Building and Negotiating Religious Identities in a Zen Buddhist Temple

TRAMA

This book explores the practices in a Zen Buddhist temple located in Northwest Ohio against the backdrop of globalization. Drawing on the previous studies on Buddhist modernization and westernization, it provides a better understanding of the westernization of Buddhism and its adapted practices and rituals in the host culture. Using rhetorical criticism methodology, the author approaches this temple as an embodiment of Buddhist rhetoric with both discursive and non-discursive expressions within the discourses of modernity. By analyzing the rhetorical practices at the temple through abbots’ teaching videos, the temple website, members’ dharma names, and the materiality of the temple space and artifacts, the author discovers how Buddhist rhetoric functions to constitute and negotiate the religious identities of the community members through its various rituals and activities. At the same time, the author examines how the temple’s space and settings facilitate the collective the formation and preservation of the Buddhist identity. Through a nuanced discussion of Buddhist rhetoric, this book illuminates a new rhetorical methodology to understand religious identity construction. Furthermore, it offers deeper insights into the future development of modern Buddhism, which are also applicable to Buddhist practitioners and other major world religions. 

SOMMARIO

CHAPTER I. BUDDHISM AND RHETORIC: FROM AN INTERCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE Buddhism in an Era of Globalization Buddhism in the West Buddhism and Technology Defining Buddhist Rhetoric The H temple and Its Unique Buddhist Rhetoric  CHAPTER II.  A BRIEF HISTORY OF MODERN ZEN BUDDHISM IN THE UNITED STATES Brief History of Modern Zen Buddhism in the West Modernization of Buddhism on A Global Scale The Introduction of Buddhism to Ohio and the L city Temple Setting and Activities Temple Operation and Communication Articulating Buddhist Rhetoric in the H temple: on the Intersection of Culture, Communication, and Rhetoric Viewing the H temple as both Intercultural and Rhetorical Competing Ideologies in the H temple: When East meets West Observing the H temple as a Practitioner and Cultural Critic CHAPTER III.  THE TEMPLE’S PARADOX: MAINTAINING CULTURAL TRADITIONS IN THE DISCOURSE OF MODERNIZATION AND DEMOCRATIZATION The Uniqueness of the Family Temple as An Ideograph The Married Abbot and Spousal Transmission: Pragmatism  of American Buddhism The Role of abbot N: More than Just a Temple Wife and as Ideographs Sunday Morning Dharma School: A Buddhist Moral Education From Dharma Teaching to Moral Education Sangha: This is Where We Belong Community Building through Membership Seeing through the Ideographs: A Democratic American Buddhism ... CHAPTER IV.  CONSTRUCTING BUDDHIST IDENTITY AT THE H TEMPLE Technology at the H temple and Identity Construction Challenges from the Cyberspace A Buddhist Identity via Technology Dealing with the Secret Buddhist Identity: Being Rational  and Trusting Yourself The Secret Buddhist Identity Mix-and-Match Buddhism for Individual Needs The Power of Naming: Rituals, Members, and Objects Experiencing Dharma Names in a Foreign Discourse When Names Are Transplanted: An Orientalist Approach Temple as the Sacred Space in Constructing Identity Sacred Gaze in the Sacred Space New Dimensions and Meanings of the Buddhist Identity  CHAPTER V.  THE BUDDHIST RHETORIC OF THE H TEMPLE: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE AN AMERICAN BUDDHIST? Rethinking the Buddhist Experience Buddhist Rhetoric Revisited: through the Lens of Modernism Looking Forward—A Postmodern Buddhism REFERENCES

AUTORE

Fan Zhang is an instructor at Xi’an International Studies University. Her areas of work interest include intercultural communication, critical rhetoric, religious communication, gaming, media and technology.  She obtained her Ph.D. from Bowling Green State University, and her work has been published in the International Journal of Interactive Communication Systems and Technologies (2015). Her paper “Remaking Ancient Virtues for the Virtual World: A Case Study of the Voice of Longquan” was among the finalists in the National Communication Association’s International and Intercultural Communication Division (IICD) Honors Graduate Student Seminar in 2014. 

ALTRE INFORMAZIONI

• Condizione: Nuovo
• ISBN: 9789811388651
• Dimensioni: 235 x 155 mm Ø 454 gr
• Formato: Brossura
• Illustration Notes: VI, 100 p. 1 illus.
• Pagine Arabe: 100
• Pagine Romane: vi