The face of Buddhism in the West has come to be diverse and complex, going beyond the traditional geographic and/or ehtnocultural boundaries. Pointing out the ‘descriptive inadequacy’ of the current labeling such as, e.g., ‘Ethnic Buddhist’ and ‘Western Buddhist’, this paper suggests an alternative terminology, ‘Inherited Buddhist’ and ‘Acquired Buddhist’, using four criteria: choice, exposure, knowledge and motivation. In addition to Buddhism, it draws upon studies in language acquisition, intelligence and spirituality. It is suggested that if the proposed terminology may be applicable to other lands and other times in relation to Buddhism, it may also be applicable to other religious communities.
目次
Abstract 103 1. Introduction 103 2. A Basic Typology of North American Buddhists 104 3. Descriptive Inadequacy 107 3.1 The Descriptive Inadequacy of “Ethnic-Buddhist” 107 3.2 . The descriptive inadequacy of “Euro-Buddhist” (and its alternatives) 111 4. Inherited Buddhists and Acquired Buddhists: an Alternative Terminology 114 4.1 Characterization 114 4.2 Application 124 5. A Few Concluding Remarks 126 References 128 Notes 131
