Download 1 Contemporary Buddhism in . . . California In this

Contemporary Buddhism in . . .
California
In this presentation I will focus on the rise of Buddhism in California and most
specifically San Francisco. The first Buddhists arrived as Chinese immigrants moving to
California during the gold rush in 1850, establishing the first Buddhist temple in San
Francisco’s Chinatown in 1853. By 1875 there were eight Buddhist temples in San
Francisco’s Chinatown and hundreds on the West Coast by 1900. Chinese Buddhism
was on the rise in the West.
Chinese Mahayana and Zen Buddhism was the most prominently practiced Buddhism
in the early development period in the West. From 1900-1950 Chinese and Japanese
Buddhism continued to develop. It wasn’t until after the 1950’s that Tibetan Buddhism
began to spread into California. Although its arrival was much later than that of the
Chinese and Japanese Buddhism Tibetan Monasteries and centers started to pop up
across the states in the 1970’s with influential teachers popularizing the Dharma. Such
teachers who made Tibetan Buddhism known in the West were the Dalai Lama,
Chögyam Trungpa, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche
to name some of them. Present day there are no less than 40 Tibetan Buddhist centers
in California with more Tibetan teachers traveling to the West continuing to develop
and spread the Dharma.
The Zen movement:
There are two Zen practitioners with substantial influence on the spread of Zen
Buddhism to the West, Thich Nhat Hanh and Shunryu Suzuki. Shunryu Suzuki is known
for his establishing the Zen center in San Francisco in 1962 as one of the largest
Buddhist sanghas outside Asia. He also wrote one of the most popular books in Zen
Buddhism, “Zen Mind, Beginners Mind”. Thich Nhat Hanh could also be accredited as
one of the most widely known Zen Buddhists with books reaching notable popularity
but in San Francisco specifically Suzuki’s has a strong presence in the establishment of
Zen Buddhism.
In conclusion Buddhism came to California in the 1850’s and developed at a
moderate rate over the next century. After Tibetan Buddhism arrived in the U.S.
Buddhism in general gained more of a voice. Present day the majority of Buddhism
practiced in California and San Francisco is Tibetan Buddhism and Zen.
References:
1. Timeline for Development of Buddhism in the United States:
http://www.people.vcu.edu/~dbromley/undergraduate/spiritualCommunity/Buddhi
smInAmericaTimeline.html
2. http://tenzinkhandro.com/50-states.html
1
Brazil
The Buddhism arrived to Brazil by Japanese immigrants, at the beginning of the 20th
century. In the 1970s, many Brazilians traveled to East in spiritual search. As result, a
strong connection with Theravada and Tibetan Buddhism was established. Many
Buddhist masters were invited to go to Brazil and some of them set up centers and
communities.
Among the kinds of Buddhism practiced in Brazil today there are: Tibetan Buddhist;
Theravada; Zen Buddhism; Pure Land Buddhism; Nichiren and Chan.
An important developmental trend of Buddhism in Brazil is the engagement in social,
educational and environmental issues. There are many centers organized as lay
communities, where the practitioners have their houses and live together with their
families, holding Buddhist schools for children. These centers have intense involvement
with and offer support to the surrounding poor communities, local prisons and places
for juvenile offenders, including, support in process of restorative justice. Thus, I argue
that these characteristics demonstrates that the Buddhism in Brazil is following to the
direction of what is called “engaged Buddhism”1, as example of the practitioners of
the Zen Peacemarkers and the master Thich Nhat Hanh2.
Canada
During the late 1800's the first Buddhists arrived in Canada. They were Japanese and
Chinese workers who came to work on the railroads. In Vancouver of 1905 the
Japanese Jodo Shinshu school established the first Buddhist temple in Canada. The
Jodo Shinshu school eventually established temples and dojos in British Columbia,
Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec and became the largest Buddhist
organization in Canada. During WWII anyone of Japanese ancestry was removed
from BC to southern Alberta. Because Japanese Buddhism was the strongest Buddhist
force in Canada at the time, this nearly eradicated all institutionalized Buddhism. After
Japanese freedom was restored in 1949 and the Jodo Shinshu school was revived,
Alberta became the academic birthplace for the study of Buddhism in all of North
America. This then made Alberta significantly important in the role of Buddhism settling
in North America.3
In 1978 the first Theravadin temple was established in Canada, the Toronto
Mahavihara.
