GEOGRAPHICAL
STUDIES
I.
Europe
The
encounter of Buddhism and occidental intellectual life
since the mid-nineteenth century has been the topic of
many detailed and sometimes rather dry studies. Luckily,
Stephen Batchelor recently launched a most entertaining
and nevertheless sophisticated and informed account entitled
The Awakening of the West (1994). This source not
only covers the ancient and medieval periods of the "Encounter
of Buddhism and Western culture," but instructively traces
much of contemporary interest and glorification of Buddhism
to nineteenth-century romanticism. The book narratively
introduces all major Buddhist traditions in twenty-one
self-contained chapters, outlining their presence in the
West (contemporary teachers, centers, activities). The
book, written from an existential Buddhist point of view,
covers Europe only. Whereas its successive presentation
of Buddhist activities in Germany, Britain, France, and
Italy (314-320) closes with the end of World War II, current
developments and activities are treated abundantly in
various chapters. (7)
A
synoptic survey of Buddhism's historical and contemporary
developments in Europe is provided in my article "Creating
a European Path to Nirvana." The stock-taking draws together
regional sources and studies, on which basis both a sketch
with regard to respective countries in Europe and general
features of developments are outlined. For example, in
Britain, the number of Buddhist organizations tripled
between 1979 and 1991. In Germany, interest in Buddhism
has resulted in a five-fold increase in the number of
groups and centers from 1975 to 1991. A quantitative analysis
of Buddhist traditions followed is provided as well as
contemporary attempts of European convert Buddhists to
develop a Western form of Buddhism. (8)
Finally,
an annotated bibliography on "Buddhism in Europe" was
put on the internet as a link from the home page of the
"UK Association of Buddhist Studies" in 1996. The bibliography,
in its updated version, contains some 270 entries and
focuses on historical studies of Buddhism in respective
countries in Europe. It lists academic monographs, articles,
and unpublished university theses -- selectively accompanied
by explanatory comments and evaluations. (9)
II.
Great Britain, France, Germany
With
regard to both Great Britain and France, strangely enough
no up-to-date monographs exist. Whereas the early phases
of Buddhism in Great Britain are covered satisfactorily, (10)
developments can only be followed up by articles spread
in various journals and books. (11)
On the other hand, Buddhist organizations and groups are
painstakingly listed in a detailed Buddhist Directory,
compiled in its sixth edition by the Buddhist Society
London. (12) Pertaining
to France, the most recent general overview I have come
across is a chapter included in the book by Denis Gira
entitled Comprendre le bouddhisme (1989). The chapter
provides a useful survey of the various Buddhist traditions
present in France, and provides details on the numerically
strong minority communities of South East Asian Buddhists. (13)
Regard to the latter, the volume Habitations et Habitat
d'Asie du Sud-Est Continentale (1992), co-edited by
J. Matras-Guin and C. Taillard, has detailed chapters
on the Laotian and Cambodian communities and their establishment
in France. (14)
In
Germany, Buddhists themselves have been eager to document
Buddhist history since its inception in late nineteenth
century. Hellmuth Hecker of the Hamburg Buddhist Society
has built up an archive, collecting information on Buddhist
developments in Germany and more generally in Europe.
Apart from his detailed Chronik des Buddhismus in Deutschland
(1985), Hecker published two outstanding volumes on the
Lebensbilder Deutscher Buddhisten (life stories
of German Buddhists, 1990, 1992). (15)
Based on these and further sources, I myself have done
a description and interpretation of Buddhist history and
adaptation in Deutsche Buddhisten: Geschichte und Gemeinschaften
(German Buddhists. History and Communities, 1993).
The overview and analysis is conducted from an academic
Religious Studies point of view. (16)
Buddhists
are increasingly active in many further countries of Europe.
However, only with regard to the Netherlands, is one able
to rely on an extended monograph, written in Dutch by
Victor van Gemert. (17)
Relevant articles and sources pertaining to Southern and
Eastern Europe and to the Nordic countries are listed
on the on-line annotated bibliography.
III.
