Ann Gleig is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Central Florida. She has published numerous chapters and articles on Asian religions in America and is co-editor (with Lola Williamson) of Homegrown Gurus: From Hinduism in America to American (SUNY Press, 2013). She is also an editor for Religious Studies Review for the sociology, anthropology and psychology of religion.Address: University of Central Florida, Department of Philosophy, PSY 236, 4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, FL 32816–1352. E-mail:
關鍵詞
Dharma (Buddhism); Buddhist Doctrines; Ethnology; Meditation
摘要
Through an ethnographic study of the East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC) in Oakland, California, this paper examines recent attempts to diversify meditation-based convert American Buddhism. Celebrated as the ‘one of the most diverse Buddhist sanghas in the world’, EBMC opened its doors in January 2007 with the goal of offering a more diverse alternative to the predominantly white, middle-class populated American Buddhist groups in the Bay Area. The EBMC is rooted in a ‘gift economy’ and offers weekly meditation groups for People of Color, LGBTQI populations, and people with disabilities and chronic illnesses. While the EBMC houses separate identity-based groups, it is its attention to the multiple axes of difference—race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, and disability— what I identify as ‘dharma diversity’—that mark it as unique. In conclusion, I suggest that EBMC's diversity culture might indicate the emergence of a new postmodern stage in the assimilation of Buddhism in America.
目次
Developing an alternative convert Buddhism: the history and ethos of EBMC 313 The Alphabet Sangha: queer diversity at the EBMC 314 Queering convert Buddhism: pragmatic and thematic strategies 316 Legitimating multiculturalism in convert Buddhism: diversity as Buddhist practice 323 Dharma diversity: from Buddhist modernism to Buddhist postmodernism? 325 Notes 328 References 329
