Div.Sch.
BQ
739
.N83
T94
2001
Buddhism and Barbecue
A Guide to Buddhist "lemples in North Carolina
Tnomas A. Iweed
and
Tne Suaanism in North Carolina Project
The Buddhism in North Carohna Project
The University of North Carolina, CB #3225, Chapel Hill, NC
© 2001 by Thomas Tweed and the Buddhism in North Carolina Project. All rights reserved.
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INTRODUCTION by Thomas A. Tweed
TEMPLE PROFILES
Brooks Branch Zendo
Buddha's Light International Association
Cambodian Buddhist Society
Cambodian Cultural Center
Cape Fear Tibetan Buddhist Study Group
Chapel Hill Zen Center
Charlotte Community of Mindfulness
Charlotte Zen Meditation Society
Chua Lien Hoa
Chua Quan Am
Chua Van Hanh
Cloud Cottage Sangha
Community of Mindful Living — Durham
Community of Mindful Living — UUFR
Durham Karma Thegsum Choling
Durham Meditation Center
Eno River Buddhist Community 33
Greensboro Buddhist Center 35
Greenville Karma Thegsum Choling 37
Healing Springs Community of Mindful Living 39
Kadampa Center 40
Piedmont Zen Group 41
Sandhills Zen Group 42
Seidoan Soto Zen Temple 43
Shambhala Meditation Center 45
Soka Gakkai International — USA 47
Southern Dharma Retreat Center 48
Valley of the Moon Sitting Group 49
Wat Carolina Buddhajakra Vanaram 50
Wat Mungme Srisuk 52
Zen Center of Asheville 54
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Temples Listed by Founding Date 57
Appendix B: Temples Listed by Geographical Location 59
Appendix C: Temples Listed by Type and Tradition 61
Appendix D: On Estimating the Number of Buddhists 63
Others helped us too. Richard Jaffe of North Carolina State University and
Randolph E. Clayton, founder of the Cape Fear Tibetan Buddhist Study Group,
both provided very useful leads about North Carolina temples. Cedric Chatterly
provided a wonderful photograph of a ritual at the Greensboro Buddhist Center
(page 35), and Barbara Lau gave us invaluable information about that temple.
Hope Toscher, the exceptionally able administrative assistant in the Depart-
ment of Religious Studies, offered assistance and encouragement in countless
ways.
Finally, we dedicate the volume to the many women and men we met at the
Buddhist temples across the state. They were much kinder than they had to be.
This volume is our partial — though still inadequate — attempt to express our
gratitude.
vn
Introduction
Thomas A. Tweed
University of North CaroHna at Chapel Hill
What comes to mind when you think about the state of North Carolina? It
might be basketball or barbecue. Maybe dogwoods. It could be NASCAR or
kudzu. But I'll bet it isn't Buddhism. If you think of religion at all, it's probably
Methodists or Baptists. And if an image of a religious leader comes to mind it
might be the state's famous Baptist preacher, Billy Graham, and not Phramaha
Somsak Sambimb, the Thai Buddhist monk who serves as spiritual advisor to
the hundreds of Cambodian Khmer refugees at the Greensboro Buddhist Cen-
ter (Figure 1). It's not likely that Somsak, or any other Buddhist leader in the
Tar Heel State, will soon rival Graham's visibility or clout. But the religious
landscape of the state has been changing during the past quarter century, and
Buddhism now has an increasing presence. As twenty students at the Univer-
sity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill discovered when they criss-crossed the
state doing research for this collaborative project, by 2001 the Tar Heel State
In 1994, Phramaha Somsak Sambimb consecrates the Buddhist
altar at an exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of History. Photo by Robert
Miller Cnurtf.^y Thp Npws: nnH (Ih^Prvpr
boasted at least thirty-three Buddhist temples and centers.' The Buddha has
come to the land of barbecue, Baptists, and basketball.
Buddhism in North Carolina's History
Historically, North Carolina has been one of the most ethnically and reli-
giously homogenous states in the nation. The Tar Heel State included European
Americans, African Americans, and American Indians, but witnessed little of
the European and Asian immigration that affected other states between 1 840
and 1920. Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Jews were few, and adherents of
other faiths were even less numerous. The overwhelming majority of North
Carolinians — Black, Indian, and White — affiliated with one or another form of
Protestantism. In 1960, observers could find diverse Protestant denominations —
from the predominant Baptists and Methodists to Presbyterians, Episcopalians,
Quakers, Pentecostals, and Moravians. But diversity didn't extend much fiar-
ther.
