Doctor of Philosophy / This thesis explores the nature of the socialization and commitment process in the Western Buddhist context, by investigating the experiences of practitioners affiliated with two Buddhist Centres: the Theravadin Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Centre and the Gelugpa Tibetan Vajrayana Institute. Commitment by participants is based on the recognition that, through the application of the beliefs and practices of the new religion, self-transformation has occurred. It follows a process of religious experimentation in which the claims of a religious reality are experientially validated against inner understandings and convictions, which themselves become clearer as a result of experimental participation in religious activity. Functionally, the adopted worldview is seen to frame personal experience in a manner that renders it more meaningful. Meditative experience and its interpretation according to doctrine must be applicable to the improvement of the quality of lived experience. It must be relevant to current living, and ethically sustainable. Substantively, commitment is conditional upon accepting and succesfully employing: the three marks of samsaric existence, duhkha, anitya and anatman (Skt) as an interpretive framework for lived reality. In this the three groups of the Eight-fold Path, sila/ethics, samadhi/concentration, and prajna/wisdom provide a strategy for negotiating lived experience in the light of meditation techniques, specific to each Buddhist orientation, by which to apply doctrinal principles in one’s own transformation. Two theoretical approaches are found to have explanatory power for understanding the stages of intensifying interaction that lead to commitment in both Western Buddhist contexts. Lofland and Skonovd’s Experimental Motif models the method of entry into and exploration of a Buddhist Centre’s shared reality. Data from participant observation and interview demonstrates this approach to be facilitated by the organizational and teaching activities of the two Western Buddhist Centres, and to be taken by the participants who eventually become adherents. Individuals take an actively experimental attitude toward the new group’s activities, withholding judgment while testing the group’s doctrinal position, practices, and expected experiential outcomes against their own values and life experience. In an environment of minimal social pressure, transformation of belief is gradual over a period of from months to years. Deeper understanding of the nature of the commitment process is provided by viewing it in terms of religious resocialization, involving the reframing of one’s understanding of reality and sense-of-self within a new worldview. The transition from seekerhood to commitment occurs through a process of socialization, the stages of which are found to be engagement and apprehension, comprehension, and commitment. Apprehension is the understanding of core Buddhist notions. Comprehension occurs through learning how various aspects of the worldview form a coherent meaning-system, and through application of the Buddhist principles to the improvement of one’s own life circumstances. It necessitates understanding of the fundamental relationships between doctrine, practice, and experience. Commitment to the group’s outlook and objectives occurs when these are adopted as one’s orientation to reality, and as one’s strategy for negotiating a lived experience that is both efficacious and ethically sustainable. It is also maintained that sustained commitment is conditional upon continuing validation of that experience.

Doctor of Philosophy / This thesis explores the nature of the socialization and commitment process in the Western Buddhist context, by investigating the experiences of practitioners affiliated with two Buddhist Centres: the Theravadin Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Centre and the Gelugpa Tibetan Vajrayana Institute. Commitment by participants is based on the recognition that, through the application of the beliefs and practices of the new religion, self-transformation has occurred. It follows a process of religious experimentation in which the claims of a religious reality are experientially validated against inner understandings and convictions, which themselves become clearer as a result of experimental participation in religious activity. Functionally, the adopted worldview is seen to frame personal experience in a manner that renders it more meaningful. Meditative experience and its interpretation according to doctrine must be applicable to the improvement of the quality of lived experience. It must be relevant to current living, and ethically sustainable. Substantively, commitment is conditional upon accepting and succesfully employing: the three marks of samsaric existence, duhkha, anitya and anatman (Skt) as an interpretive framework for lived reality. In this the three groups of the Eight-fold Path, sila/ethics, samadhi/concentration, and prajna/wisdom provide a strategy for negotiating lived experience in the light of meditation techniques, specific to each Buddhist orientation, by which to apply doctrinal principles in one’s own transformation. Two theoretical approaches are found to have explanatory power for understanding the stages of intensifying interaction that lead to commitment in both Western Buddhist contexts. Lofland and Skonovd’s Experimental Motif models the method of entry into and exploration of a Buddhist Centre’s shared reality. Data from participant observation and interview demonstrates this approach to be facilitated by the organizational and teaching activities of the two Western Buddhist Centres, and to be taken by the participants who eventually become adherents. Individuals take an actively experimental attitude toward the new group’s activities, withholding judgment while testing the group’s doctrinal position, practices, and expected experiential outcomes against their own values and life experience. In an environment of minimal social pressure, transformation of belief is gradual over a period of from months to years. Deeper understanding of the nature of the commitment process is provided by viewing it in terms of religious resocialization, involving the reframing of one’s understanding of reality and sense-of-self within a new worldview. The transition from seekerhood to commitment occurs through a process of socialization, the stages of which are found to be engagement and apprehension, comprehension, and commitment. Apprehension is the understanding of core Buddhist notions. Comprehension occurs through learning how various aspects of the worldview form a coherent meaning-system, and through application of the Buddhist principles to the improvement of one’s own life circumstances. It necessitates understanding of the fundamental relationships between doctrine, practice, and experience. Commitment to the group’s outlook and objectives occurs when these are adopted as one’s orientation to reality, and as one’s strategy for negotiating a lived experience that is both efficacious and ethically sustainable. It is also maintained that sustained commitment is conditional upon continuing validation of that experience.