According to Census Canada there was an 84% increase in self-identifying Buddhists
between 1991 and 2001. In the 2001 Census it was calculated that approximately 1%
of Canadians are Buddhist, 300,345 people.4
King, Sallie B., Socially Engaged Buddhism, University of Hawaii Press, 2009.
Nhat Hanh. Interbeing: Fourteen Guidelines for Engaged Buddhism, Parallax
Press, Berkeley, California, Revised edition 1993.
1
2Thich
3The
Canadian Encyclopedia,
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/buddhism/
4Statistics Canada, http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sumsom/l01/cst01/demo30a-eng.htm
2
During the 1970's and 1980's, following a decrease in exclusionary immigration policies
which lead to the increase of immigration possibilities for Asians: Chinese; Japanese;
Thai; Viatnamese; Bhurmese; Sri Lankan; and Korean temples were established
throughout Canada. Concerning the connection of these growing Asian Buddhist
communities and non-ethnic Canadians, a quote from the Canadian Encyclopedia
states, "Some of these temples have attracted non- ethnic members but often the
ethnic/cultural component acts as a barrier to expansion into greater Canadian
society."5
The first Tibetan Lama to arrive in Canada was Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche in 1970.
Trungpa Rinpoche played a significant role in the transmission of Tibetan Buddhism
not only to Canada but to North-America as a whole. He established Shambhala
International which has many meditation centers throughout Canada, its
headquarters are in Halifax.
Canada was the second country after Switzerland to welcome settlements of Tibetan
Refugees after China's invasion of Tibet in 1959. Regarding His Holiness the Dalai Lama
the Canadian Encyclopedia says, "One of the most important symbols of the
acceptance of Buddhism in Canada was the unanimous vote by Parliament to make
His Holiness the Dalai Lama an honorary Canadian citizen in 2006, one of only 4 people
to be honoured in this way"6
China I
Buddhism was first introduced into China around the beginning of the Common
Era and reached its peak during the Tang dynasty. After the high point, Chinese
Buddhism experienced a decline. Since the twentieth century, the Buddhist
community has tried to revive Chinese Buddhism through both conservative and
radical approaches. There was the trend of Buddhist Modernism. Among all the
reformers, Taixu is one of the most influential ones. He promoted Humanistic Buddhism
(renjian fojiao), which remains influential today, especially in Taiwan. Humanistic
Buddhism calls to bring Buddhist practice into everyday life in modern times. But under
the new regime of the Chinese Communist government, due to the ideology of
Marxist materialism, which discourages the public from religious belief and practice,
Buddhism and all types of religions experienced gradual suppression and eventual
destruction in the Cultural Revolution. In the late 1970s, however, the more open and
relaxed political situation created conditions for the return of religious activities. The
following decades have witnessed the revival of Chinese Buddhism with the rebuilding
of monasteries, the reestablishing of the monastic order, the publication of Buddhist
teachings and the increasing presence of Buddhism in the media. Presently, both
Tibetan Buddhism and Chinese Buddhism are practiced in China, and there is a
growing interest in Tibetan Buddhism among all segments of China, especially in the
Sichuan and Qinghai Provinces, two of which are close to Tibet. Meanwhile, the
Buddhism revival happens mainly among young people in urban areas, like Beijing
and Shanghai, possibly due to the anxiety caused by the modern life.
5The
Canadian Encyclopedia,
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/buddhism/
6http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/buddhism/
3
Bibliography
Poceskil, Mario. “Contemporary Chinese Buddhist Traditions.” In The Oxford
Handbook of Contemporary Buddhism edited by Michael K. Jerryson. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2016.
China II
Firstly I have to say, the title of this topic is too broad, because the characteristics of
China after culture revolution are too complex, historically speaking, geographically,
and also there is the isolated tendency of the Chinese sangha and a lack of a reliable
record. Therefore, I would like to talk about this topic according to my own
experience. The most prevalent sects within Chinese Buddhism are basically eight in
number and are all Mahayana (The Mahayana Great Eight Sects大乘八宗).
