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Buddhism in the West (or more narrowlyWestern Buddhism) broadly encompasses the knowledge and practice ofBuddhism outside of Asia, in theWestern world. Occasional intersections betweenWestern civilization and the Buddhist world have been occurring for thousands of years. Greek colonies existed in India during the Buddha's life, as early as the 6th century.[1] The first Westerners to become Buddhists were Greeks who settled inBactria andIndia during theHellenistic period. They became influential figures during the reigns of theIndo-Greek kings, whose patronage of Buddhism led to the emergence ofGreco-Buddhism andGreco-Buddhist art.
There was little contact between the Western and Asian cultures during most of theMiddle Ages, but theearly modern rise ofglobal trade andmercantilism,improved navigation technology and theEuropean colonization of Asian Buddhist countries led to increased knowledge of Buddhism among Westerners. This increased contact led to various responses from Buddhists and Westerners throughout themodern era. These include religiousproselytism, religiouspolemics and debates (such as the Sri LankanPanadura debate),Buddhist modernism, Western convert Buddhists and the rise ofBuddhist studies in Western academia.
During the 20th century, there was growth in Western Buddhism due to various factors such asimmigration,globalization, thedecline of Christianity and increased interest among Westerners. The variousschools of Buddhism are now established in all major Western countries making up a small minorityin the United States (1% in 2024),Europe (0.3% in 2020), as well as inAustralia (2.4% in 2016) andNew Zealand (1.5% in 2013).[2][3][4][5]
The first contact betweenWestern culture andBuddhist culture occurred duringAlexander the Great's conquest of India.
After Alexander's conquest, Greek colonists established cities and kingdoms inBactria andIndia where Buddhism was thriving.[6][7] This cultural interaction saw the emergence ofGreco-Buddhism andGreco-Buddhist art, especially within theGandharan civilization which covered a large part of modern-day northernPakistan and easternAfghanistan.[8] Greek sculptors in the classical tradition came to teach their skills to Indian sculptors resulting in the distinctive style ofGreco-Buddhist art in stone andstucco seen in hundreds of Buddhist monasteries which are still being discovered and excavated in this region.
Greco-Buddhism was an important religion among theGreco-Bactrians and theIndo-Greeks. The Indo-Greek kings such asMenander I (165/155 –130 BCE) andMenander II (90–85 BCE) used Buddhist symbolism in their coins. Menander I is a main character of the Indian Buddhist scripture known asMilinda Panha ("The Questions of King Milinda"), which states that he adopted the Buddhist religion.[9] The Buddhist tradition considers Menander as a great benefactor of the Dharma, along withAshoka.
TheMahavamsa mentions that during Menander's reign, a Greek elder monk namedMahadharmaraksita led 30,000 Buddhist monks from "the Greek city of Alexandria" (possiblyAlexandria on the Caucasus) toSri Lanka for the dedication of a stupa showing that Greeks took an active part in Indian Buddhism during this period.[10]
Greco-Buddhist styles continued to be influential during theKushan empire.
Alexander the Great's court on his conquest of India included the philosopherPyrrho who created his philosophy,Pyrrhonism, with influence from the Buddhistthree marks of existence.[11]
The Pyrrhonists promote suspending judgment (epoché) aboutdogma (beliefs about non-evident matters) as the way to reachataraxia, a soteriological objective similar tonirvana. This is similar to the practices described in theAṭṭhakavagga, one of the oldest Buddhist texts, and it is similar to the Buddha's refusal to answercertain metaphysical questions which he saw as non-conductive to the path of Buddhist practice andNagarjuna's "relinquishing of all views (drsti)".
Later Pyrrhonism substantially parallels the teachings ofMadhyamaka Buddhism, particularly the surviving works ofSextus Empiricus,[12]Thomas McEvilley[13] and Matthew Neale[14][15] suspect that Nāgārjuna was influenced by Greek Pyrrhonist texts imported into India.
Several instances of interactions between Buddhism and theRoman Empire are documented byClassical and early Christian writers. Roman historical accounts describe an embassy sent by the Indian king Pandion, also known as Porus, toAugustus around 13 CE. The embassy was travelling with a diplomatic letter inGreek, and one of its members—calledZarmanochegas—was an Indian religious man (sramana) who burned himself alive inAthens to demonstrate his faith. The event created a sensation and was described byNicolaus of Damascus, who met the embassy atAntioch, and related byStrabo (XV,1,73) andDio Cassius. These accounts at least indicate that religious men from India (Sramanas, to which the Buddhists belonged, as opposed toHinduBrahmanas) were visiting Mediterranean countries. However, the termsramana is a general term for Indian religious man in Jainism, Buddhism, and Ājīvika. It is not clear which of those religious tradition the man belonged to in this case.
Early 3rd–4th centuryChristian writers such asHippolytus andEpiphanius write about a figure calledScythianus, who visited India around 50 CE from where he brought "the doctrine of the Two Principles". According toCyril of Jerusalem, Scythianus' pupilTerebinthus presented himself as a "Buddha" ("He called himself Buddas") and taught inPalestine,Judaea andBabylon.[16]
The influential early Christian church fatherClement of Alexandria (died AD 215) mentioned Buddha (Βούττα):[17]
Among the Indians are those philosophers also who follow the precepts ofBoutta, whom they honour as a god on account of his extraordinary sanctity.
The myth ofthe birth of the Buddha was also known: a fragment of Archelaos of Carrha (278 AD) mentions the Buddha's virgin-birth, andSaint Jerome (4th century) mentions the birth of the Buddha, who he says "was born from the side of a virgin".
