Institutionalization of Spiritual Training in American Zen Communities

• In Event: Sociology of Religion Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 7. Clergy and Congregations

Abstract

Zen is the oldest convert tradition in American Buddhism when their communities were established in the 1960s and 70s as the first generation of native-born Zen practitioners were authorized by their Japanese teachers to be teachers of their Zen communities (Seager 2002). The long history of American Zen communities offers an opportunity to examine changes in Buddhist communities in the United States. This paper is part of a larger study investigating the ways in which Zen communities in the United States have responded to the changing religious needs of Americans. A dataset of American Zen centers has been constructed using publicly available information about each organization. The goal is to examine the organizational structure and programming of Zen communities in the United States to understand how this religious tradition developed in the past six decades. This paper will focus on the how practice programs in American Zen communities have evolved in response to changes in American society. It is found that the several ways to structure Zen practice programs have emerged to accommodate the changing needs of Zen practitioners and in response to clergy shortage. Implication of the findings for future development of Zen communities will be discussed.

Author

• Rebecca S.K. Li, The College of New Jersey