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Thearvy Chhim

Professor Jacobs
HUMA 2400
Religious Minority Research Project
Buddhism
Buddhism is about spiritual development as well as diving in to one's true nature. It is
about bettering yourself as a person as a whole and reaching Nirvana and Enlightenment. They
do not worship any creator, but they are more for being straightforward and practical. It is not
exactly seen as a religion but more of a philosophy that being the way of life.
There are three periods in which Buddhism developed in the United States of America.
The first period was back in 1855 when Lotus Sutra was translated into English when it
originally was French, and was presented to the American Oriental Society. There were people
like Ralph Emerson and Walt Whitman who thought Buddhist religion was appealing and
therefore referenced back to it time to time.
The second period was when Chinese and Japanese Buddhists were immigrating to the
United States and were building temples in mostly the West Coast. This was when it was nearing
the nineteenth century. The Chinese population was decreasing and there weren't many priests
who were able to keep Buddhism alive and prospering. But the Japanese came into the picture in
the beginning half of the twentieth century and made the temples more important than they ever
were before. The Japanese Buddhists were those who kept the Dharma lit when the Chinese
Buddhists were declining.

The third period is post-Second World War. Buddhists were seen as pessimists and
inactive in their earlier years, at least that is what was perceived, but then they became to be
known as a very optimistic and active group. In the 1960s and the 1970s is when Buddhism
really prospered. In the 1960s, there is a group called Soka Gakkai International-USA, which
were put as a whole called "covert Buddhists whose main practice is chanting" was seen in a
rather negative light because it was seem to be aggressively proselytizing and did not really
associate with any other Buddhist groups.
But there was a lot of growth when it came to new Asian-American Buddhists since the
immigration law that was passed in 1965 that allowed Southeast Asian countries to flee into the
United States. Buddhism is a whole variety of people who range from rich to poor, immigrants
with high degrees to refugees who can barely even speak a word of English. It was thought to be
that how one's social status was how one saw karma and their result from karma.
There are many key beliefs in Buddhism that many non-Buddhists live by such as the
purpose of life. Buddhists believe that there is no meaning that is attached to life itself. Also that
"healing" is up to ourselves because really, it is only created by our internal minds that make
humans miserable. If one can meditate, they will be able to control their own suffering. It takes
commitment and wisdom to do this. Buddhists believe that compassion and being good is the key
to long term happiness. Buddhism is a big advocate for believing in karma. "What we do to
others will ultimately affect ourselves."
The Buddhist New Year is celebrated by Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka, Laos, and
Cambodia. It starts on the three days of the first full moon in April, so generally April 11th-13th.
There is a day called Vesak, which is the Buddha's birthday and is the most paramount festival in
all of Buddhism. This is on the first full moon of May. Buddhism has affected American culture

greatly and "nightstand Buddhists" are there to show. Nightstand Buddhists are those who
practice forms of meditation and read Buddhist books before bed except they are not part of
Buddhism itself. There have been Americans who have said in research journalism that
Buddhism has changed their lives or that they have integrated some of the practices into their
own lives.
It is all around us. For example, there are bars that are called Buddha and rock bands that
go after the title Nirvana, and there are cartoons called Zen Masters. So no matter what, whether
one is trying to or not trying to convert into Buddhism, the practices and the values into
American society are evident and constant and it is still evermore growing in our society today
and will so forth in the future. In many forms such as: philosophy, art, and architecture.
There are three areas in which Buddhism has been effectual. The first is having a healthy
attitude, second is valuing personal understanding of an individual, and the third area is that
spirituality lies within those who are attracted to meditating for it is mentally therapeutic and also
spiritually empowering as it is liberating. When it comes to dying or losing a loved one, the
healthy attitude (second area) helps those dealing with that suffering in life. In the third area, this
is the practice of Zen and is taught in Tibetan schools.
Buddhism is really the religion that encompasses all the things that the other religions for
it is a culture made generally out of compassion. Buddhist's reacting to diversity and pluralism is
sometimes taken to be hostile and viewed as traffic when there is another religion moving into
the neighborhood, like Christianity and they are concerned about changes in environment. It
simply is the fear and worry of newcomers that are entering their community that had always
been all about Buddhism.

One of the challenges that Buddhists struggle with to this day is changing how they think
quickly because there were a lot of Buddhist immigrants from all over Southeast Asia coming
into the United States and because of it, a lot of traditions in Buddhism have been altered and
mixed around to modern ways. Buddhism isn't exactly as amalgamated as Christianity or
Catholics are - they may not even be a religion and one can argue that it is or that it is not for
there are many styles of Buddhism in and around Asia and that it is overall for the well-being of
a person Enlightenment.
Buddha speculated when it came to others' views. It was seen as those who held onto
some religious figure was trapped in their own subconscious and that reality did not transcend
them. When one is trying to talk about religious pluralism, that is when one is trying to state the
obvious, something is more or means more and that it is something that we should be thankful
for instead of saying that one is true and is good while the others are false and terrible. Buddhists
actively engage with others.
Had visited the Wat Buddhikaram Cambodian Buddhist Temple of Utah in West Valley
City recently their New Years coming right around the corner and it is already decorated for
the upcoming celebration and is newly built as of February 2015. I interviewed a committee
member who had helped fund the new Buddhist temple about why he donated such a large
amount of money. His response was, We have had the same temple since the beginning of time
and the world is modernizing. The temple needed a lot of work done to it except it would all still
look the same old. So we figured we could build a new temple with those willing to donate, so
we laid out the idea and it did well. With newer generations, our culture is dying them because
they do not care too much to be as involved, but I think they are excited about the new temple as
we are and we hope they continue on to be the next generations that keep this culture alive and

prospering in the days to come. It is nice to see American people coming in to our temple when it
is New Years or day of celebrating the dead. I like people who are interested in our culture.
This just comes to show that Buddhists do assimilate to American society. If you go to a
Buddhist temple, all their teachings are for free because they believe religion should be free to
people. Something that is open to the public and is honest.

Sources
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhistworld/to-west.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_in_the_United_States
http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/society/buddhism-basic-beliefs-practices.html
http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/society/buddhism-basic-beliefs-practices.html
http://shindharmanet.com/studies/diversity/

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