Before the 1960s, North Carolina's cradle and convert Buddhists were few,
and those who tried to practice the faith didn't have temples where they might
congregate with others. In the middle of the twentieth century some European-
American and African- American Buddhist sympathizers and converts pondered
newly translated sacred texts from Asia, and some even tried practicing medita-
tion without the aid of Buddhist teachers or institutions. The Beat writer and
Buddhist sympathizer Jack Kerouac, who penned part of his famous novel
nhanna Bums in North Carolina, described his informal meditation practice
during one of his many trips to the state, where he visited his mother in a small
frame house five miles south of Rocky Mount. "There are piney woods across
the cotton field," Kerouac wrote in a 1956 letter, "where I went every day this
spring and sometimes in the middle of the night, without lamp, to meditate on a
bed of grass . . ."- We don't have any surviving evidence that Asian- American
Buddhists during the period — and in 1960 that meant a proportion of the 2,863
foreign-bom Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese — meditated beneath Carolina pines
on a bed of grass, but we can only assume that some who had been raised as
Buddhists chanted alone or with their families at bedroom shrines or living
room altars.^
Starting in 1965, however, a number of cultural factors — including the rise
' We have reliable infonnation on thirty-three temples and centers, and we were able to
profile thirty-one of those in this volume. The list of all thirty-three can be found in Appendix B.
- Quoted in Alex Albright, "Satori in Rocky Mount: Kerouac in North Carolina," in Leslie
H. Gamer, Jr. and Arthur Mann Kaye, eds., The roastal Plains- Writings on the rnltures of
Fastem North Carol ina (Rocky Mount: North Carolina Wesleyan College Press, 1989), 89.
^ U. S. Bureau of the Census, TI SI Census of Pnpniatinn- I960- Cienera] Chararteristirs
(Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govemment Printing Office, 1960).
in interregional and transnational migration, the relative decline of the liberal
mainline Protestant denominations, and the counter-culture's surging interest
in Asian religions — began to transform North Carolina's religious landscape.
That transformation accelerated by the late 1970s, when the state's first convert
Buddhist centers opened. Between 1977 and 1983 six organizations that at-
tracted small numbers of European- American and African- American converts
were founded (see Appendix A).
Asian- American Buddhists also grew more numerous and more visible. The
1965 Immigration Act, which did away with the unfair national quota system
and permitted more Asians to enter the country, allowed some voluntary mi-
grants to find their way to North Carolina, including immigrants from South
and East Asian nations with a Buddhist presence — Thailand, China, Korea, and
Japan. And refugees, especially those who were forced to flee from Southeast
Asian nations, began to arrive in the state after the fall of Saigon in 1975. Those
Vietnamese refugees were joined in the 1980s and 1990s by other displaced
peoples from Laos and Cambodia. For example, many of the Khmer-speaking
Cambodian refugees that Somsak nurtures now in Greensboro were among the
440 who arrived in 1983 and 1984, when the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettle-
ment chose that city and Charlotte as sites to establish new Cambodian commu-
nities.'* Migration from Asia continued in the 1990s, as North Carolina's Asian
population rose 73 percent between 1990 and 1997, when the U.S. Census esti-
mated that there were 92,036 Americans of Asian descent in the state.^ As those
Cambodian refugees in Greensboro did, many of the new Asian- American com-
munifies decided to build Buddhist temples, which have functioned as both
spiritual and cultural centers for the migrants and their children. Between 1984
and 1990 seven Asian American Buddhist organizations formed, and each group
either constructed a new place for worship or renovated an existing building.
Buddhism and North Carolina's Geography
Those new temples, as well as the centers that converts have founded, dot
the landscape all across the state, although the students who researched North
Carolina's thirty-three Buddhist communities found that there were some dis-
cernible— and somewhat expected — spatial patterns. Geographers divide the
state into four regions: the Mountains, the Piedmont, the Inner Coastal Plain,
"* Barbara Lau, "The Temple Provides the Way: Cambodian Identity and Festival in
Greensboro, North Carolina," M.A. Thesis, Curriculum in Folklore, University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2000, 3.