The legend of Christian saintsBarlaam and Josaphat draws on the life of the Buddha.[18]
In the 13th century, international travelers, such asGiovanni de Piano Carpini andWilliam of Ruysbroeck, sent back reports of Buddhism to the West and noted some similarities withNestorian Christian communities.[19] The famous travel writerMarco Polo (1254–1324) wrote much about Buddhism, its rites and customs, in places such as Khotan, China and Sri Lanka.
When European Christians made more direct contact with Buddhism in the early 16th century,Jesuit missionaries to Asia such as St.Francis Xavier andIppolito Desideri sent back detailed accounts of Buddhist doctrine and practices.[19]Ippolito Desideri spent a long time inTibet, learning the Tibetan language and Tibetan Buddhist doctrine before writing an account of his travels and of Tibetan Buddhism.[20] He also wrote several books in Tibetan which promoted Christianity and critiqued Buddhism. Other influential Jesuit writers on BuddhismAlessandro Valignano (1539–1606) andMatteo Ricci (1552–1610).[21] ThePortuguese colonial efforts in Sri Lanka during the 16th and 17th centuries saw some of the first large scale direct contact between Buddhists and Westerners. According to Stephen Berkwitz, by the late 17th century, "the existence of a religion across Asia that worshiped images of the Buddha, known and referred to by many different names, was a well-known fact among European scholars."[21]
This recognition that Buddhism was indeed a distinct Asian religion with its own texts and not just a form of local paganism, led Catholic missionaries to see Buddhism as a serious rival to Christianity in Asia and to promote its further study so as to combat it.[21] They also sought to explain how such a religion could exist which appeared to deviate from those originating from divine revelation and yet also contained numerous similarities (monastic orders, virgin birth of its founder, belief in heaven and hell, etc.). Because of this, many Portuguese writers explained the Buddhist religion as a form of Christianity corrupted by the devil and some even said Buddhists were "in league with the devil".[21] Catholic missionaries in Asia especially criticized the Buddhist view of rebirth, "idol worship" and denial of the immortality of the soul or afirst cause.[21]
With the arrival ofSanskrit and Oriental studies in European universities in the late 18th century, and the subsequent availability of Buddhist texts, Western Buddhist studies began to take shape.[19] An important early figure isPaulinus a Sancto Bartholomaeo who first remarked on the connection between Sanskrit and Pali, and described an early Italian translation of theKammavaca in hisSystema brahmanicum.[20]
During the 19th century, Buddhism (along with other non-European religions and philosophies) came to the attention of Western intellectuals through the work of Christian missionaries, scholars, and imperial civil servants who wrote about the countries in which they worked. Most accounts of Buddhism placed it in a negative light however, as anihilistic,pessimistic,idolatrous andheathen faith.[22][23]Jules Barthélemy-Saint-Hilaire for example, described Buddhism as the nihilistic nadir of Indian pessimism.[23]
One early and influential sympathetic account wasSir Edwin Arnold's book-length poemThe Light of Asia(1879), a life of the Buddha which became an influential best-seller. The book, coming at a time when Christianity was being challenged by critical Biblical scholarship andDarwinism, was seen by some Western intellectuals as promoting a more rational alternative to Christianity.[22] This book eventually went through eighty editions and sold between half a million to a million copies.[22]
The growth ofSpiritualism andTheosophy also contributed to the rise of interest in Buddhism.[22] Some Theosophists actually converted to Buddhism, such asHelena Blavatsky andHenry Steel Olcott who according to Stephen Prothero were "the first European-Americans to publicly and formally become lay Buddhists" in 1880.[24] Olcott became a very influential figure in the Sinhalese Buddhist revival and in promoting the rise of amodernist Buddhism. He founded various branches of the Buddhist Theosophical Society in his first visit to Sri Lanka and wrote Buddhist educational literature.[24] Seeing himself as an educator who was attempting to help the Sinhalese understand "real" Buddhism (based on a rational academic study of the Pali texts, not on "debased, sectarian, and creedal" local forms), he wrote an influential introduction to Buddhism called theBuddhist Catechism (1881), which proved extremely popular and remains in use today.[24] While Olcott's Buddhism was influenced byliberal Protestantism as well as Theosophical ideas, Sinhalese Buddhists such as the famousHikkaduve Sumangala supported his efforts and he became very popular in the island.[25][26]
The writings ofLafcadio Hearn were also influential in introducingJapanese Buddhism to Western audiences.