United States and Canada
Buddhism
in America has increasingly been the object of Buddhist
and academic studies since the mid-1970s. During the subsequent
two decades, a vast amount of literature appeared, resulting
in the fact that "research on American Buddhism has expanded
exponentially" thus developing the study of Buddhism in
America "into a sub-discipline of Buddhist Studies." (18)
The academic surveys and analyses of Layman, Buddhism
in America (1976), and Prebish, American Buddhism
(1979), were followed by the detailed "Narrative History
of Buddhism in America," told by Vajradhatu Buddhist Rick
Fields in his most entertaining How the Swans Came
to the Lake (1981). (19)
Another approach was taken by Don Morreale in his guide
to centers, retreats, and practices in his book Buddhist
America (1988). The book collects short Buddhist essays
by leading American Buddhists and the detailed enumeration
of some 490 centers in the U.S. and Canada. Although now
rather outdated, Morreale's endeavors for the first time
also enabled the statistical analysis of some features
of the state of affairs of Buddhism in North America. (20)
With regard to Canada, no separate investigation of the
history of Buddhism has yet been available; developments
and activities there will continue to be treated in passing
while dealing with the U.S. situation.
Finally,
recent studies focusing on specific areas of Buddhism
in the U.S. need to be mentioned. Thomas A. Tweed superbly
surveyed and analyzed the early phase of "white" Americans
taking up Buddhism. His American Encounter with Buddhism
1844-1912 (1992) serves both to retell the beginnings
of Buddhist history in America and to crystallize dominant
cultural features of the American Victorian age mirrored
in Buddhist conversations. (21)
Paul David Numrich in his study Americanization in
Two Immigrant Theravada Buddhist Temples (1996) justly
points to the fact that most studies on Buddhism in America
have focused on the "convert" Buddhists, neglecting the
experiences and achievements of immigrant Asian Buddhists
-- a feature observable not only in the U.S., but also
prevalent with regard to investigations of Buddhism in
Europe and Australia. (22)
Despite
the above mentioned studies, to which many more may be
added, including such Buddhist journals as Tricycle
and Turning Wheel: Journal of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship,
Prebish rightly pointed to missing data on understanding
the history of Buddhism in America. Information is needed
on institutional issues as well as "on the backgrounds
of American Buddhists . . . their educational levels,
occupations, former religious orientations, motivations
for becoming Buddhists, earnings, value orientations,
families . . ." (23)
Pointing to such missing empirical items in research,
Prebish also outlined some areas for future research. (24)
IV.
Australia
In
line with other Western countries, Buddhism in Australia
grew rapidly during the 1980s, both with regard to interest
on the part of "white" converts and an increase in the
number of Asian immigrant Buddhists. A detailed chronological
description from the early developments up to the late
1980s is provided in Paul Croucher's Buddhism in Australia
(1989). A short, more general portrait of Australian Buddhist
history from an academic point of view can be found in
The Buddhists in Australia by Enid Adam and Philip
J. Hughes (1996). This seventy-one page book contains
an instructive sociological analysis of the Buddhist "community,"
based on the 1991 Census. (25)
V.
South Africa
Buddhism
in South Africa has a long history, although existing
on a numerically very small basis up to the early 1990s.
A rather sketchy overview is provided by Louis H. van
Loon's contribution to the volume Living Faiths in
South Africa (1995). Thus, the academic community
and Buddhists await the forthcoming publication of Darrel
Wratten's Ph.D. thesis Buddhism in South Africa: From
Textual Imagination to Contextual Innovation (1995).
This detailed treatise offers a wealth of information,
analyzing the developments from a Religious Studies and
anthropological point of view. (26)
VI.
Cyberspace
In
addition to these printed publications one increasingly
is able to trace further current information on Buddhist
activities locally or globally via the Internet. In addition
to the recommendable page "DhammaNet International: Gateways
to Buddhism" (Berkeley), the site "Global Resources for
Buddhist Studies" of the Journal of Buddhist Ethics
refers the cyberspace surfer to some 170 links ranging
from the "Albuquerque Zen Centre" to "Buddhist Resources
in Spain," "Schools of Zen Buddhism" in Australia, to
gopher and FTP sites and the more than twenty currently-available
newsgroups. Such home pages of Buddhist centers and regional
organizations provide the opportunity to investigate programs
and activities, and also facilitate access to collections
of data. Although this medium is presently used by a limited
and selected spectrum of Buddhist groups only, it may
provide special items and updated information within a
broader historical account.