- Sallie M. Ives and Alfred W. Stuart, "Population," in Douglas M. Orr, Jr. and Alfred
W. Stuart, eds.. The North Carolina Atlas- Portrait for a New Century (Chapel Hill: University
of North Carolina Press, 2000), 80. On the number of Buddhists in the state and the nation see
Appendix D.
and the Tidewater. Population growth over the past six decades has been great-
est in the Piedmont, the central region that includes three major urban areas. ^
So it's not surprising that the Piedmont is home to twenty-four of the state's
thirty-three Buddhist communities (see Appendix B). It's also not surprising
that the three metropolitan areas with
the largest populations each have several Buddhist temples: The Triad (Greens-
boro/Winston-Salem/High Point), Metropolitan Charlotte (Charlotte/Gastonia/
Rock), and the Triangle (Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill).^ The latter, which fea-
tures three research universities and Research Triangle Park, includes thirteen
centers, more than one third of the state's total.
But the geographical distribution of state's Buddhist temples and centers is
more complicated than that. They are not all confined to the Piedmont. There is
now a Tibetan Buddhist convert center, Greenville Karma Thegsum Choling, a
short drive southeast of the "piney woods" where Kerouac meditated in the
Coastal Plain. The Tidewater region claims two Buddhist communities, and six
more groups take advantage of the wooded splendor of the state's western moun-
tains. Nor are Buddhist temples all in urban areas. Half of North Carolina's
population is rural. In fact, only five states have smaller urban populations.^
It's not surprising, then, that some of the state's Buddhists established places of
worship outside cities — in rural areas, suburban centers, and small towns. So
you can find temples and centers not only in metropolitan areas with more than
a million residents (such as Charlotte, Raleigh, and Greensboro), but also in
towns with only a few hundred. In Cameron, a small community northwest of
Fayetteville in the rolling hills of the Carolina and Georgia Sand Hills, Thai
Buddhist immigrants have established a temporary temple, Wat Mungme Srisuk.
That Buddhist community, which congregates on Sundays in a trailer that rests
at the end of a winding country road, expects to construct a permanent building
soon. And as that newest Buddhist worship site is in a small town, so was the
state's first Asian- American temple, Wat Carolina Buddhajakra Vanaram, which
rests on twenty-three acres in Bolivia, North Carolina. That Tidewater town,
which was named for the South American nation, is less exotic than its name
suggests. Most of the several hundred residents are European American or Af-
rican American Protestants, many of whom gather for worship at Antioch Bap-
tist Church, which is adjacent to Wat Carolina. And even if Buddhists don't
*' Ives and Stuart, eds., North Carolina Atlas, 86.
'"'Metropolitan Area Population Estimates for July 1, 1998 and July 1, 1999,"
Population Estimates Program, Population Division, U.S. Bureau of the Census, Internet
Release Date: October 20, 2000, http://www.census.gov/population/estimates/metro-city/
ma99-02. The population estimates for those regions were as follows: the Triad (1,179,384),
Metropolitan Charlotte ( 1 ,4 1 7,2 1 7), the Triangle (1,1 05,535).
4ves and Stuart, eds., North Carolina Atlas 83.
predominate in that small Southern town, or in suburbs such as Gary and cities
like Charlotte, Buddhism has found its place in North Carolina's landscape.
Buddhist Traditions in North Carolina
The Thai temples in Bolivia and Cameron are both Theravada Buddhist
communities, but many other traditional expressions of Asian Buddhism have
made their way into the state (see Appendix C).
Buddhism was founded in India by Siddhartha Gautama (563-483 BCE),
and all Buddhists since then have looked to his life and teachings to guide what
they think and how they act. Whatever their differences, most Buddhists agree
to trust — or "take refuge in" — the "Three Jewels": (1) the founder, whom fol-
lowers revere as "the Awakened One" {Buddha); (2) his exemplary teachings
and experience (dharma); and (3) the religious community he founded (sangha).
According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha presented some of his most im-
portant teachings in his first sermon at Deer Park in Samath, India. He taught
that all humans suffer, and they do so because they desire. They desire, in turn,
because they fail to understand the nature of things (all things, including our-
selves, are without enduring or substantial reality). But there is a way out, a
path to nirvana, the elimination of suffering and release from the endless cycles
of rebirth (samsara). Buddhists can follow the "noble eightfold path." In sim-
plest tenns, that path to liberation involves morality, wisdom, and concentra-
tion.