The 19th century also saw the growth of the first thorough academic studies, publications and translations ofBuddhist texts. The work of the French orientalistEugène Burnouf is some of the first academic work on Buddhism which includes a French translation of theLotus sutra from Sanskrit. He laid the foundation for the study ofSanskrit Buddhist texts. He andChristian Lassen also published an early Pali grammar in 1826.[20] Benjamin Clough, a Wesleyan missionary, also published an early grammar of the language in Colombo, 1824,A compendious Pali grammar with a copious vocabulary in the same language.[20] The first Pali dictionary was published in 1875,Robert Caesar Childers'A Dictionary of the Pali language.[20] The work ofEmile Senart is also important, and includes a publication and study of the SanskritMahavastu as well as hisEssai sur la légende du Bouddha, which interpreted the Buddha as asolar deity figure.[20]
1881 was a seminal year for the new field now known asBuddhist studies. ThePali Text Society was founded in 1881 byThomas William Rhys Davids, who was an influential early translator of the BuddhistPali Canon. Another influential scholar in the field was theIndologistMax Müller, who edited Buddhist texts which were published in the Oxford series known asSacred Books of the East. In 1881, Volume 10 included the first translations of theDhammapada (Müller) and theSutta-Nipata (Viggo Fausböll).Hermann Oldenberg's 1881 study onBuddhism, entitledBuddha: his life, his doctrine, his order (Buddha: Sein Leben, seine Lehre, seine Gemeinde), based onPāli texts was also an early influential work which critiqued the solar myth theory.[20]
This era also sawWestern philosophers taking note of Buddhism. These included the influential German philosopherArthur Schopenhauer, who read about Buddhism and otherIndian religions, and praised their way of life in his works as the highest ideal.[27][28] Schopenhauer later claimed that Buddhism was the "best of all possible religions."[29] Schopenhauer's view of human suffering as arising from striving orWill and his compassion-based ethics have been compared to Buddhism.[30][31] Religion scholars specialized in theacademic study of Western esotericism recognize thatTheravada Buddhism had been influential on the philosophical and religious thought of the Englishoccultist andceremonial magicianAleister Crowley,[32] although he eventually distanced himself from Theravada Buddhist teachings and foundedhis own religion.[32]
There are frequent mentions of Buddhism in the work of the German philosopherFriedrich Nietzsche, who praised Buddhism in his 1895 workThe Anti-Christ, calling it "a hundred times more realistic than Christianity" because it isatheistic,phenomenalistic, and anti-metaphysical.[33]Nietzsche wrote that "Buddhism already has—and this distinguishes it profoundly from Christianity—the self-deception of moral concepts behind it—it stands, in my language,Beyond Good and Evil."[34] However, he also saw Buddhism as a kind of life-denyingnihilistic religion.[35] Thus, even though Nietzsche saw himself as undertaking a similar project to the Buddha, writing in 1883, "I could become the Buddha of Europe"; he saw himself as consciously anti-Buddhist, further writing "though frankly I would be the antipode of the Indian Buddha."[36] Robert Morrison believes that there is "a deep resonance between them" as "both emphasise the centrality of humans in a godless cosmos and neither looks to any external being or power for their respective solutions to the problem of existence".[37]
The first Buddhists to arrive in North America wereChinese immigrants to the West Coast in the 1848Gold Rush.[38] By 1875 there were 8 temples in San Francisco and many more smaller ones along the West Coast. They practiced a mixture of "Confucian ancestor veneration, popularTaoism, andPure Land Buddhism."[38] At about the same time,immigrants from Japan began to arrive as laborers on Hawaiian plantations and central-California farms. In 1893 the firstJōdo Shinshū priests arrived inSan Francisco, and they formally established the Buddhist Missions of North America, later renamed theBuddhist Churches of America in 1899. The BCA is the oldest major institutional form of Buddhism in the United States.[39] This organization acted as way for immigrants to preserve theirJapanese culture andlanguage, as well as their religion.
Asian immigrants also arrived inBritish Columbia,Canada during the 1850s (to work as miners), and the old immigrant population was bolstered by new influx of Asian migrants after the 1962 Immigration Act and also as a result of the arrival of refugees fromIndochina.[40] Mining work also led Chinese immigrants toAustralia (in 1848) andNew Zealand (1863).[41] AmericanTranscendentalist thinkers were interested inEastern religions, including Buddhism, though they were never converts.Ralph Waldo Emerson regarded Hinduism and Buddhism as anticipations of an ideal Transcendentalism.[42] Meanwhile,Henry David Thoreau translated theLotus Sutra from French into English.[43]
An important event in the history of Western Buddhism was the 1893World Parliament of Religions inChicago organized byJohn Henry Barrows andPaul Carus. The Japanese delegation included the priestSoyen Shaku, the layman Zenshiro Nogushi, four priests and two laymen, representing theRinzai Zen,Jodo Shinshu,Nichiren,Tendai, andShingon schools of Japanese Buddhism.[44] The Sri LankanAnagarika Dharmapala was also present and gave a speech promoting Buddhism. He spoke English with a passion which stirred the audience and drew much attention.[44] He would later come back to the United States for a speaking tour across the nation at the behest ofPaul Carus, professor of philosophy, and officiated the first Vesak celebration inSan Francisco (1897).[45] On his third visit to North America, he attended a lecture byWilliam James, who gave up his spot to Dharmapala. After Dharmapala finished speaking onBuddhist psychology, James is recorded to have said "this is the psychology everybody will be studying twenty-five years from now."[45]
In 1897, the Japanese Zen philosopherD. T. Suzuki came to the United States to work and study with Paul Carus. Suzuki was the single-most important person in popularizingZen Buddhism in the West.[46] However, his philosophical thought and understanding of Buddhism were also influenced by Western esoteric traditions such asTheosophy andSwedenborgianism.[46][47] Suzuki's writings had a strong impact on Western thinkers and intellectuals such as psychologistsErich Fromm andKaren Horney, poets likeAlan Ginsberg andJack Kerouac, as well as on other figures likeAlan Watts andEdward Conze.[48] Through his writings, Suzuki contributed to the emergence of a Zen modernism which blends Asian Buddhism with Transcendentalism andRomanticism.[46]
The works of the early important figures in Western Buddhism such asHenry Olcott,Paul Carus andSoyen Shaku promoted a kind of Buddhism that has been called by contemporary scholars "Buddhist modernism" and also "protestant Buddhism."[23] This new Buddhist discourse included various elements, but especially important was the idea that Buddhism was compatible with modernscience andenlightenment rationalism.[23] Olcott's Buddhist catechism is one example, which has a section devoted toBuddhism and science, which promotes thetheory of evolution and affirms that Buddhism is based on the consistent operations of causality. He also argues that Buddhists are "earnestly enjoined to accept nothing on faith" and are required to believe only that which is "corroborated by our own reason and consciousness."[23] Paul Carus' encounter with Buddhism led him to believe that it was a great example of a "Religion of Science" and he became an enthusiastic supporter of it because he believed that it was the religion that "recognizes no other revelation except the truth that can be proved by science".[23] His influential work,The Gospel of Buddhism, became quite popular and was translated in various languages. This kind of modernism was also promoted by Asian Buddhists in Asian countries, such asAnagarika Dharmapala.
