Becoming Buddhist: Experiences of Socialization and Self-Transformation in Two Australian Buddhist Centres

Description

What does it mean to be a Western Buddhist? For the predominantly Anglo-Australian affiliates of two Western Buddhist centres in Australia, the author proposes an answer to this question, and finds support for it from interviews and her own participant-observation experience.Practitioners' prior experiences of experimentation with spiritual groups and practices—and their experiences of participation, practice and self-transformation—are examined with respect to their roles in practitioners' appropriation of the Buddhist worldview, and their subsequent commitment to the path to enlightenment.Religious commitment is experienced as a decision-point, itself the effect of the individual's experimental immersion in the Centre's activities.During this time the claims of the Buddhist worldview are tested against personal experience and convictions.  Using rich ethnographic data and Lofland and Skonovd's experimental conversion motif as a model for theorizing the stages of involvement leading to commitment, the author demonstrates that this study has a wider application to our understanding of the role of alternative religions in western contexts. Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Page Contents Foreword Acknowledgements Glossary Chapter 1 Approaching the Western Buddhist Experience Introduction The Nature of Western Buddhism and the Western-Buddhist Identity Approaches to Understanding Religious Change Methodological Considerations Chapter 2 Instruction and Practice at the Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Centre Introduction Vipassana Practice at BMIMC: Doctrinal and Practical Foundations Contexts for Learning and Practice Introductory Retreats The Participant’s Perspective: ‘Being on Retreat’ and Learning the Practice Conclusions Chapter 3 Self-Transformation through Vipassana Practice Introduction Patterns of Personal Practice Personal Practice: Techniques to Complement Vipassana Types of Transformation and Their Interpretive Frameworks The Sense-of-Self and Its Transformations Conclusions Chapter 4 Participation and Exploration at Vajrayana Institute Introduction The FPMT’s Religious Foundations and Scriptural Authority Religious Activity at VI: Teachings, Ritual and Meditation Teachings and Courses The Participant’s Journey Begins: Learning and Experimentation at VI Conclusions Chapter 5 The Practice of Self-Transformation at Vajrayana Institute Introduction Aims, Techniques and Outcomes of Sutra-Practice Tantric Activity at Vajrayana Institute The Sense-of-Self and Its Transformations Conclusions Chapter 6 An Overview of the Experimental Journey: Vipassana- and Vajrayana-Insights Introduction Part 1: The Commitment Process: The Experimental Model and Its Stages The Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Centre Vajrayana Institute and the Perspective of the FPMT Part 2: From Experimental Immersion to Commitment: Comparisons and Conclusions A Comparison of Religious Backgrounds A Comparison of Personal Journeys The Acquisition of the Meaning-System: The Role of Doctrine, Practice and Experience The Commitment Process Appendices Appendix 1: Interview-Respondents Appendix 2: Schedule for Beginners Weekend Meditation Workshop, 29–30 May 2004 Appendix 3: Schedule for Long-Weekend Retreat, 12–15 June 2004 Appendix 4: Daily Schedule for 15–16 February during Four-Day Retreat, 14–17 February 2004 Appendix 5: Schedule for Days 3–9, 25 April– 1 May, during Nine-Day Retreat, 23 April to 2 May 2004 Appendix 6: Prayers for Before and After Teachings Appendix 7: Refuge Teachings, 19 June 2005 Appendix 8: Medicine-Buddha Practice Day, 28 May 2005 Notes Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 References Index