Booming Buddhism in America

The spread of Buddhism and some of its practices are increasingly being adopted by more Americans.

Buddhism has a rich history that began more than 2,500 years ago in India. It was founded by Siddhartha Gautama, also known as Buddha.

Buddhism is most popular in East and Southeast Asia. Asian immigrants and indigenous converts have contributed to the growth of the religion in the west in recent years. Check out this fact Ball State associate professor of religious studies Jeffery Brakett says there’s really no way to give an overview of Buddhism because it has over 2,500 years of history. 

When Brackett teaches his students, he says he dispels the myth that being a Buddhist is hard. 

“It’s no different from being any other religion. It’s just part of who you are,” he says.

Buddhism is increasing in North America. According to Pew Research, the number of Buddhists in North America is expected to increase from almost 4 million in 2010 to 6.1 million by 2050. ..  With the rise of Buddhism, two new Buddhist temples have been built in Indiana in the last five years. This brings Indiana’s total to 14 temples, with five in Indianapolis, four in Bloomington, three in Fort Wayne, one in Anderson, and one in Hoagland. 

Happy Monastery – Tu Viện Hạnh Phúc became the 14th temple in Indiana after taking over the Emmanuel United Methodist Church in Anderson. 

This temple is currently employing many Vietnamese families in Anderson.

Photo by Shannon McCloskey: Happy Monastery is located at 4100 Main St., in Anderson, Ind.

A difficult concept for younger people to understand is the first of the Four Noble Truths suffering. Brakett says this is one of the harder concepts to get across to his students. 

“I really think that most of my students have not lived long enough to understand suffering. And suffering doesn’t mean, like horrific things, it’s suffering, that is anything that your mind or experiences causes you not to be happy. That’s a suffering link,” says Brackett.

Sabine Grunwald, professor at University of Florida and practicing Buddhist, says Buddhism moved to America in the 1970s. and that the early stages of influence in America brought the beliefs but it also brought the culture of Buddhism.

In Buddhism, the main form of training is meditation. Meditation benefits mental health in many ways. It helps to reduce anxiety, depression, and stress, according to a study for John Hopkins University in Baltimore.

The study reporting on mindful meditation showed moderate evidence of improved anxiety, depression, and pain. 

“Buddhism has been hybridized to become a part of our life,” says Grunwald. 

Grunwald says it’s hard to say how many Buddists there are in America. This may be because Americans have taken small practices from the religion and incorporated them into daily life. It is also possible to practice some aspects of Buddhism while following a different religion.

As Buddhism progressed, two generic forms of meditation have developed: concentrative and receptive. The goal of concentrative meditation is to focus on more exclusive items, that can range from your breath toa candle flame to a word or phrase. Receptive meditation is for keeping the mind open and unfocused. 

When meditating, the goal is not to reach a hypnotic state, but rather to keep the mind and body as one.Practicing Buddhists strive to become more aware of their surroundings while calming their minds.

As for Buddhism in America, it can be difficult to be fully immersed into the lifestyle. Grunwald says this is because the inherent values of Buddhism are different from the mainstream media as well as the political divide in America. In many countries where Buddhism is widespread, its followers are not divided by government, but instead brought together through one practice.

“I call it the good happy religion,” Brakett says. “Because you’re trying to remove anything from your life that keeps you from being happy all the time.” 

 Buddhism is about having inner peace and following certain teachings to help you reach a level of eternal wisdom.

Associate Editor

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