RESUME
AND PROSPECTS
Buddhism
has come West and set up home in many Western countries.
For many Western followers the Tipi.taka (the Paali
Buddhist canon), the zafu (the meditation cushion
of Zen practitioners), or the vajra (an instrument
used in Tibetan Buddhist ritual) have taken on a life
orientating symbol and meaning. Likewise, those Buddhists
arriving from Asian countries or being the children of
immigrants have developed their own home away from home
and have, up to now, maintained a low degree of change
and adaptation.
Indisputably,
the quantity and quality of research on these developments,
i.e., on Buddhist activities in the West, has increased
tremendously during the last two decades. Nevertheless,
the necessity and importance of both geographic, country-focused
and global, general surveys continues to remain as Buddhism's
growth progresses during the 1990s. The basis for a comparative,
analytical investigation covering the "Western world"
depends on well researched country specific studies. Trans-national
comparisons will be able to highlight similarities as,
for example, the urban setting of most Buddhist activities,
its mainly middle-class, well educated fellowship pertaining
to "white" convert Buddhists. Likewise, differences will
become apparent, as for example the low rate of intra-Buddhist
activities in U.K. and U.S. being contrasted by the high
degree of "ecumenical" achievements in Germany, culminating
in a joint "Buddhist confession." In 1985, the confession
on Buddhist doctrines was jointly set up by almost all
Buddhist traditions present in Germany in order to meet
the legal prerequisites to apply for the status of a public
corporation. Many intra-Buddhist meetings and joint activities
have taken place since then. (27)
In
addition, observations and insights won through the study
of Buddhist history in one country may fruitfully be transferred
to another, Western context. Thus Tweed's typology of
rational, esoteric and romantic Buddhists, set up for
the timespan 1879-1912 in the U.S., may usefully be applied
as an analytical tool for categorizing conversion motives
of European Buddhists. (28)
Or, Numrich's observation of two parallel congregations
in American immigrant Theravaada temples, those of the
Asian-immigrant and those of the American-convert congregation,
need to be considered for similar Asian-based temples
in Europe and Australia. With regard to this aspect, Prebish's
strong statement that there are "two completely distinct
lines of development in American Buddhism" brings to the
fore an understanding of similar developments in Europe
and Australia. (29)
Prebish's differentiation also, however, invites not only
a reflection on less dualistic models of categorizing
Buddhists living outside Asia, but also, encourages us
to look out for counter-cases as the Thai monasteries
Chithurst Forest in U.K. and Wat Puttabenjapon in Germany,
or the Vietnamese Vien Giac Pagoda in Hannover (Germany). (30)
In
addition to the area of geographic studies, research on
the dissemination of specific traditions and schools need
to be increased. In the mid-1990s, many Buddhist schools
and organizations are distributed on a virtually global
scale, transferring resources and teachers in an hitherto
unknown speed and rate. As such, global networks have
been established by Theravaada and Zen, Tibetan, and Japanese
Buddhist traditions as well as by non-affiliated Western
groups and orders. (31)
Further Asian Buddhist traditions increasingly become
engaged in Western countries, thus increasing the heterogeneity
of Buddhism in the West. (32)
Finally,
the vast field of adapting and making Buddhism indigenous,
setting up new topics of interest and concern, creating
adapted forms, content and even Western schools, is in
need of a comparative and analytical research. Likewise,
Buddhism may be understood and practiced from a rational,
sociopolitically engaged or feminist point of view, to
name but a few emphases set up by its followers. (33)
The features of adaptation relate to both "white" Buddhists
and Buddhists affiliated to an immigrant temple and community.
With regard to the latter, in particular but not exclusively,
investigations should take into account research approaches
and results gained through the study of diaspora situations.
