Globalization of Asian Buddhism: Comparing Transnational Networks and Engaged Religions of Fo Guang Shan, Soka Gakkai, and the Council of the Thai Bhikkhus

• In Event: Transnational and Comparative Perspectives on Asian Buddhism and Popular Rituals in South China, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and the United States

Abstract

One of the most important features of contemporary Asian Buddhism is its abilities to attract a wide audience with its global networks of temples, rituals, and teachings. The orders established by Fo Guang Shan, Soka Gakkai, and the Council of the Thai Bhikkhus are distinguished by its global reach and successes in Asia and the United States. This paper compares how these Buddhist movements spread from Asia outside its boundaries in different historical contexts.
After a brief history of the origins of Hsing Yun, Daisuke Ikeda, and Thai monks in establishing their orders, this paper will explore the teachings of the Buddhist institutions of Fo Guang Shan, Soka Gakkai, and the Council of the Thai Bhikkhus. The second half of the paper is to utilize previous studies and my own ethnographic observation of temples in Taiwan, Japan, and Thailand along with those in California and Massachusetts. In addition to a previous visit to the famous Hsi Lai Temple in Los Angeles, I conduct research and ethnographic fieldwork in Soka Gakkai International, a Taiwanese Tian Ann Temple, and a new Thai Wat Nawamintararachutis in the Boston area. In comparing the rituals of these two temples, I trace the influences of the Eternal Venerable Mother in the Chinese sectarian tradition and the Abbot of Wat Yannawa and the Thai Bikkhus in the U.S. The paper ends with a discussion of rituals, audience, and impact of these three global Buddhist movements.

Author

• Wing-kai To, Bridgewater State University