Historically, they were the most important. During the Sui and Tang dynasties,
Buddhism started to become more influential within Chinese culture. The main sects
were formed during this time period, from the 6th to the 10th centuries. But in
contemporary times, especially after the devastating destruction during the time of
cultural revolution, they are not as prevalent as before. At the same time, now in
China, the materialist philosophy has soaked into the entire modern social fabric.
Sometimes Buddhism is even regarded as a superstitious tradition. Also, due to the
isolated tendency of the Chinese sangha, there is a vast distance between sangha
and normal people.
For example, if we see a monk on the street, we will feel really weird and sometime
even gossip :”oh my! There is a monk on the street!” But the good thing is, now there
are some monasteries starting to promote the Dharma by using modern techniques,
for example, the internet. It works efficiently and indeed draws lots of people, even
lots of young people. The two most influential monasteries these days are the Long
Quan temple in Beijing, and Larung Gar in Serta, Sichuan. Long Quan temple uses
various ways to spread the dharma, such as teaching through internet, publishing
cute comics (to show people not only the dharma but also the daily life in a
monastery, in the perspective of a baby monk, whose name is Xianer) and they even
created the baby monk’s AI robot you can visit at the monastery. It is said that lots of
the monks in this monastery are actually former students from the top two universities
of China, Tsinghua and Peking university. The Chinese people even call this monastery
"the religious backyard garden of Tsinghua and Peking university." It is exactly like a
monastery full of monks who were students of Harvard and Yale.
Another monastery is Larung gar. It’s a famous Nyingma monastery. They have built
precise and complete systems for not only study but also practice through the
internet, which the monastery uses to promote the dharma and help a vast amount
of people from all around China. Including me. After listening to one of their online
courses about the Mahāyāna-sūtrālamkāra kārikā, "The Adornment of Mahayana
sutras"), I decided to become a Buddhist. The monastery even leads people to finish
the preliminary practice of Longchen Nyingtik by internet, which is really amazing. The
interesting thing is, last year the main khenpo there, Khenpo Sodargay, has started to
teach the lotus sutra online. This Tibetan Buddhist lama emphasized that the eight
sects of Chinese Buddhism need to be revived. Then this triggered lots of debates
among the Chinese sangha, mainly due to the translation of the Lotus sutra that
khenpo used. Because of this debate, lots of lamas or monks from Tiantai tradition,
4
which focuses on this sutra, became well known. This was first time for me to know that,
the lineage of Tiantai is still alive in China! There are still Tiantai practitioners! It was
quite surprise and amazing.
In conclusion, more and more Chinese people are searching for a spiritual path, and
so more and more poeple are finding the value of Buddhism. Based on this, the
monasteries are promoting the Dharma considering the preferences of modern
people. It’s good to see that Tibetan Buddhism is becoming influential in China
because they provide a precise and clear path for lay practitioners. Sometimes
Chinese Buddhist sects don’t pay enough attention to lay practitioners. The
communication of the Chinese and Tibetan sanghas is very good because its helping
the Dharma spread once again in China.
Germany
The first encounters of the German intellectuals and artists with Buddhism in the early
1800s happened through the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. The first Buddhist
organization, called „Der Buddhistische Missionsverein in Deutschland“, was founded
in 1903 by Dr. Karl Seidenstücker. At this time, Buddhism in Germany was a religion of
the wealthy und educated people, and it was mainly looked at in a philosophical
academic way. After the first world war, people started to put a higher emphasis on
actually practicing the contents of Buddhism. During the second world war, the
flourishing of Buddhism paused. However, Buddhists were not persecuted (except for
jews that converted to Buddhism). During the first half of the 20th century, the pali
tradition was the main vehicle of Buddhism in Germany. With the beginning of the
second half, Mahayana Buddhism (mainly in the form of Zen) and Vajrayana
Buddhism (Tibetan Buddhism) appeared in Germany. However, the Zen tradition was
far more popular at this time - in 1975, half of the Buddhist groups in Germany
belonged to the Zen tradition. In the 1960s, the focus within Buddhism shifted again
towards meditation practices. In the 1980s, there was a „boom“ of Tibetan Buddhism
(Baumann: 1998).
