Buddhism In U.S. Grows While
Shrinking Worldwide
BECCA COSTELLO April 16,
2016 Indiana Public
Media
The variety of Buddhist centers in Indiana shows how different
practitioners can be. Some see it as a religion, while others see
it as more of a philosophy.
Buddhists in Bloomington have a lot of options for practicing their
faith. The Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist
Cultural Center offers
weekly service, meditations and classes.
The Gaden
KhachoeShing Center for Buddhist Studies and
Practices opened in late
2014 and
hosts discussions and displays sacred Buddhist
artifacts.
The
variety of Buddhist centers shows how different practitioners can
be. Some see it as a religion, while others see it as more of a
philosophy.
“For
me, I don’t consider myself spiritual. I do consider myself
religious,” says Bruce Herr II, a Bloomington resident and
practicing Buddhist. “And I consider myself religious in that I’m
serious about practice.”
Bruce
grew up as a Christian, but was drawn to Buddhism as a young adult.
He meditates and comes to every weekly service. His wife, on the
other hand, is exactly the opposite.
“I
really enjoy the talks and the lectures, but I don’t connect with
some of the more ritual aspects of it,” says Dawn Miller, Bruce’s
wife.
Dawn
considers herself more spiritual than religious. And that’s what
experts say has been driving Americans to Buddhism.
“There have
been interesting moves made recently by people like the fourteenth
Dalai Lama to try to talk about the ways in which what’s really
important is spirituality as opposed to a particular religious
commitment,” says Rick Nance, professor of South Asian Buddhism at
Indiana University.
Jam
Yang Lama is a resident monk at the Gaden KhachoeShing Monastery in
Bloomington. He says they’ve been experiencing a large increase the
number of participants.
“United
States Buddhism offers a very realistic day-to-day life teachings,
so people who are in the west are very smart and wise and very
knowledgeable,” Jam Yang Lama says. “So they are very drawn to the
Buddhist ideas and the philosophy of life, how they can attain
happiness and peace within this, in the life that they live in
everyday life.”
In
North America, the number of Buddhists is expected to increase by
nearly two and a half million by the year
2050, according to a Pew Research
study.
But
that gain will be more than offset by what’s going on in the rest
of the world. Globally Buddhism is expected to lose 3 million
practitioners during that same time period.
The
ideals of Buddhism seem to be particularly attractive to young
people. The Pew study doesn’t break down religion trends by age,
but professor Nance says a lot of young adults want to consider
faiths other than what they grew up with, and they are attracted to
the flexibility Buddhism provides.
“And
when you have someone with the status and stature of the Dalai
Lama, a sort of eminent Buddhist, telling you, ‘You don’t’ have to
be a Buddhist. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Buddhist, be a
kind person, be a good person, be a spiritual person,’ and then
he’ll of course tell you what that means,” Nance says. “I think
students feel comfortable with that and they don’t feel necessarily
like they have to buy into Buddhism to do the kinds of things that
this eminent Buddhist recommends.”
Despite
the different ways they interpret Buddhism, Bruce and Dawn got
married at theSanshin Zen
Community late last
year.
“We
tried to make it something that would fit for both of us, to be
both spiritual and religious,” Dawn says.
The
ceremony included Buddhist vows for Bruce, and Dawn voiced her
support for the vows.
The
couple is comfortable with their own individual ideas of what
Buddhism means to them.
“We’re
all different,” Dawn says. “And everybody’s going to find something
that speaks to them.”