Buddhism in Canada - an Oral History

Religion Compass, 2011

Buddhism in Canada is part of a larger global network of Buddhist people, institutions, and practices in the modern world. It shares much with Buddhism in other countries, such as the United States. What, then, is distinctive about Canadian Buddhism? This article suggests five areas in which researchers may fruitfully probe for what is particular about Buddhism in Canada. These five areas are (1) the history of Buddhist individuals and institutions in Canada; (2) the impact of national and provincial laws and policies; (3) the impact of Canadian social and cultural characteristics, and efforts to create a self-consciously Canadian Buddhism; (4) the landscape of Canada itself; and (5) Canadian Buddhism's relationship with Buddhism in other countries. Canada is ignorance, and the U.S. is aggression. 1-Chogyam Trungpa Academic work on Canadian Buddhism is characterized by an odd situation. Buddhism has been in Canada for over a century. But, surprisingly, while we have many studies of various Buddhist phenomena within Canada, almost nothing has been published on the topic of Buddhism in Canada as a whole. And odder still, now that a critical mass of information on Buddhism in Canada is finally emerging, there is a skittishness about trying to discern what is particular about Canadian Buddhism or approaching Buddhism in Canada in a comparative fashion vis-à-vis the United States, England, or other possibilities. Some want to nip the search for Canadian Buddhism in the bud, proceeding on instead to transnational studies that discount any Canadian uniqueness. As Alexander Soucy states, We would be heading in the wrong direction if we looked for a Canadian Buddhism. Instead, it is more fruitful to look at how Buddhism has been spreading around the world. (Soucy 2010, p. 52) This attitude is derived, at least in part, from reactions against studies of Buddhism in America-there is a feeling that such research has included a degree of hubris, as some researchers myopically claimed for the US transformations of Buddhism that were also taking place in other Western countries, or had actually originated first in Asia before crossing the Pacific. These criticisms are important and deserve the attention of scholars who work on North American Buddhism. Ironically, the avoidance of searching for Canadian Buddhism may even be a manifestation of typically Canadian cultural modesty. But even so, there may be value in considering what is distinctive about Buddhism in Canada, or at least trying to do so in some preliminary way before abandoning the project as futile. Thus while acknowledging that it should be taken as axiomatic that Canadian Buddhists share much with Buddhists elsewhere and are knit into larger global flows, this essay considers some possibilities for exploring what is nonetheless Canadian about Buddhism in Canada.

Journal of East Asian Libraries, 1982

The modern Protestant missionary movement coincided with the rise to world hegemony of two English speaking nations, Great Britain and the United States. The enthusiasm of this movement to realize the "evangelization of the world in this generation" was evident not only in Britain and the United States but in smaller, younger, nations such as Canada. By and large, Canadian involvement centered around two major denominations, the Methodist Church and the Presbyterians. Their activities gave birth to three separate China missions (two Presbyterian and one large Methodist) and one each in Japan (Methodist) and Korea (Presbyterian). These missionary endeavors, which lasted on an average of fifty years, yielded a wealth of important correspondence. These papers provide an in-depth account of the missionaries' activities in the fields of medicine, education, and evangeli zation. More importantly, perhaps, the correspondence tells us a great deal about the complexities stemming from East-West cultural and philosophical inter change. The revelations of various missionaries, either in the form of private diaries or unedited letters to the home base, are invaluable in this regard. The bulk of this material is at present preserved at the United Church of Canada Archives (UCCA).

Journal of the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada, 2021

His area of research specialization lies in the theory of the tathāgatagarbha or Buddha nature, and he has also focused his studies on Mahāyāna Buddhism in India, China, and Tibet, particularly on the historical and doctrinal development of the Madhyamaka and Yogācāra traditions. Other research interests include contemporary engaged Buddhist movements, Buddhist chaplaincy, Buddhism in Canada, and Western classical music.

From back cover: The most comprehensive study of Buddhism in Canada to date, Wild Geese offers a history of the religion’s evolution in Canada, surveys the diverse communities and beliefs of Canadian Buddhists, and presents biographies of Buddhist leaders. The essays cover a broad range of topics, including Chinese, Tibetan, Lao, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese Buddhisms, critical reflections on Buddhism in the West, census data on the growth of the religion, and analysis of the global context for the growth of Buddhism in Canada. Presenting a sweeping portrait of a crucial part of the multicultural mosaic, Wild Geese is essential reading for anyone interested in religious life in Canada.

For members of the Japanese ethnic church community in Canada, perceptions about being Christian are influenced and perhaps conflicted by beliefs from the homeland about being culturally and linguistically Japanese. Being Japanese in Canada (or any foreign country) also may mean having beliefs that are often influenced by the dominant Canadian culture such as through acquiring English, which may influence the relationship between the medium (language) and the message (Christianity) (Woods 2004). This article is aimed at understanding the multiple and conflictual beliefs about identity of Japanese ethnic church members who live in Canada, in terms of the way they describe themselves as being “Japanese” and being “Christian” to varying degrees.

2020

In presenting this dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Postgraduate degree from the University of Saskatchewan, I agree that the Libraries of this University may make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for copying of this thesis/dissertation in any manner, in whole or in part, for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor or professors who supervised my dissertation work or, in their absence, by the Head of the Department or the Dean of the College in which my thesis work was done. It is understood that any copying or publication or use of this dissertation or parts thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of Saskatchewan in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my dissertation.

2013

There are currently 483 Buddhist organizations operating in Canada in 2012. This article presents highlights from data gathered in the first-ever survey of community development in these organizations, with some preliminary observations. The survey was created by John Negru, publisher of Canada's largest online database of Canadian Buddhist organizations, www.canadianbuddhism.info, in association with the Department for the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto, in 2011. The survey contained twenty-six multi-part questions in two sections. The first section comprised directory information associated with specific organizations. The second section comprised sociological questions, the answers to which were supplied on condition of anonymity. Of 483 potential responses, 102 were received (21.1%). While not exhaustive, these responses are broadly spread over different locations, traditions, and institutional frameworks. Their distribution mirrors the geographical and lineage distribution of the full set. As such, they present a relatively accurate snapshot of current community development across Buddhist communities in Canada. 1 This is based on the personal experience of the author, who began Buddhist practice in Montreal, Canada in 1968. In 1972 he travelled across Canada visiting Buddhist organizations. In the 1980s, he was coordinator for the Toronto Buddhist Federation, and later a founder and Toronto coordinator for the Buddhist Council of Canada, in touch with a wide range of Buddhist organizations across the country. He was involved in the redesign of George Klima's buddhismcanada directory in 2009, and launched the www.canadianbuddhism.info directory in 2010, after Klima ceased operations.

This is a book review of Wild Geese: Buddhism in Canada, which was published in the Canadian Journal of Buddhist Studies in 2012.