Today, there are estimately 250,000 Buddhists in Germany, 120,000 of Asian origin and
130,000 of German origin (Deutsche Buddhistische Union e.V.: 2017). There is no
information to be found about the percentage of certain Buddhist schools, since
Buddhists in Germany are not officially registered anywhere. However, it can be said
that Buddhism in Germany has many facets, and the interest in Buddhism is constantly
growing among Germans.
Bibliography
Baumann, Dr. Martin, “Buddhismus in Deutschland.
Gegenwart.” Tibet und Buddhismus 47 (1998): 22-28.
Geschichte
und
Deutsche Buddhistische Union e.V. “Basic information in English.“ Accessed
March 20, 2017. www.buddhismus-deutschland.de/basic-information-in-english/
5
Indonesia
Buddhism is one of the recognized religions in Indonesia.7 Buddhism in contemporary
Indonesia is mainly followed by Chinese and some indigenous groups of Indonesia.8
Currently, there are various Buddhist schools in Indonesia, which are imported from
Thai and Myanmar Theravāda, Chinese Māhayāna, and Tibetan Vajrayāna. In this
presentation, I focus on Buddhayāna – the oldest Buddhist organization and a
development trend in contemporary period.
Buddhayāna was established by Ashin Jinarakkhita (1923-2002) – the first Indonesian
monk.9 In 1953, he was ordained as a novice by Master Benqing – a Chinese
Mahayana monk.10 And in 1954, he received his full ordination by Mahāsi Sayādaw –
a Myanmar Theravada monk.11 In 1955, he formed the first Indonesian Buddhist lay
organization, the Indonesian Buddhayāna Council (MBI).12 In 1960, he established the
Mahā Saṅgha Indonesia (SAGIN), a community of Indonesian monastics from
Theravada, Dharmaguptaka, and Mūlasarvāstivāda lineages.13 These two
organizations of Buddhayāna promote inclusive Buddhism – accepting Theravada,
Mahayana, and Vajrayāna teachings and practices.14 One of these practices is the
syncretic chanting of Theravāda Paritta and Mahayana Dharāni.15 Moreover,
Buddhayāna recognizes Sanghyang Ādibuddha – a concept of Divinity, God, legally
accepted in contemporary Indonesian Buddhism.16Although Ashin Jinarakkhita has
long passed away, his ideal of Buddhayana still survive in monasteries across Sumatra,
Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Bali, Lombok, and Papua islands.17
Oregon
Buddhism in Oregon generally follows along two different yet coexisting trends;
Buddhism as presented traditionally through direct lineage contacts and Buddhism as
reinterpreted through the lens of modern western society. Within the town of Ashland
Oregon, for example, there are at least 3 traditional Buddhist temples, with small
communities of practitioners situated around each. However, the town is also filled
with Buddhist paraphernalia that may or may not have anything to do with traditional
Buddhist practices. Such include, prayer flags, statues of Kwan Yin, Kalachakra
images and Dalai Lama slogans. Traditional Buddhism in Oregon has generally arrived
through the guises of Tibetan and Zen Buddhism, although there are also minor
communities of Theravada and other sects as well. Tibetan Buddhism first started to
truly establish a grip over the region at the hands of teachers such as Chagdud Tulku,
Heinz Bechert, “The Buddhayāna of Indonesia: A Syncretic Form of Theravāda.” Journal of the Pali Text
Society Volume IX (1981), 11
8
Ibid.
9
Bunki Kimura, “Present Situation of Indonesian Buddhism: In Memory of Bhikkhu Ashin Jinarakkhita
Mahasthavira.” Nagoya studies in Indian culture and Buddhism - Saṃbhāṣā No. 23, 53-54
10
Ibid., 56
7
Ibid.
Ibid., 57
13 Ibid., 58
14 Ibid., 59
15 Heinz, “The Buddhayāna,”15-17
16 Ibid., 14
17 Bunki, “Present Situation,” 71
11
12
6
Gyaltrul Rinpoche and Kalu Rinpoche. These teachers have helped in the
construction of many important traditional temples throughout the region including
Tashi Choling and Kagyu Sukha Choling in Southern Oregon. At the same time,
Buddhism has also developed in a non-traditional and non institutionalized way as
well. This alternative form involves the use of Buddhist notions such as mindfulness and
meditation as well as praying to certain deities as an isolated religious form from
general Buddhism. However, whether this can be counted as Buddhist or not is up to
question. In conclusion, Buddhism in Oregon is very multifaceted with both traditional
and modern adaptations.