Most of the few studies on immigrant Buddhist groups appear
to have failed to place the data in a theoretical context
which takes account of studies on diaspora and minority
issues. In this respect highly valuable observations and
areas of analysis can fruitfully be transferred from the
study of Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims, or Jews living for decades
or even centuries in diasporic situations. Research has
not yet seriously started to make use of the analytical
and comparative heuristics of the diaspora concept. The
reason for this may be that, with the exception of Chinese
and Japanese communities in the U.S., most immigrant Buddhist
diasporas are of comparatively recent origins. And, even
more so, as it is apparent that now, and for the next
decades (and centuries), Buddhist traditions in the West
will have no alternative than to arrange to survive and
develop in this diasporic environment. These and related
research approaches deserve much attention. (34)
Taking
all such possible areas of current and future research,
I increasingly doubt whether a single monograph will be
able to sufficiently cover the history, adaptation and
innovations of Buddhism in the West.
Notes
1
Ernst Benz, "Buddhismus in der westlichen Welt," Saeculum
20 (1969): 355-68; repr. in Buddhismus in der Gegenwart,
ed. Heinrich Dumoulin (Freiburg: Herder, 1970), 191-204;
repr. in the English edition of the volume. See The
Cultural, Political, and Religious Significance of Buddhism
in the Modern World, ed. H. Dumoulin and J. C. Maraldo
(New York: Collier Macmillan 1976).Return
2
Roger J. Corless, "Buddhism and the West," in Buddhism.
A Modern Perspective, ed. Charles S. Prebish (University
Park, London: Pennsylvania State University 1975), 248-54.Return
3
Heinz Bechert, "Buddhist Revival in East and West," in
The World of Buddhism, ed. Heinz Bechert and Richard
Gombrich (London: Thames and Hudson 1984), 273-85Return
4
Robert S. Ellwood, "Buddhism in the West," in Encyclopedia
of Religion, ed. Mircea Eliade (New York: Macmillan
1987), vol. 2, 436-39.Return
5
Graham Coleman, ed., A Handbook of Tibetan Culture.
An International Resources Directory (London: Rider 1993).Return
6
Martin Baumann, "Buddhism in the West: Phases, Orders
and the Creation of an Integrative Buddhism," Internationales
Asienforum 27/ 3-4 (1996): 345-62; and "Il buddhismo
in Occidente," Storia delle religioni 4, "Religioni
dell'India e dell'Estremo Oriente," ed. Giovanni Filoramo
(Rome: Gius. Laterza & Figli 1996), 483-97. See also
the table on page 494. Return
7
Stephen Batchelor, The Awakening of the West. The Encounter
of Buddhism and Western Culture (Berkeley: Parallax
Press, London: Aquarian, Harper Collins 1994). This book
is reviewed in JBE 3 (1996).Return
8
Baumann, "Creating a European Path to Nirvaana. Historical
and Contemporary Developments of Buddhism in Europe,"
Journal of Contemporary Religion 10/1 (1995): 55-70.
See also Baumann, "Der Buddhismus im Abendland. Historische
Entwicklung und gegenwaertige Praasenz," Religio. Revue
pro Religionistku (Czech Republic) 3/1 (1995): 17-42.Return
9
Baumann, comp., "Buddhism in Europe. An Annotated Bibliography
on its Historical Developments and Contemporary State
of Affairs." First version October 1996, update January
1998. See http:// www.sunderland.ac.uk/~osOdwe/bs10.htm.Return
10
Christmas Humphreys, Sixty Years of Buddhism in England
(1907- 1967): A History and a Survey, London: Buddhist
Society 1968; Ian Oliver, Buddhism in Britain (London:
Rider & Company 1979); and Lance S. Cousins, "Theravaada
Buddhism in England," in Buddhism into the Year 2000.
International Conference Proceedings (Bangkok: Dhammakaya
Foundation 1994), 141-50. Return
11
See the various articles in Religion Today (King's
College London), its successor Journal of Contemporary
Religion, and information provided in The Middle
Way (Buddhist Society London). See also Bryan Wilson
and Karel Dobbelaere, A Time to Chant The Soka Gakkai
Buddhists in Britain. (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1994).
