A Tale of Two Hemispheres Event Explores Western Ideas of Buddhism http://www.dailycal.org/article.php?id=17604
By ARLET ABRAHAMIAN Juhn Ahn is worried about Buddhism in the United States. Ahn, a Buddhist Studies doctoral candidate, studied the religion both in the East-where Buddhism claims its roots-and in the West, where it is exploding into the mainstream. After leaving a life of studying scripture as a Buddhist monk in Korea, Ahn came to the United States for a college education, where he picked up on a fundamental difference between how Buddhism is perceived in the two hemispheres. "In the East it's a humdrum religion of an old lady lighting incense at a temple," Ahn says. "Whereas in the West it's about a journey of self-discovery and meditating." Ahn says the disconnect between Buddhism in the East and the West stems from a cultural difference: the East places focus on the community, while the West centers on the individual. The misrepresentation of Buddhism in the West was a reoccurring theme during the newly established Center for Buddhist Studies' first major event, " Speaking for the Buddha? Buddhism and the Media," which was held this Tuesday and Wednesday. "There is a huge gap between the way popular culture conceives of Buddhism and how scholars see it," says Robert Sharf, director of the group in Buddhist studies at UC Berkeley. "With this event, we're trying to bridge the gap." The conference, which coincides with a 10-day film festival, included four panel discussions on media representations of Buddhism and its influence on the perception of the religion in the West. Panelists, who ranged from Zen teachers to filmmakers, say America's interest in Buddhism is too narrow. Buddhism is not just about soul searching and meditating, Sharf says. "Although the panels are a more scholarly event, we hope to attract more people from the public with the film series," Sharf says. Still, panelists said films-when they are the only source of knowledge about different cultures-can be misleading. During one of the panel discussions, George Dreyfus, a religion professor at Williams College, brought up the 1993 movie "Little Buddha," starring Keanu Reeves as a modern-day Siddhartha in search of true enlightenment. "Buddhism is supposed to be about overcoming suffering and becoming more compassionate, but the movie is about discovering oneself," Dreyfus says. Dreyfus' point is evident on campus: some students, for example, think of Buddhism primarily as a process of self-exploration. "From what I've been told, it's about stripping down everything around you and getting to know yourself in a spiritual way," says sophomore John Watson. Panelists say, however, broadening the perspective on the religion is not an easy task. Scholars sometimes do not want to speak to the public about the religion because their views are diametrically opposed to the views of the public, Sharf says. Zoketsu Norman Fischer, a Zen teacher at the San Francisco Zen Center, also says not much can be done about the representation of Buddhism in the media. "The media, by its nature, will always be depicting something," he says. "As long as Buddhism is around, the media will be depicting it." In the United States, inaccurate depictions of the religion are difficult to spot, Sharf says. "There's no process in America of vetting certain representations," Sharf says. "If someone has the power and the support they can get their representations out there." [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Would you Help a Child in need? It is easier than you think. Click Here to meet a Child you can help. http://us.click.yahoo.com/0Z9NuA/I_qJAA/i1hLAA/S27xlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Noble Eightfold Path: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration, Right Livelihood Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZenForum/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