Netherlands
The introduction of Buddhism in the Netherlands began in the 19th century with
professor Hendrik Kern, who seated the chair of Sanskrit at the University of Leiden. He
translated several texts, and wrote a Manual of Buddhism, and an important work
called History of Buddhism in India. 18
In 1978 the BUN (Boeddhistische Unie van Nederland) came into being, which was
meant to coordinate and bring together all separate Buddhist organizations. Through
this agency emanated the ‘Boeddhistische Omroep’, a radio broadcasting that is
active until this very day.
After World War II, a Dutch Theosophical organization arose. This organization was
initially called ‘Nederlandse Boeddhistische Vriendenkring’, but later changed it’s
name to ‘Buddhist Society in the Netherlands’. Their aim was studying the principle
Buddhist ideas and to encourage practitioners to actively apply these teachings.
In Holland one can find several expressions of the teachings, such as Tibetan
Buddhism, Zen, and Theravada. The largest Dutch Buddhist center is situated in
Amsterdam and has it’s roots in Tibetan Buddhism. The founder, Han de Wit, is an
authorized pupil of the Kargu lama Chogyarn Trungpa.
References:
http://www.jstor.org.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/stable/pdf/25209372.pdf
http://www.buddhachannel.tv/portail/spip.php?article3746
Portugal
Buddhism first become apparent in Portugal in the 1970's. According to António
Teixeira, the first Buddhist teacher who taught in Portugal was the Zen Soto master
Taisen Deshimaru in 1971.19 He would teach again in 1972. In 1976, a Belgian man
named Lama Kunzang Dorje was invited to go to Portugal to teach Buddhism. He was
a disciple of the famous Nyingma master Kangyur Rinpoche, one of the first Tibetan
lamas who went to Europe.
In 1979, students of Lama Kunzang founded two Buddhist centers, one in Lisbon and
another one in Porto, the two biggest cities in Portugal. For almost two decades, in the
http://www.jstor.org.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/stable/pdf/25209372.pdf
António Teixeira, REVISTA LUSÓFONA DE CIÊNCIA DAS RELIGIÕES – Ano VI, 2007 / n.
11 – 225-244
18
19
7
80's and most of the 90's the Nyingma school was the only expression of Tibetan
Buddhism in Portugal. As stated by Teixeira, in 1989 Geshe Lobsang Tsultrim, became
the first Tibetan lama who taught in Portugal.20 In addition to Tibetan Buddhism,
Japanese Zen and Chinese Chan were other traditions of Buddhism that began to
have an impact in Portugal on the second half of the 90s.
In 1997 the Portuguese Buddhist Union formed. Its goal is to represent all the different
Buddhist traditions and groups and to promote Buddhism in Portugal. In 2001 His
Holiness the Dalai Lama came to Portugal for the first time. His visit was a great success
and attracted thousands of people. After his visit it was noticed a general increase of
people interested in Buddhism in Portugal. He would return in 2007 and again it would
be a great success.
Nowadays it is estimated that there are fifteen thousand Buddhists and twenty five
monks and nuns in Portugal. Today there are Buddhist centers all over the country.
However, the main settings are Lisbon where are four temples and a monastery, Porto
and Algarve where are three temples and a stupa.21 Theravada and Vietnamese
Buddhism are also present in Portugal. Among all the Buddhist traditions it seems that
currently Tibetan Buddhism is the one with greatest increase.
Scandinavia
Denmark
The first Buddhist immigrants arrived in Denmark about 40 years ago. Since the number
has increased rapidly. In 1992 there were only one Buddhist Centre. Now there are
about 20.000 – 25.000 registered Buddhist in Denmark (religion.dk, 2013). 80% are
immigrants from Asian countries. There are 11 Buddhist communities in the country with
a total of 7200 members (religion.dk, 2013). Besides that there are about 40 Buddhist
groups and around 20 Buddhist Temples spread over the country.
Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana are represented in DK.
