Buddhism in the Context of American Values - Essay Example

h Buddhism and ‘American Values’ Table of Contents I. Introduction 4 II. Discussion 6 Works Cited 12 I. Introduction This paper explores Buddhismin the context of ‘American values’, and determines whether or not the religion is consistent with the latter. The literature is unanimous in some aspects of American culture that relate to independence, meritocracy, self-initiative, privacy, freedom of religion, informality, egalitarianism/equality, honesty and being direct/being open, focus on the efficient and practical, pragmatism, environmental control by individuals, control of time, embrace of change, competition, and helping oneself, among others. Buddhism on the other hand is a religion that is also more of a system of values and a discipline that likewise surprisingly has a lot in common with some fundamental American values, especially those that relate to self-help and the importance of self-reliance over a reliance on outside aid. Buddhism, for instance, in its meditative aspects and the disciplines tied to meditation practices, is surprisingly about the individual attaining a state of consciousness not via an outside intervention but by sole and direct effort. In the Buddhist meditative practice one progresses or regresses on the basis of one’s effort alone, and no outsider can intervene to help the Buddhist and speed up the process of attaining a different kind of consciousness. In this way the Buddhist is alone with himself, and cannot rely on anyone for help in a fundamental sense. This latter sense of the Buddhist meditative practice as being independent, closed in on oneself, paints the Buddhist in the light of an American struggling to brave it out alone in the wild west and relying only on his own light and judgment in order to survive. This is just an example. This paper therefore asserts the affirmative, based on the above initial discussion, that Buddhism is consistent with American values (Kohls; Cohn; University of Missouri; Public Religion Research Institute; Buddhaweb; O’Brien; Horgan; Shambhala International). II. Discussion There are many ways in which Buddhism, in terms of values and practices, and even in terms of the popular understanding of aspects of Buddhism, such as Zen, is consistent with some core American values as touched on above. First from an intuitive sense one can grasp how Zen, with an emphasis on being able to rely on one’s faculties and initiative to attain liberation or enlightenment, touches on some very vital American values relating to independence. When Beat writers for instance signified their rebellion from traditional American society, they were arguably doing so within the framework of core traditional values that include independence. They embraced Zen Buddhism arguably in the same spirit as those who first conquered the wild west embraced their independence and their sense of adventure to conquer the wild lands. It is hard to imagine for instance that the Beat writers would have embraced a traditional aspect of mainstream society, such as mainstream Protestant religion, and still consider themselves as being self-reliant seekers and artists. Self-reliance is a vital American value, and here the Beat poets for instance made use of Buddhism and Zen in particular as a kind of cloak to signify their break from the mainstream and to pursue a different kind of spirituality and art. From here one can see that though on the surface Zen and Buddhism seem to be far removed from anything American and opposed to American values, in fact Zen has aided in the formulation of a sense of identity and a sense of independence that is so very American in its impulses. By embracing Buddhism and Zen in the way the Beat writers did, they were displaying an impulse that is tied to some core American values relating to self-reliance, independence, and individuality (O’Brien). One does not have to look very far and deep into the literature to see just how American Buddhism relative to American values. In Buddhism there are few rituals, and in Zen in particular there are really no doctrines to be studied and read in the main, and the practice for many is just sitting meditation. It is sitting meditation that is at the core of many Buddhist practices, and here there are no concepts involved, and very few rituals. It is something that goes against convention, something that arguably has many aspects in common with the mainstream Protestant religion for instance, in America. Compared to the Catholic faith, for instance, the Protestant religions put little emphasis on rituals and the outward symbols, being instead very bare and simple in those respects. In the same way that the Protestant religion went against the grain of Catholic religion, for instance, Buddhism and Zen seem to do the same, and those who embrace Buddhism, when you examine their values, are not really dependence and relying on others and society for their religious needs and for knowing how and what to think. No, those who embrace Buddhism and Zen in America are in fact mostly the opposite of those, and are in fact inclined to go against the grain too, to be informal when society has become too formal in its religious practices, to be individual when society dictates that everyone follow the herd. In these aspects of Buddhism one can see that the religion actually aligns with these very fundamental American values and in a way presents a new way for Americans to express some very deeply held beliefs and convictions about how it is to be independent, iconoclastic, free-thinking, informal and American (Kohls; University of Missouri; Buddhaweb; O’Brien; Horgan). If pragmatism and materialism are American values, those in turn have led to Americans embracing science and scientific values, the truth. It is no surprise that Americans therefore are inclined to use science and technology to advance their lives. One can say that this inclination towards science and the scientific method are American values too, derived from more fundamental American values of pragmatism and materialism. In turn, the observation is that Buddhism and Buddhist values blend well with scientific and materialistic values, and that therefore Buddhism has taken root among those with advanced academic and scientific backgrounds in America. Americans have come to embrace Buddhism, therefore, because of this observation of the compatibility of American values tied to science with Buddhist values. By the turn of the century, moreover, the observation was that the widespread adoption of Buddhism by a large section of the educated class has made it possible for studies to be furthered relating to the link between Buddhism and science, and religion and science in particular. Aspects of Buddhism, as they relate to consciousness for instance, find common ground with aspects of science relating to the