History of Buddhism
Buddhism comes West
From the Theosophists and the 1893 Parliament of Religions to Zen, Tibetan lamas and the mindfulness boom.
The story
Western interest grew in the nineteenth century through translations and through the Theosophical Society. At the World's Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893, Anagarika Dharmapala and the Zen teacher Soyen Shaku spoke. In the twentieth century came D. T. Suzuki's books on Zen, the Beat writers, Tibetan teachers after 1959, and the mindfulness movement.
An honest word
Many people turn to Buddhism after bad experiences of churches, or because it seems calmer and more reasonable. We understand that. We only ask that you look at Jesus himself, not at Christians' failures, and test his claims as carefully as you would any teacher's.
46Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
John 1:46 (WEB) · context
28“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30 (WEB) · context
Sources
- Rick Fields, How the Swans Came to the Lake: A Narrative History of Buddhism in America (Shambhala, 1981; 3rd ed. 1992).
- David L. McMahan, The Making of Buddhist Modernism (2008).