Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Buddhism Finds New Home in United States

Text by Porterjl (Ground Report, Feb. 7, 2010)


It’s a beautiful Sunday morning. And while many people are on their way to the local Christian church, members of the Saddhama Vipassana Meditation Center are venturing 45 minutes outside of Richmond city limits to Louisa County. The SVM Center is a new Buddhist monastery. The members, mostly Vietnamese-American families, sit cross legged on the floor awaiting the morning sermon.

It’s not only Asian Americans celebrating Buddhism. Despite popular western religions like Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, many people from all nationalities in the United States are finding comfort in Eastern religions, specifically Buddhism. These people have various stories and reasons for the unfamiliar lifestyle. But most of the reasons come down to one basic answer.

“Buddhism is a way of living. By 'a way of living,' I mean that you don’t have to become anything. You could be a Christian practicing Buddhism, because it’s just a way of living. That’s it, there’s no title, there’s no name for it...” More>>

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