This thesis presents a study of the role of western lamas within Tibetan Buddhism in America, arguing that the role of the lama is as an influential and central aspect in the development and transformation of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition in the west. This thesis argues how western lamas holding a position of authority act as a catalyst of change within their group and in the overall process of change and adaptation of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition in America, creating what may become ‘American Tibetan Buddhism.’ Three relevant areas regarding the role of the lama within the transforming tradition are identified: 1) the basis of authority of the lama, or how authority is obtained; 2) the use of such authority as a tool for change; and 3) transmission of the teachings and lineage.

This dissertation examines whether Buddhist beliefs and practices serve to reinforce and/or promote a Korean and/or Canadian cultural prism for next-generation Korean Buddhist practitioners in Toronto, Canada. I define Korean and Canadian cultural prisms based on the cross-cultural psychological framework of Individualism-Relational Collectivism (I-RC) and Analytical-Holistic (A-H) cognition. The aim of my research is to problematize culture in the construction of religious meaning and behaviour for relatively bicultural individuals. My research question can thus be summarized as follows: How is religious meaning and behaviour culturally constructed by next-generation Korean Buddhist practitioners in Canada? What role do individual cultural orientations and the different Buddhist cultural traditions play in this cultural construction and how does Buddhism compare to the other religions (namely Protestantism) practiced by younger-generation Korean-Canadians in this regard? By answering these questions, I ultimately hope to show whether the meaning system of Korean culture is preserved through religion among the younger generation of Korean Buddhist practitioners. I hypothesize that, due to the relatively non-authoritarian nature of Buddhism, the light of Buddhist beliefs and practices will predominantly be refracted through the a priori cultural prism of the individual in question, and the role of Buddhist doctrine and institutions in promoting a particular orientation (individualistic/relationally collectivistic and analytic/holistic) will be minimal and subordinate to the individual. The particular cultural orientation of this prism will, in turn, be dependent upon individual levels of monoculturalism (Korean or Canadian) or biculturalism (Korean and Canadian). In this way, Buddhism may serve to both preserve and undermine the Korean cultural meaning system. By comparison, I hypothesize that the relatively authoritarian nature of (Protestant) Christianity will likely encourage younger-generation Korean Christians to relate to their religion in a predominantly uniform way, regardless of the individual’s cultural orientation.

This dissertation examines whether Buddhist beliefs and practices serve to reinforce and/or promote a Korean and/or Canadian cultural prism for next-generation Korean Buddhist practitioners in Toronto, Canada. I define Korean and Canadian cultural prisms based on the cross-cultural psychological framework of Individualism-Relational Collectivism (I-RC) and Analytical-Holistic (A-H) cognition. The aim of my research is to problematize culture in the construction of religious meaning and behaviour for relatively bicultural individuals. My research question can thus be summarized as follows: How is religious meaning and behaviour culturally constructed by next-generation Korean Buddhist practitioners in Canada? What role do individual cultural orientations and the different Buddhist cultural traditions play in this cultural construction and how does Buddhism compare to the other religions (namely Protestantism) practiced by younger-generation Korean-Canadians in this regard? By answering these questions, I ultimately hope to show whether the meaning system of Korean culture is preserved through religion among the younger generation of Korean Buddhist practitioners. I hypothesize that, due to the relatively non-authoritarian nature of Buddhism, the light of Buddhist beliefs and practices will predominantly be refracted through the a priori cultural prism of the individual in question, and the role of Buddhist doctrine and institutions in promoting a particular orientation (individualistic/relationally collectivistic and analytic/holistic) will be minimal and subordinate to the individual. The particular cultural orientation of this prism will, in turn, be dependent upon individual levels of monoculturalism (Korean or Canadian) or biculturalism (Korean and Canadian). In this way, Buddhism may serve to both preserve and undermine the Korean cultural meaning system. By comparison, I hypothesize that the relatively authoritarian nature of (Protestant) Christianity will likely encourage younger-generation Korean Christians to relate to their religion in a predominantly uniform way, regardless of the individual’s cultural orientation.