Editorial Reviews  
Amazon.com  
A Buddhist meditator attempts to create distance with his or her thoughts in order to gain perspective on them, to see what causes them and how they develop. Charles Prebish and Kenneth Tanaka have brought together 19 scholars and practitioners of Buddhism to gain some perspective on the origin and development of Buddhism itself--how it has taken root and grown in American soil. Much more than just the manifestation of a few college-educated whites sitting on cushions, American Buddhism is a panorama of diverse practices, ethnicities, and beliefs. Essays such as "Tibetan Buddhism in America" and "Responding to the Cries of the World" explore movements of Buddhism in America from the inside and the issues arising out of the Americanization of Buddhism, such as feminism, psychotherapy, and social engagement. One article underscores the importance of Paul Carus around the turn of the century, while another traces the growth of Insight Meditation through popular teachers such as Jack Kornfield and Joseph Goldstein. It's great to read a book that gets you deep into a piece of Buddhism, and it's also nice to see that each piece fits together in a bigger picture. --Brian Bruya 

Book Description  
Buddhism is the fastest growing religion in the United States, with adherents estimated in the several millions. But what exactly defines a "Buddhist"? This has been a much-debated question in recent years, particularly in regard to the religion's bifurcation into two camps: the so-called "imported" or ethnic Buddhism of Asian immigrants and the "convert" Buddhism of a mostly middle-class, liberal, intellectual elite. In this timely collection Charles S. Prebish and Kenneth K. Tanaka bring... 

About the Author  
Charles S. Prebish is Associate Professor of Religion at Pennsylvania State University and author and editor of numerous works, including American Buddhism and Buddhist Monastic Discipline. He is currently coeditor of the electronic Journal of Buddhist Ethics. Kenneth K. Tanaka is Professor of Buddhist Studies at the Institute for Buddhist Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and the author of Ocean: An Introduction to Jodo- Shinshu Buddhism in America (1997). He is president of...