The rational interpretation of Buddhism as the "religion of reason" was also promoted by early Buddhist societies in Europe, such as the Society for the Buddhist Mission in Leipzig, Germany, founded in 1903 by the Indologist Karl Seidenstücker (1876 –1936) and the BritishBuddhist Society, in their journalThe Buddhist Review.[49]
According toHeinz Bechert, Buddhist modernism includes the following elements: new interpretations of early Buddhist teachings,demythologisation and reinterpretation of Buddhism as "scientific religion", social philosophy or "philosophy of optimism", emphasis on equality and democracy, "activism" and social engagement, support of Buddhist nationalism, and the revival of meditation practice.[50]
The 20th century saw influential Western converts such as the Irish ex-hoboU Dhammaloka and intellectuals such as Bhikkhu Asoka (H. Gordon Douglas), andAnanda Metteyya. U Dhammaloka became a popular traveling Buddhist preacher inBurma in the early 1900s, writing tracts and confronting Christian missionaries.[51] In 1907 he founded the Buddhist Tract Society inRangoon to distribute pro Buddhist texts as well as other works such asThomas Paine'sRights of Man andAge of Reason.[52] Another influential figure wasCharles Henry Allan Bennett (later Ananda Metteyya), who established the first Buddhist Mission in theUnited Kingdom, the International Buddhist Society and worked on a periodical calledBuddhism: An Illustrated Review as well as two books on Buddhism (The Wisdom of the Aryas andThe Religion of Burma).
Throughout the 20th century, thePali text society continued to be an influential publisher of Buddhist texts, by 1930 all the fivePali Nikayas had been published by the society (and numerous translations were also published).[20] Buddhist studies also made numerous strides during the 20th century, headed by European academies and seen as comprising three "schools" during this period. Important figures include the scholars of the "Franco-Belgian school", such asLouis de La Vallée-Poussin and his studentÉtienne Lamotte, the Pali-based Anglo-German school which included figures such asWilhelm Geiger andCaroline Rhys Davids and the "Leningrad school" ofFyodor Shcherbatskoy andSergey Oldenburg.[53][54][55]
Various Western converts during this period became influential figures through theirTheravada Buddhist translations and writings, including the German monkNyanatiloka Thera who founded theIsland Hermitage inSri Lanka and translated many important Pali texts into German. His disciple, the elderNyanaponika, was a co-founder and president of theBuddhist Publication Society and author of the influential book on meditation,The Heart of Buddhist Meditation. The EnglishÑāṇamoli Bhikkhu was another influential author associated with the Island Hermitage, known for his numerous translations of Pali texts into English.[56] In 1954, Nyanatiloka andNyanaponika were the only two Western-born monks invited to participate in theSixth Buddhist council inYangon,Burma. Nyanaponika read out Nyanatiloka's message at the opening of the council.[57]
During the 20th century, there was an exponential increase in publications on Buddhism. The first English translation of theTibetan Book of the Dead was published in 1927, byWalter Evans-Wentz. He credited himself as the compiler and editor of these volumes, with translation by Tibetan Buddhists, primarily Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup.[58] The reprint of 1935 carried a commentary fromCarl Jung. The book is said to have attracted many westerners to Tibetan Buddhism.[59] Also published in English in 1927,Alexandra David-Néel's "My Journey to Lhasa" helped popularized the modern perception of Tibet andTibetan Buddhism at large.[60] During the 20th century the German writerHermann Hesse showed great interest in Eastern religions, writing a popular book entitledSiddhartha.
TheBuddhist Society, London (originally known as the Buddhist Lodge) was founded by Theosophist and convert to BuddhismChristmas Humphreys in 1924.[62]Anagarika Dharmapala also brought hisMaha Bodhi Society to England in 1925.[63]
Some of the earliest European institutions were also founded in Germany. In 1921, Georg Grimm (1868 –1945) joined Karl Seidenstücker in founding the Buddhist Parish for Germany inMunich.[49] In 1924,Das Buddhistische Haus, was founded byPaul Dahlke inBerlin. Dahlke had studied Buddhism in Sri Lanka prior to World War I.[64] Meanwhile, in France,Grace Constant Lounsbery founded a Paris-based group called Les amis du Bouddhisme in 1929 who published a journal,La pensée bouddhique.[65]
The firstBuddhist monastery in Europe was not founded by European converts however, but byBuryat andKalmyk Buddhists of the TibetanGelug school led byAgvan Dorzhiev, who founded a temple inSaint Petersburg in 1909–15,Datsan Gunzechoinei. This temple was desecrated during theRussian revolution however, but survived thesecond world war and is now active.[66]
In the United States, Japanese Americans founded the Bukkyo Seinen Kai, a Young Men's Buddhist Association (YMBA) inspired by Christian institutions. This community had to deal with intenseanti-Japanese sentiment duringWW2 despite formal statements of loyalty issued by the organization. Many Japanese American Buddhists had to hide their family altars. TheJapanese internment during the war accelerated Anglicization, because they were required to use English in the camps. There is also a generation gap in this community between the older immigrant generation and the American born Anglicized generation.[67]
As a result of similar patterns of Asian immigration, globalization and Western conversion, Buddhism also became an established minority religion inLatin America in the 20th century, with adherents mostly common from the educated middle classes.[68]Japanese immigrants arrived in Latin America at the end of the 19th century and throughout the 20th century.[69] With the largest population in Latin America,Brazil is also home to the most Buddhists (around 230,000) in Latin America and thus plays a central administrative and spiritual role for Buddhism in the rest of South America.[70] It was first introduced by Japanese immigrants in 1908.[71] Rev. Tomojiro Ibaragi of theHonmon Butsuryū-shū founded the first official Buddhist institution in the country in 1936, the Taisseji Temple.[70]