Thais, Burmese and people from Sri Lanka represent the Theravada tradition. They
have two temples in the capital, Copenhagen with 4700 member connected and
one in Juelsminde in Jylland, where they have about 700 members (religion.dk, 2013).
The biggest Buddhist group in Denmark is the Mahayana, which is most widely
represented by the Vietnamese (religion.dk, 2013)
There are very few Tibetan immigrants in Denmark, but the tradition is widely spread
throughout the country with four registered spiritual communities and numerous
centres and temples. It has to be said that it is very problematic to measure Buddhism
in a land such as Denmark because it is only when the centre or the spiritual
community choose to be registered or applies for public recognition that it is possible
to put it in numbers. That taken into consideration there are probably a significant
number among the population who would call themselves Buddhist.
Norway
20
21
Ibid.
www.uniaobudista.pt
8
There are about 14 Buddhist organisations and the biggest organisation,
buddhistforbundet, which is also an umbrella organisation for all Buddhist
organisations in Norway, has about 14.176 members (buddhistforbundet.no, 2015).
Likewise, the majority of Buddhist in Norway are mostly immigrants from Asian
countries. They make about 38000 in total divided among people from Vietnam,
Thailand, Myanmar, China and so forth. There are no numbers on Buddhist with ethical
Norwegian background, but Buddhistforbundet approximates that there probably
are around 2000 or more. That means that are about 40.000 Buddhist in Norway, which
make out about 0.8 % of the total population (buddhistforbundet.no)
Sweden
Buddhism has been practised in Sweden since approximately the 1970’s. That was
also around the same time that Sweden had it first woman to become an ordained
nun, Sister Amita Nisatta (Ingrid Wagner). In 2009 the number of Buddhist organisations
were about 40 and in 2012 there number had amplified to about 70 Buddhist groups.
In 2011 there number of Buddhist in Sweden was measured to be around 45000, which
is about 0.5% of the total population. However, that makes Buddhism the third biggest
religion in Sweden right after Christianity and Islam. Just as in the rest of Scandinavia
the chief Buddhist group consist of people from Vietnam, Sri Lanka, China etc.
(Fredricsson, 2016).
Bibliography
https://www.religion.dk/viden/buddhistiske-trossamfund-i-danmark
http://buddhistforbundet.no/article/show/27/Buddhister-i-Norge
http://www.sst.a.se/download/18.6e8d553514f5d72fdf7286f5/1440485848904/Uppva
knandets+v%C3%A4gar_komplett.pdf
Scandinavia
Buddhism has existed in Scandinavia since the 19th century. Intellectuals, writers and
scholars were some of the first to adhere to the Buddhist faith in the wake of the spread
of eastern religions to the west during this period.
-
-
In the 6th century a Buddhist statue was found outside of Stockholm and in the
19th century Kata Dalström, working class writer and agitator was among the
first to openly define oneself as buddhist. During the middle 20th century, some
Swedes got ordained in thailand or vietnam and brought the tradition with
them to sweden, often adapting it to Western cultural values, downplaying the
more “religious” aspects of the faith. In Sweden there is Theravada, Zen and
Tibetan buddhism, and many organisations are members of the umbrella
organisation “Swedish Buddhist Cooperation Council”. The majority of
buddhists in sweden belong to theravada, a result of thai and vietnamese
immigration to sweden.
Buddhism has been in Norway since the 70s with arrival of immigrants and
refugees from Vietnam and Thailand. The majority of Buddhists in Norway today
are ethnic asians.
9
-
In Denmark the first buddhist society was founded in 1921 and the number of
buddhists have been growing ever since, as in sweden and Norway, the
biggest buddhism is Thai.
A common trend in Buddhism in Scandinavia is that the vast majority of practicing
buddhists are ethnic asians who have come to scandinavia as immigrants, refugees
or in a very classically scandinavian case; as wives of swedish,danish or norwegian
men. In Sweden for example, the number of thai women is three times the size of the
thai male population.
Even though the number of Buddhists in Scandinavia is very small, there is still some
public events and activities ; Losar is celebrated by both converts and Tibetans at the
Ethnographic Museum in Stockholm, the Dalai Lama has visited Scandinavian
countries a number of times and some Rinpoche´s go to Scandinavia frequently to
give teachings,especially at Rangjung Yeshe Gomde, Denmark. In Stockholm there is
also the House of Tibet, dedicated to help the Tibetans through construction of schools
and hospitals in Tibet.
