Sunday, October 17, 2010, 11:30am – 1:00pm
“The Lotus and the Maple Leaf: The Evolution of Soka Gakkai Buddhism in Canada.”
Daniel A. Métraux (Mary Baldwin College). My proposed paper will focus on the foundation and subsequent expansion of Soka Gakkai International in Canada (SGI-Canada). At present SGI has chapters in most of Canada’s major cities and claims an active overall membership of between 6000-7000 residents of Canada.. Started in the 1960s and early 1970s, it has grown slowly and steadily in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia with smaller memberships elsewhere. SGI-Canada has a broad multi-ethnic membership including many white Anglophones and Francophones, ethnic Chinese and Indians, and Black Canadians. The Paper will focus on the following two points as well as presenting a history of SGI Canada: (1) Why SGI-Canada has such a broad multi-cultural and ethnic membership. Why have several thousand Canadians joined this movement and why, after four decades, has SGI-Canada not grown bigger? What is it about this Japanese-based Buddhism that appeals to so many non-Japanese ethnic Asians and Westerners in Canada? (2) Another goal is to offer Soka Gakkai as a critical exception to the stereotypical view of Buddhists in North America It is common to divide these Buddhists into two broad groups, ethnic Asians and Western converts. It is often said that many Western converts are wealthy and highly educated. SGI-Canada has large blocs of Asian and Western members, some of whom are wealthy and/or better educated and many who are not. Why is Soka Gakkai an exception to this rule? My proposed paper would have three sections and a conclusion: (1) A brief analysis and history of the global expansion of Soka Gakkai. Issues to be covered here in brief: Summary history of the movement, authority structure, spread of the movement from country of origin to other locals, cultural adaptations in its spread, carriers and finances of the movement as it becomes global. (2) An overview and history of SGI in Canada—where it began and where it has spread. Who belongs and why. A detailed response to the two major questions above. A brief case study of SGI-Quebec. (3) The state of the SGI-Canada movement today: SGI Canada and its relationship with non-members and other neighborhood associations and religious groups. What is SGI-Canada’s prognosis for the future?
“Buddhism in Canada: The Transnational Strategy of the Dhammakaya Foundation in Comparison.”
Manuel Litalien (McGill University). This study introduces the global strategy of the Dhammakaya Foundation and compares it with two other different Buddhist organizations present in Canada, namely Tzu Chi Foundation and Fo Guang Shan. The behaviour of the Dhammakaya is studied in light of the global movement known as Engaged Buddhism. I will discuss the different strategy to recruit new members, the possibility of collaborations with other religious organizations, as well as the challenges these religious actors are facing in a Canadian context. I will argue that the transnationalization of these religious organizations is the outcome of an arbitrary ideological construction that is ambiguous in its final goals: World peace through a meditation technique (Dhammakaya), serving globally with compassion and the promotion of an international Buddhist world charity. The Dhammakaya Foundation is present in 31 countries and has more than 108 locations. The Tzu Chi Foundation is now present in more than 24 countries and in 235 locations. The Fo Guang Shan is also present in every continent and has more than 116 locations worldwide. The activities of these religious non-state actors at the international level, such as in Canada, will be analyzed in the growing success of these religious institutions in their respective national context (Laliberté & Litalien 2010; Soucy 2010; Larose 2008). The strong link maintained with their national home base religious institutions contradicts the argument that as religions are becoming more transnationalized, they become more autonomous (Rudolph 1996; Levitt 2004). It actually helps us understand how religious identity and belonging are taking place in a transnational setting.
“The Charisma of a Vietnamese Diasporic Leader.”
Alexander Soucy (St. Mary’s University). The Canadian-American anthropologist Anthony Wallace laid out a scheme whereby religions adapt to dramatic social changes through what he called “revitalisation movements”. These movements dramatically re-orient religious traditions in order to more appropriately address the concerns of new situations. At the core, and the beginning, of this revitalisation process is a charismatic figure whose authority lies on the quality of the individual personality rather than on a traditional or legalistic structure. In many ways, the trauma of relocation of refugees represents the kind of change that demands religious revitalisation. This is the case with the Vietnamese in Canada, for the Buddhist practices and institutions of their homeland no longer “make sense” in this new context. It is therefore not surprising that we find that at the heart of one of the more dynamic Vietnamese Buddhist groups in Canada is a leader who does not shy away from innovation and brings a kind of leadership not found in Vietnam. Thích Phổ Tịnh is a nun who is currently the nominal head of Tam Bảo Pagoda Pagoda, Tam Bảo Sơn Monastery north of Montreal and the Union of Vietnamese Buddhist Churches in Canada. Throughout her life as a nun in Canada she has encountered problems with lay Buddhists and Vietnamese monks in Montreal because of her unusually prominent position. This is not surprising, given that nuns are expected to be subservient in Vietnam and do not general have significant roles as leaders. This paper with explore how charisma has been essential in Thích Phổ Tịnh’s attempts to reinterpret Buddhist rules and norms in order to carve out a space to make Vietnamese Buddhism relevant in Canada.
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