The Oxford Handbook of American Buddhism

First brought to the United States in the nineteenth century by Chinese and Japanese immigrants, Buddhism has become a major feature of the North American religious, cultural, and social landscape. Nearly every form of Asian Buddhism has some presence in North America in addition to a variety of Buddhist “convert” communities, hybrid communities, and “secular” Buddhist networks. Buddhist-derived practices such as mindfulness meditation have been deployed in health care and educational settings, the military, and the business sector.

The Oxford Handbook of American Buddhism guides readers through the rich terrain of American Buddhism, illuminating the diversity of Buddhist communities and identities, exploring the innovations that have emerged from the cross-fertilization of Buddhism and American culture, and extending the theoretical and methodological boundaries that have shaped the study of American Buddhism. The Handbook is organized into four parts: Foundations, Traditions, Practices, and Frames. The essays in this volume both build upon and go beyond previous scholarship, reexamining foundational topics while recovering neglected histories, centering marginalized identities, and analyzing the intersections between Buddhist practice and scholarship.

Ann Gleig is Associate Professor of Religion and Cultural Studies at the University of Central Florida. She is author of American Dharma: Buddhism Beyond Modernity. She serves as an editor at the Journal of Global Buddhism.

Scott A. Mitchell is Dean of Students and Faculty Affairs and Yoshitaka Tamai Professorial Chair at the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Berkeley. He is the author of The Making of American Buddhism and Buddhism in America: Global Religion, Local Contexts.

Introduction, Ann Gleig and Scott A. Mitchell

Section I: Foundations
1. American Buddhism, Modernity, and Globalization, Christopher Emory-Moore
2. The History of Buddhism in the United States, Thomas Calobrisi
3. Identities I: Race and Whiteness, Ann Gleig
4. Identities II: Gender and Sexuality, Amy Langenberg
5. American Buddhist Studies and Scholar-Practitioners, Scott A. Mitchell

Section II: Traditions
6. Chinese Buddhism in America, Rongdao Lai
7. Pure Land Buddhism in America, Jesse J. Lee
8. Zen Buddhism in America, Ben Van Overmeire
9. Korean Buddhism in America, Claudia Schippert
10. Theravada Buddhism in America, Erik Braun
11. Nichiren Buddhism in America, Ralph H. Craig III
12. Vietnamese Buddhism in America, Todd LeRoy Perreira
13. Tibetan Buddhism in America, Holly Gayley and Joshua Brailler
14. American Buddhism and Judaism, Jay Michaelson

Section III: Practices
15. Buddhist Monasticism in North America, Luke Clossey and Karen Ferguson
16. Food in American Buddhism, Melissa Anne-Marie Curley
17. Mindfulness and Meditation in the U.S., Nalika Gajaweera
18. American Buddhism and Medicine, C. Pierce Salguero
19. Ritual, Rituals, and Ritualizing in American Buddhism, Richard K. Payne
20. Engaged Buddhism in the U.S., Funie Hsu

Section IV: Frames
21. American Buddhism and Secularism, Kin Cheung
22. American Buddhism and Psychotherapy, Ira Helderman
23. American Buddhism and Technology, Gregory Grieve and Daniel Veidlinger
24. American Buddhist Education and Pedagogy, Judith Simmer-Brown
25. American Buddhist Chaplaincy Supervision, Jitsujo T. Gauthier
26. Buddhist Material Culture in the U.S., Peter Romaskiewicz
27. American Buddhism and Visual Culture, Winston C. Kyan
28. Buddhism and American Literature, Kimberley Beek