After theSecond World War, mainstream Western Buddhisms began to take shape, influenced by new Western writers on Buddhist thought and a new wave of immigration from Asian Buddhist countries. There was a dramatic rate of growth during the late 20th century.The Complete Guide to Buddhist America for example, listed more than one thousand meditation centers as of 1997 in comparison to the twenty-one centers founded between 1900 and the early 1960s.[72]
Those Westerners disaffected with the materialistic values ofconsumer culture and traditional Christianity (such as thebeat generation and later thehippies), as well as those interested a more soberaltered state of consciousness orpsychedelic experience, were drawn toeastern religions like Buddhism during this period (this is known as the "Zen boom").[73] Influential literary figures include the American writersJack Kerouac (The Dharma Bums andThe Scripture of the Golden Eternity) andGary Snyder as well as the British writerAlan Watts (The Way of Zen). The steady influx of refugees from Tibet in the 1960s and from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia in the 1970s led to renewed interest in Buddhism, and thecountercultural movements of the 1960s proved fertile ground for its Westward diffusion.[74] Buddhism supposedly promised a more methodical path to happiness than Christianity and a way out of the perceived spiritual bankruptcy and complexity of Western life.[59]
An influential figure is the reformerHakuun Yasutani, who founded his own school called Sanbo Kyodan in 1954.[75] Many of his reforms, while controversial in Japan, becamede rigueur for Western Zen. These reforms focused on laypersons, who were given teachings and care that was traditionally reserved for monastics, the use of intense lay meditation retreats, and a minimizing of ceremony.[75] Influential students of his arePhilip Kapleau,Toni Packer andRobert Aitken.Philip Kapleau founded theRochester Zen Center in New York in 1965. At this time, there were few if any American citizens that had trained in Japan with ordained Buddhist teachers. Kapleau wrote his seminal workThe Three Pillars of Zen in 1965, which addressed the actual practice of Zen and the experiences which result.[75]Brigitte D'Ortschy, also a student of Yasutani, translatedThe Three Pillars of Zen and other Buddhist texts into German and became one of the first Zen teachers in Europe.[76]Robert Aitken, known as the "dean of American Zen", founded Diamond Sangha inHawaii in 1959 which has grown into a network of affiliated centers and he also translated numerous Zen texts. He also founded theBuddhist Peace Fellowship along with Beat poetGary Snyder andJoanna Macy.[77]
In 1959, a Japanese teacher,Shunryu Suzuki, arrived inSan Francisco. At the time of Suzuki's arrival,Zen had become a hot topic among some groups in the United States, especiallybeatniks. Suzuki's classes were filled with those wanting to learn more about Buddhism, and the presence of a Zen master inspired the students. Shunryu Suzuki'sZen Mind, Beginner’s Mind (1970), quickly became one of America's Buddhist classics.[78] He founded theSan Francisco Zen Center during the middle of the 60s counterculture (1962).[79]
In 1969,Jiyu Kennett, the first woman to study atSōji-ji Temple since the 14th century, foundedShasta Abbey in California and was known for setting traditional Buddhist texts toGregorian chant.[80] Austrian-bornMyokyo-ni trained at the RinzaiDaitoku-ji temple in Japan during the 1960s and went on to become head of theZen Centre in London.[81] The GermanJesuit priestHugo Enomiya-Lassalle became one of the foremost teachers to embrace Zen alongsideRoman Catholic Christianity.[82]
In the 50s and 60s, non-Japanese Brazilians sought out Buddhism influenced partly by translations of the works ofDT Suzuki.[70] They went to centers such as the Busshinji Temple of theSoto Zen school inSão Paulo and some of them later went on to become popular Zen teachers among Brazilians such as Rosen Takashina Roshi.[83]
In 1982, the popular Vietnamese Buddhist teacher and peace activistThích Nhất Hạnh founded thePlum Village Monastery inDordogne,France which, along with his hundreds of publications, has helped spread interest inEngaged Buddhism andVietnamese Thiền (Zen).
In the 80s and 90s, theBuddhist Churches of America became involved in the debates over public textbooks promoting creationism and the use of prayer in schools.[67]
In 1965, monks fromSri Lanka established the Washington Buddhist Vihara inWashington, D.C., the firstTheravada monastic community in the United States.[84] The Vihara was quite accessible to English-speakers, andVipassana meditation was part of its activities. However, the direct influence of the TheravadaVipassana movement (as known as the Insight meditation movement) would not reach the U.S. until a group of Americans returned there in the early 1970s after studying with Vipassana masters in Asia. Influential figures includeSharon Salzberg,Jack Kornfield, andJoseph Goldstein, who in 1975 founded the now influentialInsight Meditation Society inBarre, Massachusetts.[85] In 1984, Kornfield helped found theSpirit Rock Meditation Center, the major center of this tradition on the West coast. According to Coleman, both meditation centers are "organized around a community of teachers with collective decision making."[86] A small number of Westerners who had ordained in theTheravadaThai Forest tradition have also moved back to the West and established more traditional monastic communities, such asThanissaro Bhikkhu (founding figure and abbot ofMetta Forest Monastery inCalifornia) andAjahn Sumedho (who helped foundChithurst Buddhist Monastery inWest Sussex).