Buddhists agree to revere the Three Jewels and follow the spiritual path the
Buddha cleared, but they also have disagreed among themselves in important
ways. Divisions among Buddhists began as early as one hundred years after the
Buddha's death. And Buddhists today identify at least three major forms of the
religion, or three "vehicles" that can carry followers across to the shore of lib-
eration: Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana.
Theravada Buddhists
Theravada Buddhism (literally "Teachings of the Elders") describes a gradual
path of individual religious striving. The original Buddhist community was
made up of monks who renounced the world, while lay supporters offered con-
tributions to the monasteries. Following that early model, lay Theravada Bud-
dhists— or those who are not monks — have followed the same moral and reli-
gious teachings of the Buddha, but they have not engaged in the monastic re-
nunciations that lead more directly to nirvana, although they do gain spiritual
"merit" by supporting monks and nuns (for example, by providing them food
and clothing). And that, they believe, might help them achieve a better rebirth
in the next life. This form of Buddhism has had great influence in Southeast
1^
Asian countries such as Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon), Myanmar (formerly
Burma), Kampuchea (formerly Cambodia), Thailand, and Laos.
In North Carolina, Theravada Buddhists are found at Asian-American
temples where Thai, Cambodian, and Laotian migrants congregate: Wat Caro-
lina in Bolivia, Greensboro Buddhist Center, the Cambodian Cultural Center in
Lexington, Wat Mungme Srisuk in Cameron, and the Cambodian Cultural So-
ciety in Charlotte. Some converts also follow traditions inspired by Theravada,
including those few European Americans who attend Wat Carolina and other
Asian- American temples as well as the converts who practice Insight Medita-
tion at one of the state's two Vipassana centers.
Mahayana Buddhists
A second major form of Buddhism, Mahayana (literally "Great Vehicle"), dis-
misses their opponents, the Theravadins, as the "lesser vehicle." Their "great
vehicle" emphasized the active virtue of compassion as well as the reflective
virtue of wisdom, which was so highly valued by the Theravadins. The ideal for
Theravada Buddhists was the arhat, one who is free from all impurities through
the realization of nirvana and, so, free from all subsequent rebirth. Mahayana
Buddhists, even lay followers, aimed higher. They sought to become a Buddha,
one who achieves full enlightenment for the sake of all beings, human and non-
human, and embodies compassion as well as wisdom. This emphasis on the
path of the bodhisattva (future Buddha) — and not the path of the shravaka (fu-
ture arhat) — has distinguished the Mahayana sects that have predominated in
East Asian nations such as China, Korea, and Japan.
Some forms of East Asian Mahayana Buddhism have made their way to
North Carolina. The state does not have a large Japanese American community,
and no temples associated with Japanese Pure Land Buddhism {Jodo Shinshu)
were established, as they were in Hawaii and along the Pacific Coast during the
late-nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century. But the
state is home to a few thousand Chinese immigrants, and about one hundred of
those attend Chapel Hill and Gary's Buddha Light International Association,
which is formally affiliated with Taiwan's Fo Guang Shan (Buddha's Light
Mountain) and California's Hsi Lai Temple, the largest Buddhist building in the
United States. Vietnamese refugees also practice Mahayana Buddhism at three
urban temples in the Tar Heel State: Raleigh's Chua Van Hanh, Greensboro's
Chua Quan An, and Charlotte's Chua Lien Hoa. And fourteen convert centers
are associated with one or another form of Mahayana Buddhism. Followers
practice seated meditation (zazen) and walking meditation {kinhin) at eight Zen
temples and at five small groups affiliated with the Vietnamese monk Thich
Nhat Hanh's Community of Mindful Living. And an estimated eight hundred
converts to Soka Gakkai International — U.S. A, a movement that attracts the
most ethnically diverse community of Buddhist converts, meet to chant hom-
age to a sacred text, the Lotus Sutra, in private residences in Raleigh and across
the state.
Vajrayana Buddhists
A third major division within Asian Buddhism, Vajrayana ("Diamond Vehicle"),
emphasizes that the religious path could be briefer, even in this lifetime. It sug-
gests that this world of rebirth and suffering (samsara) is ultimately identical to
the final state of liberation and bliss {nirvana), at least for those few spiritually
advanced persons who see reality as it is. Vajrayanists reconceived of the reli-
gious goal in texts called tantras, and in their practices followers used sacred
syllables {mantras) and cosmic paintings {mandalas). As with the other two
forms of Buddhism, this Vajrayana or Tantric tradition has Indian roots, but it
has predominated in Tibet and Mongolia.