ultimate reality of things. The common ground between Buddhism and American values therefore, in this respect, is very large. The evidence from the adoption of the religion by many Americans who are very materialistic and pragmatic and very highly educated point to a compatibility with the deepest precepts of Buddhism with American values (Kohls; Cohn; University of Missouri; Public Religion Research Institute; Buddhaweb; O’Brien; Horgan). There is an argument too for Buddhism being consistent with American values from the point of view of freedom of religion. One commentary notes that in America, there are at least two types of Buddhism, one being the Buddhism that had been basically imported from the East, and adapted to American sensibilities, and more particularly to middle Class and highly intellectual American sensibilities. The other Buddhism is inherited Buddhism, practiced by later generations of Asian Americans whose parents or ancestors practiced the religion coming to America from other parts of the world. In the latter type of Buddhism, the embrace of America of the religion stems from American values of religious freedom. It is American to allow Asian Americans and new immigrants to practice their religion. America has the capacity to allow for the flourishing of the religion and in fact all kinds of religions within its soil. American values support this kind of flowering of Buddhism. This American value of religious freedom is thus an aspect of American culture, society, and psyche that allows for inherited Buddhism to thrive among later generations of Asian Americans. The religion itself, therefore, on this very fundamental level, is consistent with American values. That said, this line of thinking is valid for all religions too. The thinking is that all religions, on this very basic sense, are not incompatible with liberal religious values for Americans, even though the majority of Americans are Christians and mostly Protestant. This is to differentiate the compatibility of intellectual Buddhism from American values from the kind of basic compatibility of all religions with American values as discussed here. The compatibility is with the liberal and open attitude of American laws and culture towards all religions in general (Nattier). There are other ways in which Buddhism shows itself to be consistent with American values. One is that the emphasis on personal liberation and freedom from suffering jives well with the American pursuit of happiness that is personal and also self-directed. There are no attributions to an outside saving force in Buddhism, but rather in a sense a turning inward to find happiness through one’s efforts. This in a sense is what the American pursuit of happiness is. The American value of self-initiative and individuality coincides with an individual happiness achieved mainly through one’s strivings, with no external help in the main. The American value of happiness and independence in a way allows for no external crutch. It is total self-reliance. In the same way the Buddhist approach to gaining happiness and freedom is not through resorting to outside crutches and supports. It is a total dependence solely on one’s own faculties of discernment and strivings. The parallels between the two are striking, and again reflects the same line of thinking that has been present in all of the arguments presented in this paper so far. There are basically no inconsistencies with the self-reliant emphasis in Buddhism on the one hand and core American values relating to individuality, the individual pursuit if happiness, and a reliance on one’s own abilities and initiative to survive and to find happiness. If anything one can see that on a certain level, Buddhism is more compatible than Christianity, with its reliance on an external savior, to American values. In Buddhism there is happiness to be had, but no one can hand you that happiness. You have to work at your happiness alone. It is a strict meritocracy and also a strict individual and private business. All of these aspects of Buddhism go back to a strong affinity with those same American values. In a way to say that the Buddhist pursuit of enlightenment is like the American pursuit of happiness stated another way (Nattier; Kohls; Cohn). In conclusion, one can see from the various perspectives on Buddhism and American values presented in this paper that Buddhism is deeply consistent with the latter. From the point of view of some deeply held American values relating to individuality, self-initiative and self-mastery, independence, a sense of striking out on one’s own and against the mainstream, and a sense of mastery of one’s world, then it is clear that Buddhism’s practices and precepts stressing the same make for a deep compatibility. From the point of view of how American values emphasize freedom of religion and the freedom to pursue one’s vision of happiness, then too the preceding discussion makes clear that Buddhism is highly consistent with those same American values. The preceding discussion makes clear that inherent in the American way of life is the American precept of freedom of religion as something that cannot be taken away from all of its citizens, and the widespread practice of Buddhism among Asian Americans, for instance, is proof of that. It is also proof that Buddhism is not incompatible with American values. Moreover, from the point of view of the widespread adoption of the religion among highly educated, middle class Americans, it is clear that there are no incompatibilities between rational and materialistic, pragmatic American values, which the intellectual classes in America hold dear, and very deep and fundamental Buddhist teachings. The fact that it is widely embraced also means that Buddhism appeals to the intellectual class for its deep consistencies with the core American values that the middle and intellectual classes champion as a core part of their being American (Nattier; Kohls; Cohn). Works Cited Buddhaweb. “Essentials of Buddhism”. Buddhaweb.org. 2010. Web. 5 November 2014. Cohn, Bob. “21 Charts That Explain American Values Today”. The Atlantic. 2012. Web. 5 November 2014. Horgan, John. “Buddhist Retreat: Why I Gave Up on Finding My Religion”. Slate.com. 2003. Web. 5 November 2014. Kohls, L. Robert. “The Values Americans Live By”. ClaremontMcKenna.edu. n.d. Web. 5 November 2014. Nattier, Jan. “Buddhism Comes to Main Street”. UrbanDharma.org. 1997. Web. 5 November 2014. O’Brien, Barbara. “A Look Back at “Beat Zen, Square Zen, and Zen””. About Religion. 2014. Web. 5 November 2014. Public Religion Research Institute. “Survey: 2013 American Values Survey: In Search of Libertarians in America”. PublicReligion.org. 2013. Web. 5 November 2014. Shambhala International. “Buddhism”. Shambhala. 2014. Web. 5 November 2014. University of Missouri. “Key American Values”. UMSL. 2014. Web. 5 November 2014. Read More