated by also considering Soka Gakkai. The difference between popular culture treatments of Zen and Tibetan Buddhisms, and Pure Land Buddhism was the problematic leading to identifying locus of awakening as an aspect of Buddhist thought. The second section locates it in the history of Buddhist thought, demonstrating that it is not a modern conceptualization of the path, not one created in response to Euro–American religio-therapeutic culture. Locus of awakening is, instead, part of the continuity of the Buddhist tradition, and does not fall on one side or the other of the sometimes overdrawn dichotomy between Asian and American Buddhisms.

The history of Buddhism in North America is directly represented by the various Jōdo Shinshū organizations of the Nishi Hongwanji.  The Buddhist Churches of Canada [BCC] are drastically understudied.  By analyzing the biography of specific figures within the BCC, scholars will have a more complete picture of the historical record of the implantation of Buddhism in Canada.  Reverend Newton Ishiura transcends many of the normal dichotomous typologies engaged by scholars.  Ishiura is a Nisei minister who once wanted to be a Christian pastor.  Instead, he matriculated at Ryukoku University and became a minister for the Buddhist Churches of America [BCA].  Later, he moved his family to Canada in order to help organize the Toronto Buddhist Church.  By engaging this study, I intend to complicate the normal divisions of analysis identifying the BCA as a “foreign-oriented” ethnic organization.  Studying Reverend Ishiura complicates previous research of immigrant religious traditions.  He was involved in the Canadian Centennial Celebration and its related Centennial Interfaith Council.  By participating in these events, Ishiura was able to make the BCC a mainstream part of the religious landscape of Canada, rather than an outside religion.

在中國佛教的傳統敘事中，《四十二章經》常被描述為第一部傳入中國的佛經。有趣的是，一千多年之後，它的法語翻譯也成為了第一部以西方語言發表的完整佛經，並在之後的一百五十年內相繼四次被譯為法語。然而，與其重要性形成鮮明對比的是，至今還並未有學者對其法語翻譯進行系統的研究。本文將分別研究《四十二章經》在十八至十九世紀期間的四個法語譯本，譯者分別為法國學者約瑟夫·德金（Joseph de Guignes, 1721–1800）、法國天主教遣使會（Lazariste）傳教士古伯察（Évariste Régis Huc, 1813–1860）與秦噶哔（Joseph Gabet, 1808–1853）、法國學者萊昂·費赫（Léon Feer, 1830–1902）以及比利時學者夏和樂·德·阿赫萊茲（Charles de Harlez, 1832–1899）。通過對其翻譯詞彙、風格及闡釋的分析，本文將揭示四位譯者如何通過對一部佛經的翻譯塑造了四個截然不同的佛教形象：從一神論到泛神論，從虛無主義到泛心論。而這四種形象，作為彼時以“神”作為中心概念來定義宗教的產物，也並非以靜態知識的形態獨立於其所處的歷史環境之外，而是積極的參與了十八、十九世紀的東西方文化論爭，同時成為了保護與挑戰歐洲自我意識的武器。

This essay is an inquiry into the religio-cultural background of the opposition to ritual evidenced by many adherents of Buddhist modernism. This background can be structured by three different kinds of questions—historical, philosophical, and cultural.

Researchers of Buddhism in non-Buddhist cultures often point to their inability to obtain a precise measure of the number of Buddhists. While governmental censuses may reveal the number of Buddhist Asian immigrants and their descendents, the case for “convert”, “white”, “Western” or “new” Buddhists in the same localities is far less evident. Based on an anthropological research among Israeli practitioners of Buddha-Dhamma, the article suggests a contextual way to define a converted Buddhist, without falling to an essential trap on the one hand nor to a reductionist trap on the other

Research on Buddhism in Australia has tended to focus on demographics, ethnic identity and the migrant experience, and history. This paper uses the literature and material from Internet sites on Australian Buddhist groups to identify characteristics of Buddhism in Australia; it aims to both contribute to the understanding of the growth of Buddhism in Australia and to facilitate comparison with similar studies of American and European forms of Buddhism. New information is presented on the number of Buddhist groups in Australia, their geographical location, and the traditions and lineages represented. It is made apparent that more detailed information is needed, and suggestions are made for further research in a variety of areas.