There were less than two thousand Tibetan migrants living in the United
States in 1995, and they don't make up a significant community in the state
today. So although the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, appears
regularly on television and in newspapers in North Carolina, institutional forms
of Vajrayana can be found only at the five convert centers devoted to Tibetan
Buddhism, including two in Durham — Karma Thegsum Choling and the
Shambhala Center.
The presence of these two spiritual centers, and the thirty-one others, might
not prompt North Carolinians to think first of Buddhism when they think of the
state. But, as the brief profiles of temples and centers included in this volume
show, the spiritual landscape has been changing during the past three decades.
And we hope that this project provides an angle of vision on that changing
terrain for students and teachers, legislators and policy makers, ministers and
caseworkers, and for all citizens who want to know more about their new neigh-
bors. Yet because the spiritual landscape is changing so quickly, some of the
information we have gathered soon will be outdated as new Buddhist commu-
nities form and existing communities shift locations, fade away, or change names.
We can only hope that this snapshot of North Carolina's Buddhist communities
in 2001 will be helpful to those who pick up where we have left off, those who
take up the challenge of mapping the state's increasing religious diversity.
The Temples
Brooks Branch Zendo
Address: 283 Quartz Hill Road, Pittsboro, NC 273 12-6592
Phone and Email: (919) 542-7411; NCZENCENTER@prodigy.net
Contact: Gentei Sandy Stewart
Lineage: Rinzai Zen
Website: http://www2.emji.net/~nczen/
Newsletter: Kaihan. Circulation: 300.
f^m'.
*- I
n T - ■' I r iTrniwimiii ini iJigMgaiiiH
Pittsboro's Brooks Branch Zendo is tucked away in a forest, a serene setting
for the meditation led by the center's Zen priest, Gentei Sandy Stewart. Stewart,
who studied with Japanese Zen teacher Roshi Sasuki, has been practicing Bud-
dhism for more than three decades. Along with his wife, Susanna, and his assis-
tant. Woody, Sandy leads services Sunday mornings as well as Tuesday and Thurs-
day evenings. Seated meditation (zazen), chanting, and walking meditation
(kinhin) are all important parts of the practice there. So is dokusan, or the tradi-
tional private encounter between Zen student and teacher, which at Brooks Branch
is now held in a cozy tent on the grounds. There are approximately ten core
members — all of European- American descent — but some services attract as many
as twenty-five sympathizers and converts. During the regular weekly sessions,
incense bums in front of an elegant, but simple carving of the Buddha. Hard-
^> ^f*^^ Xlt*
wood floors, wild flowers on the altar, and a wood stove burning in the zendo all
add to the rustic atmosphere. With fifteen acres of forested land, Brooks Branch
Zendo also provides an ideal setting for sesshin or retreats, which last up to one
week.
The temple was originally established in 1977 by the efforts of Sandy's wife,
Susanna Holzman. It has moved from Holzman's backyard to a wooded area do-
nated by one of the members. The first Zen center in North Carolina, Brooks Branch's
expanding membership has caused the community to seek a larger building and a
new location. Once construction is completed on the new temple, which will in-
clude a kitchen and living area, the group will sponsor longer retreats, and monks
might be invited to stay.
MCandAC
Buddha's Light International Association
Address: P.O. Box 1632, Cary, NC 27512. Meetings are held in members' homes and
various rented facilities in Cary and Chapel Hill.
Contact: Shu-Ching Cheng (919) 929-3261; Diann Liu (919) 851-9375
Spiritual Leader: The Venerable Jue Chuan
Lineage: A combination of Mahayana schools, particularly Pure Land and Ch'an
Affiliation: Fo Guang Shan (Buddha's Light Mountain), headquartered in Kao hsiung,
Taiwan; U.S. headquarters at the Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, Califomia.
Website: http://www.blianc.org
Newsletter: BT JANC Newsletter (monthly, printed in Chinese). Circulation: 100.
