Essay On Buddhism In America
Buddhism in America
Buddhism first came to America in the late 1800's from the Europeans. 1893 is the year most often given to the birth of Buddhism in America. It was said to have come over during the first World Parliament of Religions, which took place in Chicago
The first known Buddhist monk in the Western hemisphere was, Allan Bennett. He eventually took the name Ananda Metteya.
As Buddhism began to flower in America, it began to influence important thinkers, who in turn influenced the practice itself.
While early in America's history, scholars, Transcendentalists and Theosophists knew about Buddhism, it was not until the early 1950's that most Americans heard of Buddhism. This greater exposure is thanks to the writers and poets of the Beat generation who took up Buddhist practice and incorporated it more blatantly into their widely published works. Later in the 1950's, Alan Watts began giving erudite public talks on Zen Buddhism. Shunryu Suzuki established San Francisco Zen Center and Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi established the Zen Center of Los Angeles. In the 1960's the age of psychedelics the more colorful Tibetan forms of Buddhism began to flower. In the 1970's, Insight Meditation Society, a lay meditation center, was …show more content…
In a series of talks in California in 1987, Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist, encouraged Americans to create "the true face of American Buddhism, one that is not foreign but that springs from the depths of our understanding." He stated further that, "Buddhism is not one. The teachings of Buddhism are many. When Buddhism enters a country, that country always acquires a new form of Buddhism The teaching of Buddhism in this country will be different from other countries. Buddhism, in order to be Buddhism, must be suitable, appropriate to the psychology and the culture of the society that it
Buddhism first came to America in the late 1800's from the Europeans. 1893 is the year most often given to the birth of Buddhism in America. It was said to have come over during the first World Parliament of Religions, which took place in Chicago
The first known Buddhist monk in the Western hemisphere was, Allan Bennett. He eventually took the name Ananda Metteya.
As Buddhism began to flower in America, it began to influence important thinkers, who in turn influenced the practice itself.
While early in America's history, scholars, Transcendentalists and Theosophists knew about Buddhism, it was not until the early 1950's that most Americans heard of Buddhism. This greater exposure is thanks to the writers and poets of the Beat generation who took up Buddhist practice and incorporated it more blatantly into their widely published works. Later in the 1950's, Alan Watts began giving erudite public talks on Zen Buddhism. Shunryu Suzuki established San Francisco Zen Center and Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi established the Zen Center of Los Angeles. In the 1960's the age of psychedelics the more colorful Tibetan forms of Buddhism began to flower. In the 1970's, Insight Meditation Society, a lay meditation center, was …show more content…
In a series of talks in California in 1987, Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist, encouraged Americans to create "the true face of American Buddhism, one that is not foreign but that springs from the depths of our understanding." He stated further that, "Buddhism is not one. The teachings of Buddhism are many. When Buddhism enters a country, that country always acquires a new form of Buddhism The teaching of Buddhism in this country will be different from other countries. Buddhism, in order to be Buddhism, must be suitable, appropriate to the psychology and the culture of the society that it