When I first thought of the
Buddhist culture, I pictured a chubby bald man sitting cross-legged, meditating. But Buddhism is a lot more than that.
In fact, I’ve discovered that the
stereotypical Buddhist (bald headed, yoga-practicing vegetarian) is seldom
correct. The purpose of this blog post
is to focus on religious identity among Buddhist, and this will be demonstrated
with the discussion of Buddhist signifiers, the similar values shared, and the relationship
between the terms “religion” and “teachings.”
Martin and Nakayama (2013)define
culture as being learned patterns of behavior and attitudes shared by a group
of people. About one in every two
hundred people across the globe practice Buddhism (Kaleem, 2011). Buddhism means “to awaken” and the practice
aims to focus on living a moral life and grow in wisdom (White 1993). The practice initially began in the eastern
portion of the world, particularly Tibet, and migrated west. With this transition came some changes as
well, so currently there are different forms of the actual religion. It has become popular in the United States to
claim one practices the philosophy of Buddhism, but avoids connecting on a
religious level.
So as to narrow down
the study of the Buddhist culture, I focused on how Buddhists religiously identify
themselves, as well as communication between Buddhists. Communication can be defined as a symbolic
process whereby reality is produced, maintained, repaired, and transformed,
according to Martin and Nakayama. The
connection between communication and the Buddhist culture is a multifaceted one.
Religious identity rests on a
spectrum for many people. Some dedicate
the majority of their lives to practicing a religion, while others are much
less frequent. However, religious
identity is the sense of belonging to some sort of religious group. I met with Courtney Bruntz, a visiting
instructor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln who has been practicing Buddhism
for ten years. Courtney explained to me
that a Buddhist religious identity is actually an interesting concept, because
“identity” and even the term “religion” are westernized concepts. Buddhism was originally considered more like
“teachings.” Furthermore, Buddha taught
that we must not “cling” to identities, as they are not permanent
constructions. The notion of no
permanent “self” is defined as Anatta.
Therefore, it wouldn’t be sensible for a true practicing Buddhist to
actually identify as a Buddhist.
There are some signifiers to reveal
a Buddhist identity, however. Many
Buddhists often wear mala beads, which are prayer beads, that aide in
meditation. I noticed this when I
attended a Vietnamese Buddhist service last month, as well.
Courtney did disagree with my
findings regarding Buddhism as a philosophy rather than a religion. She thinks that it is incorrect when a person
practices Buddhism but believes in the Christian belief of having a permanent
God, they are not Buddhist. It just does
not fit into the Buddhist teachings or ideas.
Like most religions, one cannot identify with multiple beliefs.
.
Many Buddhists share the same values.
When I attended the Buddhist Temple last month in Lincoln with Courtney,
I noticed that the aura in the room was close-knit and familial. The service was a standard “Chan Buddhist
Dharma” service.
This included
meditation involving mantras (or chants) and a Dharma talk by the head
monastic. They were a warm,
compassionate crowd that spoke little English but offered us seats and company
nonetheless. They were willing to show
us about their culture, and one woman even came over and translated the Dharma
talk, similar to a service, for us.
How they acted amongst each other
was noted as well. Some family members
sat by each other, while others remained seated by friends. While Courtney explained that a male-female
separation (relating to the masculinity-femininity value) is typically apparent
in most temples, it was not shown here. Some
would intermingle during the service, and helping each other with pages and
where to look in the book next. They
were very hospitable and joyful Buddhists.
As stated previously, only one in
two hundred people around the world practice Buddhism. Obviously, there’s less in some portions
while there’s much more in others. But
the point is that many people are unaware about the true beliefs and values
celebrated by Buddhism. People don’t
realize that it was only until Buddhism moved west that it was labeled a
religion. I myself was also oblivious to
the fact, until I spoke with Courtney, that it was politically incorrect to
label oneself as a practicing Buddhist but identify with another religion,
which is what many Americans are currently doing.
In order to be interculturally competent,
according to Martin and Nakayama, we must be motivated to communicate with
other cultures, which is what I managed to do when visiting the Buddhist
Temple. We also must gain knowledge from
various sources about that culture, have a positive attitude, and be nonjudgmental. When undergoing this process of immersing
myself in the Buddhist culture and openly learning more about it, I managed to
remain interculturally competent. This
way, I discovered a lot of surprises, and realized there’s more to the
teachings than its stereotypes.
Kaleem, J.
(2011). Buddhism in America: What is the
future? Huffington Post Religion.
Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/14/america-buddhism_n_876577.html
Martin, J.N., & Nakayama, T.K. (2013). Intercultural
communication in contexts (6th ed.) New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
White, B.
(1993). A basic Buddhism
guide. Buddha Dharma Education Association and BuddhaNet. Retrieved from http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/5minbud.htm
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