Although Buddhism, Shinto and Japanese New Religions represent a relatively small segment of Brazil’s religious landscape, they deserve attention for at least three reasons. First, there is the historical aspect: these traditions were initially associated with Asian immigrants, the majority of whom came to Brazil in the first half of the twentieth century. Second, despite low numbers of formal adherents, the Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE, which has been responsi¬ble for censuses since 1940, has challenged academic findings by revealing a continuing wider interest in “Eastern” religions. Third, the attraction of a non-nikkei audience to Buddhism and to groups such as Seicho-no-ie from the 1960s onwards has prompted academic studies which, among other questions, inves¬tigate why Asian religions in Brazil have not benefited from a non-regulated, highly pluralistic religious-market, as it is the case in other Western countries.

Introduzione: Una preziosa occasione

1. Nascita di un’idea
La parola “buddhismo”/Vita di Śākyamuni/Il “Risvegliato” e le “nobili verità”/Il saṅgha in India e oltre/Le scuole antiche/ Il “grande veicolo”/Il buddhismo e l’Europa, tra mitologia e storia/Il Dharma

2. Le idee chiave della dottrina del Buddha
Due immagini in contrasto/Il ciclo delle rinascite/Le caratteristiche dell’esistenza/Anātman e nichilismo: il Buddha e l’ontologia/L’originazione dipendente: la legge del karman /Il nirvāṇa /L’ottuplice sentiero/Il Risveglio

3. I volti del buddhismo tra “modernismo” e cultura contemporanea
Il “modernismo”: principi teorici e protagonisti/Il buddhismo e l’Occidente contemporaneo: storia e sviluppi/Ecumenismo ed eclettismo/Il confronto con la scienza occidentale/Il buddhismo e la fede/ La presenza del buddhismo nell’Occidente contemporaneo

4. Le fonti del Dharma: lo studio del buddhismo tra Oriente e Occidente
Le “Bibbie dell’Est” e la nascita della buddhologia/La prima trasmissione del Dharma /La molteplicità delle fonti e il problema dell’autorità/Il canone della scuola Theravāda/Le scritture del Mahāyāna/I “tre corpi” del Buddha/Le traduzioni in cinese e tibetano/Insegnamenti provvisori e insegnamenti definitivi

5. Strumenti per capire il buddhismo. Bibliografia e sitografia tematica
Introduzioni generali/Principali traduzioni in italiano di testi buddhisti/Principali risorse online per lo studio del buddhismo/Strumenti per lo studio delle lingue/Periodici online/Storia dello studio del buddhismo/Studi sul buddhismo in Occidente/Buddhismo e cristianesimo/Buddhismo, psicologia e scienze cognitive

Note
Indice dei nomi
Indice delle opere

While marketing and fashion scholars have addressed marketisation of religion for some time, in sociology of religion, marketisation and its dynamics have been taken into consideration only recently and remains understudied. Based on ethnographic fieldwork on convert Buddhism in France and the Czech Republic, this paper shows how consumerism as the current zeitgeist shapes Buddhist practices. While also discussing parallels with body transformations in consumer culture, the paper questions the consistency with neo-liberal subjectivities and middle-class worldview and resources. Finally, it examines the pertinence of the religious/secular divide. Overall, this study could contribute to our understanding of the growth of body-transformation practices in marketing or management.

Japanese Esoteric Buddhism is present in Latin America as a result of immigration and is currently restricted to Brazil and more especially the city of São Paulo and nearby regions. With the exception of Brazil, we have no record of groups belonging to Japanese Esoteric Buddhism. In Brazil, although Japanese Esoteric Buddhism numerically has few adherents, several streams are present, including Shingon, Tendai, and new religions such as Agonshû and Shinnyo-En. Some of these groups have a high degree of combination with local religions such as Catholicism, Spiritualism, and Umbanda.

Becoming Buddhist: Experiences of Socialization and Self-Transformation in Two Australian Buddhist Centres explores what it is to be a Western Buddhist, from the standpoint of practitioners in two Australian Buddhist Centres. This research focuses on conversion and identity issues through an examination of socialisation and commitment processes and is a welcome contribution to the limited literature on these subjects in relation to Western Buddhism. This book also contributes to the recent rise in publications conveying the diversity and breadth of Buddhist traditions by assembling accounts from Buddhists themselves, with particular attention to inclusion of the voices of everyday practitioners.

Когда в наши дни буддисты говорят о христианстве, то чаще всего их повествование идёт в исключительно положительном ключе: подчёркиваются призывы Христа к милосердию, доброте и самоотверженности, одобрительно упоминаются его заповеди и так далее. Фактически, подобные отзывы стали сегодня общим местом, однако так было не всегда. В период агрессивного проникновения западной культуры в регионы традиционного распространения буддизма в XIX веке симпатии буддистов в адрес активно насаждаемого среди них христианства были скорее исключением, чем правилом.