In a spacious ranch-style home nestled in a quiet, wooded Chapel Hill neighbor-
hood, fifteen to twenty BLIANC members gather to chant sutras, discuss Buddhist
teachings, and enjoy a vegetarian lunch. A day later, another fifteen or so members
assemble in a home in Cary for a similar morning of devotion. Meeting every other
weekend (Chapel Hill on Saturdays and Cary on Sundays), the BLIANC consists al-
most entirely of first generation ethnic Chinese immigrants and graduate students. Most
hail from Mainland China or Taiwan, and a few are from Southeast Asia. Contrary to
the presupposition that all Asian American followers are cradle Buddhists, many mem-
bers at BLIANC are adult converts, with some taking refiage in the Three Jewels only
after arriving in the U.S.
Founded in 1 992 by a small group of lay people, the BLIANC now counts over one
hundred members on its roll. An elected president and board of directors form the
official leadership of the group. As an affiliate of the internationally active Fo Guang
Shan Buddhist Order, the BLIANC is able to draw upon many resources. The Vener-
able Jue Chuan, the nun assigned to the BLIANC by Fo Guang Shan, serves as the
spiritual advisor who oversees all regular services and special rituals, such as those
commemorating the Buddha's birthday. The BLIANC also sponsors periodic lectures
by visiting lay or clerical speakers and organizes social events to celebrate important
days on the Chinese lunar calendar. These special activities, like the regular services,
are conducted in Mandarin Chinese, with English translation on rare occasions. With
the membership growing, the BLIANC is planning to construct a full-scale temple in
the town of Apex.
M.
J-L
Cambodian Buddhist Society
Address: 219 Owen Boulevard, Charlotte, NC 28213
Phone: (704) 596-6628
Contacts: Bun Lengh,Thy-Lort, and Penny Lang (English)
Lineage: Theravada
Newsletter: rflmhoHian RnHdhi'st Soripty
Located in a quiet residential neighborhood, the Cambodian Buddhist Soci-
ety provides both a worship site and community center for Charlotte's Cambo-
dian population. In 1984, three private investors purchased the two acres of
land and the ranch house where the temple is now located. The temple is now
in the process of expanding its worship facilities and — to attract families —
adding playground equipment and a child care program. Even without attract-
ing anyone else, the temple already has approximately eighty member families.
Most of those members are Cambodian reftigees, although other ethnic groups
are represented in small numbers. As at other Asian American temples in the
state and the nation, a small group of devotees attend the weekly services, while
holiday celebrations can draw up to two hundred participants.
12
On the weekends, the Cambodian Buddhist Society comes alive with reli-
gious and social gatherings. Members meet in the house to talk together, pre-
pare meals, and worship. Pillows and blankets on the floor provide a place to
sleep for those who want to stay over on weekends. Throughout the week,
members prepare meals for the two resident monks, who (like most of the
temple's members) speak little English. The monks lead services at the Cambo-
dian Buddhist Society and occasionally travel to other Theravada temples in
the region to do the same. They also preside over weddings and funerals. But
the temple's New Year's celebration in April remains a highlight of the ritual
calendar and always attracts a large crowd.
NP
iii
Cambodian Cultural Center
(Cambodian Buddhist Society of Lexington)
Address: 185 Pine Lodge Road, Lexington, NC 27292
Phone: (336) 357-5769
Contact: Saroeung Vay .
Lineage: Theravada
Affiliation: Greensboro Buddhist Center. (Also with support from Americorp.)
A large stone archway decorated with Buddhist images greets visitors at the
entrance to the Cambodian Cultural Center, which dates from 1990, when the
businessman Saroeung Vay founded the organization to provide a common
ground on which Cambodians and other Buddhists would be able to gather.
Functioning as both a religious and community center, the Cambodian Cultural
Center is now a place where Cambodian and Laotian refugees interact with one
another, share their culture, and express their faith.
Recently, the organization acquired a plot of roughly ten acres that contains
a two-story, sprawling structure reserved for religious purposes. That space
includes an old bam converted to a dance or reception hall, a volleyball court,
and a basketball court. It also includes a few other smaller structures, such as a
.14
small, brightly painted shrine. The grounds are home to six resident monks,
only one of whom speaks English. With about 150 member families, the Center
is a mix of generations and traditions. A small group of those members attend
weekly services, and hundreds from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Geor-
gia travel to the temple four or five times each year for holiday celebrations,
which involve chanting and bowing and are performed in the members' native
tongue. In one of those communal rituals, which is traditional in Theravadin
countries, devotees present the monks with gifts, such as new robes, sandals,
toiletries, food, and other necessities. While it is primarily adults who attend
the religious services, members of the younger generation come to the center
for social interaction. Even if the generations don't always concur on other
issues, the refugees and their children agree that the Center is a gathering place
that has kept alive the cultural traditions of their homeland.
