SEEKING THE HEART: THE FIRST GENERATION
PRACTICES THERAVADA BUDDHISM IN AMERICA
Wendy Cadge
Princeton University
(Book Manuscript currently under review
at The University of Chicago Press)
SUMMARY
Theravada Buddhism has grown dramatically in America between 1966
and the present through immigration from Thailand, Sri Lanka,
Laos, Burma, and Cambodia and through the interest and conversion
of native-born Americans. This study is based around two core
questions. First, do immigrant and convert Theravada Buddhists
share beliefs and practices? Second, are the social processes
through which immigrant and convert Theravada Buddhists construct
organizations, communities, and identities in the United States
similar? To answer these questions, I conducted one year of participant
observation at Wat Mongkoltempunee (also called Wat Phila), a
temple founded by first generation Thai immigrants to the United
States, and the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center (also called
CIMC), a meditation center founded by first generation converts
to Theravada Buddhism. I also completed semi-structured interviews
with approximately one hundred practitioners, teachers, and monks
involved with the centers.
While existing research suggests there is not one but two Buddhisms
in America, that of immigrants and that of converts, I find that
the history and practice of Theravada Buddhism in America is considerably
more complex. I argue that practitioners at Wat Phila and CIMC
share some beliefs and practices despite many differences. Further,
I find that the monks, teachers, and practitioners at Wat Phila
and CIMC both created lay motivated and supported organizations
around a niche of people who were and are involved with these
centers for similar reasons. The core group of people who are
involved with both centers form groups or communities that, while
differently configured, provide them with similar spiritual support
through merit making at Wat Phila and experiences of inter-connection
at CIMC. People at both centers also construct personal identities
through their involvement with the tradition and describe these
identities as chosen in the United States. More women than men
are involved in both centers and occupy roles and positions they
would not in Buddhist organizations in Asia. I conclude by arguing
that these two organizations suggest shared and uniquely Buddhist
responses to the dilemmas of adaptation and change faced by all
religions when they migrate to the United States.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1. Arrivals and a Map of the Journey 1
Chapter 2. The History of Theravada Buddhism in America 23
Chapter 3. New Organizations: Wat Phila and the Cambridge Insight
Meditation Society 66
Chapter 4. Lived Buddhism: the Construction of Teaching and Practice
107
Chapter 5. Refuge in the Sangha: the Shape of Buddhist Communities
148
Chapter 6. Ascribed and Achieved Buddhist Identities 191
Chapter 7. Observations Through a Gender Lens 226
Chapter 8. Taking Stock, Looking Forward 254
Appendix A: Research Methods 277
Appendix B. Refuges and Precepts 291
References 293
