BOB ABERNETHY: Now, the second part of our series on the Buddhist phenomenon in America. Maureen Bunyan has been following the story. Maureen.MAUREEN BUNYAN: Bob, we ask a couple of questions, including how is Buddhism being practiced in this country, and is there a uniquely American brand of Buddhism taking place? Some of the pre-eminent voices on the subject help us understand American Buddhism today.
HELEN TWORKOV (Editor, TRICYCLE Magazine): There's a great deal of Buddhist activity in America, but I think it's far too soon to talk about American Buddhism.
Prof. ROBERT THURMAN (Professor of Buddhist Studies, Columbia University): I don't think there will be any quintessentially American Buddhism. In fact, I wonder if there was anything quintessentially American, period. Or maybe that's what's quintessentially American, that we're pluralistic and we're multifaceted.BUNYAN: In its 2,500-year history, Buddhism has spread to many lands. Today, it is the fourth largest religion in the world. In each nation it touched, from India, then throughout Asia, Buddhism adapted itself to the local culture. In the past century, Buddhism has taken root here in the West, and as it encounters western cultural traditions, the practice of Buddhism is being transformed in uniquely American ways.
NORMAN FISCHER (Co-Abbot, San Francisco Zen Center): Certainly the flavor of Green Gulch, if you show up here, you feel very American, and not only American, very California.
BUNYAN: Green Gulch is a Zen Buddhist center nestled in the hills of Northern California near San Francisco. Forty to 50 residents practice meditation and farm the land. Another 500 people a year come to stay for retreats and classes. And Green Gulch is open on Sundays to anyone who wants to meditate in the zendo, or meditation hall.Mr. FISCHER: A temple like this is really unusual, because in Asia, there is either monasteries, which are more or less closed to the public, or neighborhood temples, which are more or less about social functions and not so much about meditation practice. But here, we're actually offering the meditation practice far and wide.
BUNYAN: American Buddhism breaks with its Asian heritage in a number of ways. Here, there are few monasteries where ancient traditions can be preserved. There are less formal relationships between teachers and students, and women are welcome.
NATALIE COMPAGNI PORTIS: I think it reminds me to be a human being instead of a human doing. It doesn't seem like a religion, it just seems like a way to be in the world.MICHAEL STONE: You know, I work in the corporate world as a consultant and a trader, which moves very fast, and to find balance in my life, I find that Buddhism is a place to return me to myself.
BUNYAN: American Buddhists are sometimes called "new Buddhists," to differentiate them from Asian-American Buddhists, many of them immigrants who brought their faith with them.
KEN TANAKA: I think the Asian-American Buddhists look at this new phenomenon with mixed emotions. On one hand, they question whether the new Buddhists are authentic. On the other hand, there is certain amount of surprise and pride in the fact that their own religion is taking off in this country.
Ms. TWORKOV: What I would call -- what other people would call "Buddhism lite" -- there's no problem with it, unless you present it as the "end all and be all" of Buddhism.
THICH NHAT HANH (Vietnamese Buddhist Monk): America should have their own Buddhism. You cannot imitate the Vietnamese, you cannot imitate the Tibetans, you have to manufacture your Buddhism with elements of your own culture, and I think American Buddhism is taking shape.