EA and MZ
i^
Cape Fear Tibetan Buddhist Study Group
Address: 310 N. Front Street Suite 4, #179 Wilmington NC, 28401
Phone and Email: (910)-792-5958; rfthsg@pchealingarts com
Contact: Randolph E. Clayton (Orgyen Sherab), Resident Director
Lineage: Tibetan, especially Nyingma and Kagyu
Website: htrpV/T-n embers; tripod comZ-cfthsg
The Cape Fear Tibetan Buddhist Study Group (CFTBSG) was recently es-
tablished to create a forum for the practice and study of Tibetan Buddhism.
Services are held on Sunday mornings and evenings and again on Wednesday
nights at 7 p.m. At each service they do prostrations and meditation, and they
participate in a discussion. CFTBSG is also in the process of building a library
of Dharma books, some of which are very rare. Orgyen, the leader of the cen-
ter, attempts to organize a trip each month to temples across the state and the
region, so he and the other members can become more familiar with varied
forms of Buddhist teachings and traditions. For instance, the group has trav-
eled to the Triangle area (Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill) to study preliminary
teachings, and to Florida to study Medicine Buddha teachings and empower-
ment.
AC
Chapel Hill Zen Center
(Red Cedar Mountain Temple)
Address: P.O. Box 16302, Chapel Hill, NC 27514
Phone and Email: (919) 967-0861; TCahargn@intrex net
jSpiritual Leader: Taitaku Patricia Phelan, abbess
Lineage: Soto Zen
Affiliation: San Francisco Zen Center
.Website: http://www intrp:x not/chzg/
ewsletter: Chapel Hill Zen Center News. Circulation: 450.
Past a small goldfish pond and hidden among wooded grounds lays the
iThapel Hill Zen Center. Members come to practice in a building that was once
the home of a Unity Church. The group officially formed in 1980, when mem-
bers of the San Francisco Zen Center moved to North Carolina and began to
tneditate together in private residences.
Twenty years later, Taitaku Patricia Phelan had been installed as abbess,
ind the Chapel Hill Zen Center stood out as one of the most stable and promi-
nent convert centers in North Carolina and the South. Phelan and her family
moved from California to lead the growing Chapel Hill Zen Center in 1991.
^he received her training at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center and the San Fran-
i^
Cisco Zen Center under Zentatsu Richard Baker and Sojun Mel Weitsman.
The center holds six services throughout the week, and those include zazen,
kinhin, chanting, and prostrations. Chapel Hill Zen Center also holds all-day
sittings and sesshins. Those are led by Phelan as well as guest teachers from
the San Francisco Zen Center and other Soto temples. There are many more
general and participating members, but approximately thirty fill the small zendo
for most Sunday services. Members are primarily European- American and
African-American, ranging in age from 10 to 75.
LA, CW, and KM
Charlotte Community of Mindfulness
Address: c/o Dr. Bill Chu, Kennedy 220, 9201 University City Boule-
vard, Charlotte, NC 28223-0001
Contact: Dr. Bill Chu: (704) 547-4568; billchu@uncc.edu
Lineage: Mahayana
Affiliation: Thich Nhat Hanh's Community of Mindful Living
Spiritual Leader: Dr. Bill Chu
Website: http://www coe uncc ediiMiillrhu/snngha/
Newsletter: rh^Hntte rommnnity of MinHfiilne<;«^ (online)
The sound of Protestant hymns drifts down through the ceiling as a dozen
Women and men sit cross-legged to meditate. This is a typical service at the
Charlotte Community of Mindfulness, a group of European- American Bud-
dhist sympathizers that gathers on Sunday mornings from 8:30 to 10:45 in Myers
Park Baptist Church's basement. That room is filled with Buddhist posters and
statues — in contrast to the cross that adorns the altar in the church above. But
the connection between the basement Buddhist meditators and the Baptist hymn
singers in the pews above is closer than it might first appear. In 1994, four
members of this liberal mainline Protestant congregation founded the Buddhist
group. The co-founders, and the others who have joined them, came to believe
that there was no conflict between Buddhism and Christianity. In fact, most of
i&
the members of the Charlotte's Community of Mindfulness report that they
practice meditation and mindfulness to enrich their Christian faith.
