Buddhist Practice in Europe and North America

Abstract

Abstract This chapter contextualizes Buddhist practice in North America and Europe, paying particular attention to the historical development of a diversity of traditions; adaptation of practice to new cultural contexts; and the intersection of embodied practices and embodied identities. The chapter focuses on developments in the Hawai‘ian context, Chinese and Japanese immigrants to the mainland of North America during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as well as the intellectual interest in Buddhism. The chapter clarifies the themes of adaptation, language, sociopolitical structures, and identity through a series of case studies on Zen, meditation, Buddhist sites, and social engagements. The chapter points to several lacunae in the field that represent future research vistas.