Old Wisdom in the New World: Americanization in Two Immigrant Theravada Buddhist Temples

by Numrich, Paul David

• ISBN13: 9781572330634
• ISBN10: 1572330635
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-11-01
• Publisher: Univ of Tennessee Pr

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Introduction	xv
Theravada Buddhism	xvi
Theravada Buddhism in America	xvii
A Study in Americanization	xxi
The Temples	1	(18)
Chicago: Wat Dhammaram	2	(9)
Los Angeles: Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara	11	(5)
Temple Life and Focus	16	(3)
Schism	19	(21)
Chronologies of the Schisms	20	(9)
Underlying Tensions	29	(11)
The Monks	40	(23)
The Monastic Staffs	40	(6)
Vinaya in America: Dilemmas and Adaptations	46	(9)
Ecumenism	55	(8)
Parallel Congregations	63	(17)
The Parallelism Thesis	63	(3)
Evidence of Parallelism	66	(8)
Implications of Parallelism	74	(6)
The Asian-Immigrant Congregation	80	(28)
Temple Rituals and Religious Activities	80	(6)
Festivals	86	(11)
The Second Generation	97	(11)
The American-Convert Congregation	108	(32)
Spiritual Biographies	109	(7)
Personalities, Perspectives, Practices	116	(9)
Lay ``Ordination''	125	(15)
Americanization	140	(9)
Familiar Themes	140	(4)
The (Re) Emergence of a New Theme	144	(5)
Appendix: Immigrant Theravada Buddhist Temples in the United States	149	(6)
Notes	155	(10)
Sources	165	(12)
Index	177