Thesixties counterculture had already established an interest in Tibetan Buddhism, throughTimothy Leary's publication of an adaptation of the so-calledTibetan Book of the Dead under the titleThe Psychedelic Experience.[87] Since the 1970s, interest inTibetan Buddhism also grew dramatically, especially due to the arrival of Tibetan lamas in the West after theChinese occupation of Tibet and the creation of aTibetan diaspora.[88] This was fueled in part by the romantic view of Tibet and also because Western media agencies (especiallyHollywood) and celebrities are largely sympathetic with the'Tibetan Cause' and with the extremely charismatic and influential figure of theDalai Lama.[89] The first Western woman to take full ordination in Tibetan Buddhism wasFreda Bedi.
Kagyu Samye Ling in Scotland was founded in 1967 by two spiritual masters, ChojeAkong Tulku Rinpoche andChogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. It was the first Tibetan Buddhist Centre to be established in the West and was named afterSamye, the very first monastery to be established in Tibet. In 1977 during his second visit to Samye Ling, the16th Karmapa assured Akong Rinpoche about the longer-term future of Buddhism in the West and at Samye Ling.[90] It is from this encounter that the Samye Project[91] was born. Samyé Ling now has established centres in more than 20 countries, including Belgium, Ireland, Poland, South Africa, Spain and Switzerland.[92]
Chogyam Trungpa, later under the guidance of theKarmapa (Rangjung Rigpe Dorje), established institutions in the United States such asNaropa Institute and developed innovative teachings (Shambala training, introduced in 1977) which he saw as suited for Westerners.[93] The Karmapa had originally told Chögyam Trungpa he would bring dharma to the west in 1954, long before Tibetan Lamas had any concept of Europe at all. In 1963 Trungpa made his first voyage to Europe. Later in Bhutan in 1968 he realized the West needed a very different approach to Vajrayana Buddhism. He then gave back his robes and went to North America.
Another controversial and successful figure in bringing Buddhism to the West isLama Ole Nydahl. They were wild hippies when he and his wifeHannah Nydahl first met the 16th Karmapa in 1969. The combining of lay and yogi style together as one, while using the traditional practices ofNgöndro and teachings onMahamudra is a distinct approach to bringing Vajrayana methods to Western lay practitioners.[94] The focus is on makingKarma Kagyu teachings and methods available to modern and independent thinkers in the West.[95] In 1972, the16th KarmapaRangjung Rigpe Dorje requested Lama Ole Nydhal and Hannah Nydhal to establish Buddhist centers of theKarma Kagyu lineage in the Western world.Lama Ole Nydahl offered Buddhist refuge to tens of thousands of people and founded 640 Buddhist centers around the world.[96]
In response to the ever-increasing number of people interested in the "Tibet Message"Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, 16th Karmapa established a study, retreat and meditation center in France “Dhagpo Kagyu Ling”, founded in 1975, as the European seat of the Karma Kagyü school. The Gyalwa Karmapa sent two particularly qualified teachers to Dhagpo: Lama Gendun Rinpoche, a great master of meditation, and Lama Jigme Rinpoche, an accomplished spiritual master.Tarthang Tulku was another Tibetan to establish a center in the West in 1969.[97]
Perhaps the most widely visible Buddhist teacher in the west is the much-travelledTenzin Gyatso, the currentDalai Lama, who first visited the United States in 1979. As the exiled political leader ofTibet, he is now a popularcause célèbre in the west. His early life was depicted in glowing terms in Hollywood films such asKundun andSeven Years in Tibet. He has attracted celebrity religious followers such asRichard Gere andAdam Yauch. All four of the main Tibetan Buddhist schools are now established in the West. Tibetan lamas such asAkong Rinpoche, Lama Gendün Rinpoche, Dudjom Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche,Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche,Geshe Wangyal,Geshe Lhundub Sopa,Dezhung Rinpoche,Sermey Khensur Lobsang Tharchin,Lama Yeshe,Thubten Zopa Rinpoche andGeshe Kelsang Gyatso all established teaching centers in the West from the 1970s. Tibetan Lamas and their Western students also worked to translate and publish Tibetan Buddhist texts, establishing publishers such asWisdom Publications andShambala Publications.
In Brazil, the first Tibetan Buddhist center, the Tarthang Tulku Nyingma Center, was founded in 1988 in São Paulo.[70] During the 90s, there was a rise in interest in Tibetan Buddhism, and other forms of Asian Buddhism such as Thai, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese traditions are also present in the country.[98] In other Latin American countries such asArgentina andPeru, there was also the introduction of Buddhism through immigration and conversion, though populations remain small (20,000 in Argentina in 2012).[98] Japanese Zen and Tibetan Buddhism has been especially influential in these countries in the post-war 20th century.[99]
In England, an influential figure isSangharakshita, who founded a modernist and eclectic new tradition calledTriratna (formerly the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO) in 1967.[100]
Today, Buddhism is practiced by increasing numbers of people in the Americas, Europe andOceania. Buddhism has become the fastest growing religion in Australia[101][102] and some other Western nations.[103][104]
Some of the major reasons for this spread includeglobalization,immigration, improvedliteracy andeducation (most Westerners are first exposed to Buddhism through reading), and the breakdown of thehegemony of Christianity onWestern culture.[105]
There is a general distinction between Buddhism brought to the West by Asian immigrants, which may beMahayana,Theravada or a traditional East Asian mix ("ethnic Buddhism"), and Buddhism as practiced by converts ("convert Buddhism"), which is oftenZen,Pure Land,Vipassana orTibetan Buddhism.[106] Some Western Buddhists are actually non-denominational and accept teachings from a variety of different sects, which is far less frequent in Asia. A few authors have proposed that Western Buddhism, especially in its non-denominational form, may be viewed as a "new vehicle" of Buddhism alongside the traditional Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana –Navayana.[107] (However, the termNavayana is more commonly used to instead refer to theDalit Buddhist movement founded in India byBhimrao R. Ambedkar.)