Further studies are listed in the bibliography "Buddhism
in Europe." Unfortunately, the Ph.D. theses by Philip
Mellor and Sandra Bell (Durham) on aspects of Buddhism
in U.K. have not become published. Two further Ph.D. theses,
by Helen Waterhouse (Bath College) and David Kay (Lancaster),
are currently in progress, and hopefully will be available
in 1997 or 1998. Return
12
The Buddhist Directory, ed. the Buddhist Society.
6th ed., 1994 (1st ed. in 1979), (London: The Buddhist
Society). The directory lists 274 groups and centers for
1994. The multifaith directory Religions in the UK,
ed. Paul Weller (Derby: Derby University 1993), even lists
302 groups and center in U.K. See pages 88-132. Return
13
Dennis Gira, Comprende le Bouddhisme (Paris: Ed.
Centurion 1989), 186-97. See also D. Gira "La Presence
Bouddhiste en France" (1991), in Documents Episcopat.
Bulletin du seretariat de la conference des evegues de
France, No. 13, Sept. 1991, 16 pages. Return
14
Jacqueline Matras-Guin, Christian Taillard (eds.), Habitations
et Habitat d'Asie du Sud-Est Continentale. Pratiques et
Representations de l'Espace (Paris: L'Harmattan 1992).
See especially the chapters by Catherine Choron-Baix and
Ang Choulean. Return
15
Hellmuth Hecker, Chronik des Buddhismus in Deutschland,
1973, 3rd extended ed. (Plochingen: Deutsche Buddhistische
Union 1985); and Hecker, Lebensbilder deutscher Buddhisten.
Ein bio-bibliographisches Handbuch, 2 vols., nos.
1 and 5 of the series of the research project "Buddhist
Modernism," (Konstanz: University of Konstanz 1990 and
1992). For a review of the series see JBE 4 (1997).Return
16
Baumann, Deutsche Buddhisten. Geschichte und Gemeinschaften
(Marburg: Diagonal 1993), 2nd enlarged and updated edition.,
1995. There are some articles in English on the German
situation. See for example Baumann, "The Transplantation
of Buddhism to Germany -- Processive Modes and Strategies
of Adaptation," Method & Theory in the Study of
Religion 6/1 (1994), 35-61; and Baumann, "Culture
Contact and Valuation: Early German Buddhists and the
Creation of a Buddhism in Protestant Shape'," Numen
44 (1997) 270-295. Return
17
Boeddhisme in Nederland: overzicht van boeddhistische
stromingen in Nederland en Belgiee (Nijmegen: Zen-uitgeverij
Theresiahoeve 1990), updated 1993. For a reliable overview
in English, see R.H.C. Jannsen, "Buddhism in the Netherlands:
History and Present Status," in Buddhism into the Year
2000. International Conference Proceedings (Bangkok:
Dhammakaya Foundation 1994), 151-56.Return
18
Charles S. Prebish, "Ethics and Integration in American
Buddhism," JBE 2 (1995):125-139. Return
19
Rick Fields, How the Swans came to the Lake. A Narrative
History of Buddhism in America (Boulder: Shambhala
1981). 3rd enlarged and updated edition, 1992. Return
20
Don Morreale, Buddhist America: Centres, Retreats,
Practices (Santa Fe: J. Muir Publ. 1988). An update
is in preparation. Return
21
Thomas A. Tweed, The American Encounter with Buddhism
1844- 1912. Victorian Culture and the Limits of Dissent
(Bloomington, Indianapolis: Indiana University Press 1992).
The notion of a "white Buddhist" is taken from Rick Fields,
"Confession of a White Buddhist," Tricycle 4 (1994):
54-56. It was already used by him in the first edition
of his How the Swans Came to the Lake, 1981, 83.
Return
22
Paul David Numrich, Old Wisdom in the New World. Americanization
in Two Immigrant Theravaada Buddhist Temples (Knoxville:
University of Tennessee Press 1996). Reviewed in JBE
3 (1996):193-197. Return
23
Prebish, "Ethics and Integration," JBE (1995):125-139.
