The Oxford Handbook of American Buddhism

The Oxford Handbook of American Buddhism offers the most comprehensive and up-to-date scholarship available on Buddhism in America. It charts the history and diversity of Buddhist communities, including traditions and communities that have been previously neglected, and looks at the ways in which Buddhist practices such as mindfulness meditation have been adopted in non-Buddhist settings.

First brought to the United States in the nineteenth century by Chinese and Japanese immigrants, Buddhism has become a major feature of the North American religious, cultural, and social landscape. Nearly every form of Asian Buddhism has some presence in North America in addition to a variety of Buddhist “convert” communities, hybrid communities, and “secular” Buddhist networks. Buddhist-derived practices such as mindfulness meditation have been deployed in health care and educational settings, the military, and the business sector. The Oxford Handbook of American Buddhism guides readers through the rich terrain of American Buddhism, illuminating the diversity of Buddhist communities and identities, exploring the innovations that have emerged from the cross-fertilization of Buddhism and American culture, and extending the theoretical and methodological boundaries that have shaped the study of American Buddhism. The Handbook is organized into four parts: Foundations, Traditions, Practices, and Frames. The essays in this volume both build upon and go beyond previous scholarship, reexamining foundational topics while recovering neglected histories, centering marginalized identities, and analyzing the intersections between Buddhist practice and scholarship.