Demographically as aconvert religion, Western Buddhism appeals more towhites and to themiddle andupper-middle classes as well as to the politicallyleft wing and to those who live inurban areas.[108]
While retaining a more formalized organization, Western Buddhism has also influenced theNew Age movement and is in some ways similar to it.[109] Western Buddhism has also been influenced by the insights of westernpsychology andpsychotherapy and many Buddhist teachers in the West are licensed therapists.[110]
The regular practice ofmeditation as a central focus is also a common feature of most modern Western Buddhist groups.[111] The exception are those groups likeSoka Gakkai which are chanting focused. Much of contemporary Buddhism in the West is influenced by the spread of lay practice centers, where laypersons meet for meditation practice and also may stay formeditation retreats.[112] While rituals are not absent in contemporary traditions, they are less likely to be seen as providing supernatural benefits.[113] TheVipassana or insight movement is one example that is particularly innovative and non-traditional. It is led by lay teachers, with democratic forms of organization and promoting mainly meditation with minimal doctrinal content and ritual.
Major Western Buddhist publications includeLion's Roar (previouslyShambhala Sun) andTricycle: The Buddhist Review.
In 2010, there were also around 6,200 Buddhists inCuba, in various Zen groups, theDiamond Way tradition and alsoSoka Gakkai (the only Buddhist organization with legal status on the island).[114] According to Frank Usarski, Buddhism remains a statistically small part of South America's religious field, "with around 500,000 practitioners and approximately 600 groups" of which around 27% areTibetan Buddhists, 25% areSoka Gakkai and 22% areZen.[70]
There are numerousEast Asian Mahayana Buddhist traditions and communities in the West, which includes ethnic Buddhists and convert Buddhists. The oldest is theJapanese AmericanJōdo Shinshū Buddhist community of theBuddhist Churches of America.[115]
Another widespread form of East Asian Buddhism in the West isSoka Gakkai, a modernist lay form ofNichiren Buddhism. In the US, SGI also has a larger proportion of African American and Hispanic American members than other convert Buddhist groups.[116]
There are also many ethnic Buddhist temples, founded by Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean Buddhist immigrants. Ethnic Buddhist practice tends to be conducted in Asian languages and to be more traditional. Western-based Chinese Buddhist organizations are some of the most numerous immigrant Buddhists (especially in the United States) and include theDharma Realm Buddhist Association,Fo Guang Shan and theTzu Chi foundation.[117]
The most prominent of the East Asian Mahayana traditions in the West isZen Buddhism, which was boosted by post-war popularity among the counterculture and influential figures likeShunryu Suzuki.[118] Today it is a popular type of convert Buddhism, in various forms such asJapanese Zen,Vietnamese Thien andKorean Seon.
ProminentSoto Zen institutions in the West include theSan Francisco Zen Center ofShunryu Suzuki, theZen Center of Los Angeles ofHakuyu Taizan Maezumi and the International Zen Association founded byTaisen Deshimaru.
Rinzai affiliated Zen organisations includeDai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji and theMt. Baldy Zen Center in the USA and the Falaise Verte Zen Centre in France.[119]
The internationalKwan Um school ofKorean Seon is one of the most well known Korean Buddhist institutions in the West, whileThích Nhất Hạnh'sOrder of Interbeing is one of the most popular modernistVietnamese Thien international organizations.
According to Hughes Seager, in America, Zen is "primarily a movement of laity who practice monastic disciplines."[78] These institutions tend to be more liberal than their Asian counterparts, more lay based and more likely to promote gender equality. According to Hughes Seager, Western Zen "is Anglicized. It is democratized. It is tailored to the middle-class American life-style, with its focus on the workplace and nuclear family."[120]
Tibetan Buddhism in the West has remained largely traditional, keeping all the doctrine, ritual,guru devotion, etc. This is because the influential Tibetan Buddhist teachers in the West are still mostly Tibetans.[121]
An example of a large Buddhist institution established in the West is theFoundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT). FPMT is a network of Buddhist centers focusing on theGeluk school, founded in the 1970s by LamasThubten Yeshe andThubten Zopa Rinpoche.[122] The FPMT has grown to encompass more than 142 teaching centers in 32 countries. Like many Tibetan Buddhist groups, the FPMT does not have "members" per se, or elections, but is managed by a self-perpetuating board of trustees chosen by its spiritual director (head lama), Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
Besides the large organizations or networks such as FPMT,Diamond Way Buddhism, theDzogchen community andShambhala International, there are also numerous independent temples, centers and communities.[123] These includeSravasti Abbey (USA),Kagyu Samye Ling (Scotland), andLerab Ling (France).
Westerners such asLama Surya Das andRobert Thurman have also emerged as influential voices in the Western Tibetan Buddhist community.[124]
There are different forms ofTheravada Buddhism in the West. One of these forms is that taken by the Asian immigrant communities and their temples, which is the most traditional and conservative, but is still undergoing change and adaptation. Some of these adaptations include the development of institutions of higher learning for their monastics as well as the establishment of retreat centers, summer camps and schools for the lay community.[125] According to Paul Numrich, in 1996 there were around 150 Theravada temples (wats or viharas) in more than 30 US states.[126]
Some Westerners have also adopted and brought the traditional monastic forms to the West, especially those Western monastics associated with theThai forest tradition. Representatives of this trend are theAbhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in Northern California, theMettā Forest Monastery in Southern California, theBirken Forest Buddhist Monastery inCanada, theAmaravati Buddhist Monastery in theUK,Santacittārāma in Italy and theBodhinyana Monastery inAustralia.