Information on these issues have been collected with regard
to Buddhists in Germany in Hecker's Lebensbilder deutscher
Buddhisten (1990, 1992) and sociologically analysed
in Baumann, Deutsche Buddhisten, 1995, 233- 252.
Return
24
The collection of papers of the Numata lecture series
on Buddhism in America (Fall 1994) are due to be published
in The Faces of Buddhism in America, ed. Charles
S. Prebish and Kenneth K. Tanaka (Berkeley: University
of California Press 1998).Return
25
Paul Croucher, Buddhism in Australia. 1848-1988
(Kensington NSW Australia: NSW University Press 1989);
Enid Adam and Philip J. Hughes, The Buddhists in Australia
(Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service 1996).
The latter is reviewed in JBE 3 (1996). Return
26
Louis H. van Loon, "Buddhism in South Africa," in Living
Faiths in South Africa, ed. John W. de Gruchy and
Martin Prozesky (Cape Town: David Philip 1995), 209-17;
and Darrel Wratten, "Buddhism in South Africa. From Textual
Imagination to Contextual Innovation," (unpubl. Ph.D.
thesis, Department of Religious Studies, Cape Town University,
1995). Return
27
For details see Baumann, "The Transplantation of Buddhism
to Germany," 1994, 43-44; and Baumann, Deutsche Buddhisten,
1995, 183- 202. The application was, however, not granted.
Return
28
See Baumann, "Analytische Rationalisten und romantische
Sucher. Motive der Konversion zum Buddhismus in Deutschland,"
Zeitschrift fuer Missionswissenschaft und Religionswissenschaft
79/3 (1995), 207-25. For Tweed's typology see Tweed, American
Encounter with Buddhism, 1992, 48-77. Return
29
For the parallel congregations see Numrich, Old Wisdom,
1996, 63- 79. The quote is in Charles S. Prebish, "Two
Buddhisms Reconsidered," Buddhist Studies Review
10/2 (1993): 187-206, quote 206. Return
30
Jan Nattier differentiates American Buddhist groups along
the notions of elite, evangelical, and ethnic Buddhism.
See her "Visible and Invisible: The Politics of Representation
in Buddhist America," Tricycle 5/1 (1995), 42-49.
For Chithurst Forest Monastery, see, among others, Batchelor,
Awakening of the West, 1994, 36-49.Return
31
See various chapters on Buddhist traditions in Batchelor,
Awakening of the West, 1994. Return
32
For the dissemination of new and "new, new" Japanese Buddhist
traditions, for example, see the special issue "Japanese
New Religions Abroad," Japanese Journal of Religious
Studies 18/2-3 (1991); and Japanese New Religions
in the West, ed. Peter B. Clarke and Jeffrey Somers
(Folkestone: Curzon Press 1994). Return
33
For a tentative overview regarding such innovations see
for example Jack Kornfield, "Is Buddhism Changing in North
America?," in Buddhist America: Centers, Retreats,
Practices, ed. Don Morreale (Santa Fe: J. Muir, 1988),
xi-xxviii; Baumann, Deutsche Buddhisten, 1995,
268-309; and Detlef Kantowsky, "Buddhist Modernism in
the West/Germany," in Buddhism and Christianity: Interactions
Between East and West, ed. Ulrich Everding (Colombo:
German Cultural Insititue 1995), 101-15.Return
34
The diaspora issue has gained an increasing interest in
recent years, especially among political scientists, sociologists,
and anthropologists. See for example Ninian Smart, "The
Importance of Diasporas," in Gilgut, ed. S.Shaked,
D. Shulman, and G.G. Stroumsa (Leiden: Brill, 1987), 288-97;
Desh Pardesh: The South Asian Presence in Britain,
ed. Roger Ballard (London: Hurst & Company 1994);
and Steven Vertovec, "Comparative Issues in the Hindu
Diaspora," Diaspora 1996-97 (in press). Return
http://jbe.la.psu.edu/index.html
Volume 4 1997
