Old wisdom in the New World : Americanization in two immigrant Theravada Buddhist temples
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Old wisdom in the New World : Americanization in two immigrant Theravada Buddhist temples
University of Tennessee Press, c1996
1st ed
- : pbk
Available at 7 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [155]-176) and index
Contents of Works
- Theravada Buddhism
- Theravada Buddhism in America
- A study in Americanization
- Chicago : Wat Dhammaram
- Los Angeles : Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara
- Temple life and focus
- Chronologies of the schisms
- Underlying tensions
- The monastic staffs
- Vinaya in america : dilemmas and adaptations
- Ecumenism
- The parallelism thesis
- Evidence of parallelism
- Implications of parallelism
- Temple rituals and religious activities
- Festivals
- The second generation
- Spiritual biographies
- Personalities, perspectives, practices
- Lay Ordination
- Familiar themes
- The (re)emergence of a new theme
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Focusing on two well-established institutions—one in Chicago, the other in Los Angeles—Old Wisdom in the New World is the first systematic examination of the growing presence of Theravada Buddhist temples in the United States.
Paul David Numrich's socio-historical analysis highlights a number of classic Americanization themes of establishment, growth, and adaptation. These have surfaced, the author shows, in debates over the retention of Old World culture and language, the "problem" of the second generation, and the role of the laity in religious institutions. Going beyond such familiar themes, Numrich also uncovers the intriguing phenomenon of ethnically defined "parallel congregations" in these temples, as he reveals the ways in which Asian-immigrant Buddhists and American converts pursue substantively different expressions of the Theravada tradition under the direction of a shared clerical leadership, the resident monks.
In the author's view, these Theravada case studies underline the complexity of the present Americanization process. By examining the intersection of two important trends—the steady growth of Asian immigration and an increasing indigenous interest in new religious movements, especially those of Asian origin—this book points to some fascinating new directions for the study of religious and cultural diversity in the United States.
The Author: Paul David Numrich is a research associate in the Religion in Urban America Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
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