At the other end of the spectrum are the much more liberal lay convert Buddhists belonging to theInsight meditation or "Vipassana" movement.[127] Many of the founders of this movement studied in retreat centers in Asia and then moved back to the West to establish their own meditation centers, which include theInsight Meditation Society andSpirit Rock. They tend to keep ritual and ceremony to a minimum and focus onBuddhist meditation practice in lay life (and in retreats) instead of other activities such as makingmerit.[127] This style of Buddhism is also influenced by western secular humanism and psychology and tends to be presented as a secular practice or technique rather than as a religion.[127]
One feature of Buddhism in the West today (especially among convert Buddhists) is the emergence of other groups which, even though they draw on traditional Buddhism, are in fact an attempt at creating a new style of Buddhist practice.
Shambhala was founded by controversial lamaChögyam Trungpa.[128] He taught authentic Buddhist teachings within a modern-day context by making a clear distinction between the cultural aspects of Tibetan Buddhism and the fundamental teachings of Buddhism. He stripped away the ethnic baggage from traditional methods of working with the mind and delivered the essence of those teachings to his western students. His innovativeShambhala Training system was a secular path for the cultivation of the contemplative life.[124] Chögyam Trungpa also foundedNaropa University in Boulder, Colorado in 1974. Trungpa's movement has also found particular success in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia,Shambhala International being based out ofHalifax.
TheTriratna Buddhist Community (formerly the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order), was founded bySangharakshita in 1967, and theDiamond Way Organisation ofOle Nydahl, has founded more than 600 Buddhist centers across the world.[129] Diamond Way presents Buddhism in a modern context to lay practitioners, in over 30 languages. The "spiritual counsel" of the organisation is provided byTrinley Thaye Dorje (India),Kunzing Shamar Rinpoche (India) andJigme Rinpoche (France).[130]
The New Kadampa Tradition is a global Buddhist new religious movement founded byKelsang Gyatso in England in 1991. It describes itself as "an entirely independent Buddhist tradition”. The NKT has expanded more rapidly than any other Buddhist tradition, and currently lists more than 200 centres and around 900 branch classes/study groups in forty countries.[131] It has been described as a "controversial"cult,[132][133][134][135] and has been officially rebuked bythe Dalai Lama.[136]
A number of groups and individuals have been implicated insex scandals. Sandra Bell has analysed the scandals atChögyam Trungpa's Vajradhatu and theSan Francisco Zen Center and concluded that these kinds of scandals are "... most likely to occur in organisations that are in transition between the pure forms ofcharismatic authority that brought them into being and more rational, corporate forms of organization".[137]
Recently furthersex abuse scandals have rocked institutions such asRigpa organization andShambala international.[138][139]
Robert Sharf also mentions charisma from which institutional power is derived, and the need to balance charismatic authority with institutional authority.[140] Elaborate analyses of these scandals are made by Stuart Lachs, who mentions the uncritical acceptance of religious narratives, such as lineages and dharma transmission, which aid in giving uncritical charismatic powers to teachers and leaders.[141][142][143][144][145]
Buddhist imagery is increasingly appropriated by modern pop culture and also for commercial use. For example, the Dalai Lama's image was used in a campaign celebrating leadership by Apple Computer. Similarly, Tibetan monasteries have been used as backdrops to perfume advertisements in magazines.[59] Hollywood movies such asKundun,Little Buddha andSeven Years in Tibet have had considerable commercial success.[146]
Buddhist practitioners in the West are catered for by a minor industry providing such items as charm boxes, meditation cushions, and ritual implements.
The largest Buddhist temple in the Southern Hemisphere is theNan Tien Temple (translated as "Southern Paradise Temple"), situated atWollongong, Australia, while the largest Buddhist temple in the Western Hemisphere is theHsi Lai Temple (translated as "Coming West Temple"), inHacienda Heights, California, USA. Both are operated by theFo Guang Shan Order, founded in Taiwan, and around 2003 the Grand Master, VenerableHsing Yun, asked for Nan Tien Temple and Buddhist practice there to be operated by native Australian citizens within about thirty years.[147] TheCity of 10,000 Buddhas nearUkiah, California disputes that Hsi Lai Temple is the largest in the western hemisphere and claims it is the largest.[148] This monastery was founded by Ven.Hsuan Hua who purchased the property. "Dharma Realm Buddhist Association purchased the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in 1974 and established its headquarters there. The City currently comprises approximately 700 acres of land and includes a comprehensive system of education, fromInstilling Goodness and Developing Virtue Primary and Secondary School toDharma Realm Buddhist University."[149]
In 2006, a westernecumenical Buddhist temple calledDharma Bum Temple was founded inSan Diego, California. The temple focuses on being an introductory center for westerners to learn more about Buddhism.[150][151] It regularly hosts guest speakers from various traditions of Buddhism and is known for directing members to other Buddhist temples in the area after they start showing deeper interest in a particular form of the religion.[152][153]
Benalmádena Enlightenment Stupa is in Málaga in the Andalusian region of southern Spain, overlooking Costa del Sol.Benalmádena Stupa (Chan Chub Chorten in Tibetan) is 33 m (108 ft) high and is the tallest stupa in Europe. It was inaugurated on 5 October 2003, and was the final project of Buddhist masterLopon Tsechu Rinpoche. The stupa is run by the non-profit Asociación Cultural Karma Kagyu de Benalmádena, under the spiritual guidance of the 17th KarmapaTrinley Thaye Dorje.[154]
Chithurst Buddhist Monastery located inWest Sussex, was established byAjahn Sumedho under the auspices of his teacher,Ajahn Chah in 1979. Although the style of the monastery has been modified to accommodate Western social and culturalmores, it retains close links with Thailand especially monasteries of theThai Forest Tradition and is supported by an international community of Asians and Westerners.[155][156]
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