Singapore
Buddhism in Singapore originated with the mass arrival of Chinese immigrants in the
nineteenth century (Hue 2013, 103). Early temples were syncretic Chinese institutions
which incorporated the three Chinese religions of Buddhism, Confucianism and
Taoism (Wee 1976). Through the efforts of modernist Sangha (Ong 2005, 36–42),
exclusively Buddhist temples began to proliferate in the early twentieth century.
Today, almost all extant Buddhist schools are represented and distributed widely in
the city-state. The Chinese Mahāyāna tradition has the largest number of temples22
and the Chinese comprises 97.7% of Buddhists.23
The most prominent Buddhist organization is the Singapore Buddhist Federation
(established in 1949) which often functions as a spokesperson for the Buddhist
community but does not have jurisdiction over individual Buddhist centers. Faced with
intense competition from proselytizing Christian movements and dwindling
membership in the 1960s–80s (Tong 2007, 192), numerous Buddhist institutions
revamped themselves through emphasizing lay doctrinal education, social welfare
and institutional reforms (Kuah-Pearce 2009, 239). Correspondingly, Buddhists in
Singapore nowadays not only partake in religious activities but are also involved with
mainstream schools, youth organizations, arts and cultural centers, welfare charities,
and humanitarian aid. Scholars have recently studied this new trend of Buddhism
which they termed “Reformist Buddhism.”
United States
• When did Buddhism first become apparent in the country?
Buddhism first became apparent in the United States in the 19th century as
immigration grew from Asian countries. While Buddhism was first subject to
discrimination and kept to local ethnic groups, it later found the opportunity to
publicly display its belief system at the World’s Parliament of Religions. In 1893 In
22
There are no official statistics on the number of Buddhist centers in Singapore but Huang and Zhang (2005,
169-170, quoted in Bai 2008, 354) estimate that there are 150 Chinese Buddhist temples, more than 20
Theravāda temples, more than 10 lay organizations, and about 400 ordained persons.
23
Census of Population 2010, 156, Table 59.
10
Chicago the convention held the first formal discussion of Buddhism on American Soil.
Following the event, Charles Strauss, a prominent American businessman became the
first convert.24 Due to immigrant relocation patterns and the cultural conservatism of
the region, the Midwest has lagged behind the West Coast in the numbers of Buddhist
sympathizers, adherents and institutions. However, following the convention the Maha
Bodhi Society opened in Chicago in the years following and D.T. Suzuki relocated to
the Midwest to help translate for Buddhist publications after the recommendation
from his master Soyen Shaku.25
• What kind of Buddhism is practised in the country and where?
Buddhism in the Midwest focuses primarily on the Zen and Tibetan traditions26,
although there are over 150 meditation centers27 of different doctrines throughout the
region. With the Midwest’s agricultural landscape, Buddhism has tended to flourish
mostly in the metropolitan cities. Some of the leading universities found in the Midwest
also offer studies in Buddhism such as the University of Chicago, the University of
Wisconsin, the Northwestern University and the University of Michigan. In addition,
there are many local and international associations that have presence in the
Midwest including the Buddhist Association of Southwest Michigan, the Buddhist
Council of the Midwest and international associations such as the Council of Thai
Bikkhus and the Association of Soto Zen Buddhists.
• What are some of the developmental trends in the country?
Buddhism continues to grow in the United States and in the Midwest with over
2 million adherents across the country. Since the rapid growth of Buddhism in the late
20th century during the psychedelic fuelled counterculture movement, Buddhism
continues finds its following increasing in a population that is looking to empower
themselves through a hands-on science of thought. A primary focus remains the
cultivation of secular mindfulness practices for its application in managing the stress
of everyday life.28
http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/176.html
http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/176.html
26 The American Midwest: An Interpretive Encyclopedia edited by Andrew R. L.
Cayton, Richard Sisson, Chris Zacher
27 http://www.gosit.org/Selections.asp?vReg=MW
28 Zig Zag Zen by Allen Badiner
24
25
11