American Zen's "Japan Connection": A Critical Case Study of Zen Buddhism's Diffusion to the West

Abstract

Participant observation data from both Japan and the United States are used to correct the common argument in the sociology of religion that Zen Buddhism in America is mainly a deviant cult response to personal strains resulting from various social discontinuities and conflicts. While such explanations do shed light on the recruitment of some participants in new religious groups, they suffer from being exaggerated and from being historically and cross-culturally incomplete. The present analysis argues that the emergence of organized Zen in America must also be understood as the result of a process of culture diffusion ofMahayana Buddhism from East Asia to North America since World War II. This process has also involved a sectarian reformation of Zen in the course of its diffusion from Japan, suggesting that American Zen may be better understood as a sectarian rather than a “cult” movement. Data are provided by the author's accompaniment of an American Zen Master on his travels in Japan for the purpose of official confirmation by the Soto Sect as a Zen priest and teacher. Visits to numerous temples in the American priest's lineage provided extensive illustration of the reality of Zen's cultural and institutional diffusion to North America, of the ancient and traditional origins of this “new” American religion, and of the reformation it has undergone during its transplantation from East to West. The article concludes with an outline of a six-stage culture diffusion model for future research.

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