Thich Nhat Hanh, the popular Vietnamese Mahayana teacher who inspires
the group, teaches that "every act is a rite" and mindfulness, or offering one's
full attention to each action, is a central spiritual practice for the basement Bud-
dhists. Dr. Bill Chu, the Chinese-American Buddhist convert who leads the
Charlotte group, turned to Buddhism after hearing Nhat Hanh speak in Wash-
ington, D.C. And Dr. Chu has encouraged the others who meet in that church
basement to incorporate mindfulness practice into their lives. And the group
emphasizes that practice, as well as seated meditation, during their weekly ses-
sions and on their monthly Day of Mindfulness.
CWandMC
20
Charlotte Zen Meditation Society
Address: Harmony House 726 East Boulevard, 3"* floor Charlotte, NC
28210 (For the Sunday meetings only)
Mailing Address: Charlotte Zen Meditation Society PMB 169, 4736
Sharon Rd., Suite Charlotte, NC 28210
IPhone and Email: (704) 846-0676; C7MS486?48@an1 mm
Spiritual Leader: No resident leader. Most members look for guidance to
^he Reverend Teijo Munnich of the Zen Center of Asheville.
Lineage: Soto and Rinzai Zen
Affiliation: Zen Center of Asheville and Sanshin Zen Community
Website: httpV/memhers an\ rom/_ht_pi/c7Tns;4R6?48/myhninepagP:/
Each Sunday night a small group of European- American Zen practitioners
sits cross-legged in a large open space beneath a cathedral ceiling in the heart of
North Carolina's largest city. These weekly meetings of the Charlotte Zen Me-
tiiation Society (CZMS), which congregates on the third floor of a large white
house used by the Therapuetic Massage Institute, include two thirty-minute
periods of zazen and ten minutes of kinhin. The evening ends with reading and
discussion. No permanent spiritual leader presides over the weekly sessions,
but most members look for guidance to the Reverend Teijo Munnich, who trav-
els from the Zen Center of Asheville every ninety days to offer instruction.
Some members in the Charlotte group, which was founded in 1990, look to
Dther Soto and Rinzai teachers around the state and the nation — including John
Daido Loori of Zen Mountain Monastery in Mt. Tremper, New York; Gentei
Sandy Stewart of Pittsboro's Brooks Branch Zendo; and Shohaku Okumura of
^anshin Zen Community, who has co-taught with Teijo Munnich at the South-
i^m Dharma Retreat Center. Although attendance at CZMS's weekly sessions
"arely is more than fifteen, it can rise to more than one hundred when Munnich
jr some other teacher visits the group.
NP
^
Chua Lien Hoa
Address: 6505 Lake Dr. Charlotte, NC 28215
Phone:(704)537-1126
Contact: Ms. Van Tran, Temple Secretary
Spiritual Leader: Dai Due Thich Chan Hy
Lineage: Vietnamese Mahay ana
A large image of the Buddha greets visitors to Chua Lien Hoa, a temple
founded in 1987 to nurture the growing number of Vietnamese refugees who
had been relocating to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region. The temple has a
large worship space and a separate building that contains a kitchen, dining hall,
and childcare center that serve the two hundred members. The group also tries
to provide transportation, food, and clothing to the thousands of Vietnamese
migrants in the area, although members acknowledge that they struggle to keep
up with the internal and external demands on the popular temple. One sign of
the popularity of the temple and the relative paucity of its resources can be
found in the parking lot, which cannot accommodate the swelling numbers of I
weekly visitors. Many have to park at remote lots and hike back to the modest j
temple grounds.
The temple's spiritual leader is the monk, Thich Chan Hy, who received his
formal training in Vietnam. The temple is also home to several other Vietnam-
ese Mahayana monks. And, as at the three other Vietnamese temples in North
Carolina, the services those monks preside over are conducted in Vietnamese,
and they consist primarily of chanting and meditation, although the monks also
spend some time during those communal rituals discussing Buddhist history.
On Sundays at noon, while the adults are in the main worship space, children!
and youth congregate in another building, where lay volunteers introduce the
refugees' children to Buddhism. Following the adult service and the children's i
lessons, a meal is served in the dining hall. That provides a time for the congre-
gation to socialize, and, as at most other Asian- American Buddhist temples,
Chua Lien Hoa is as much as cultural center as a worship site.
JA
22
Chua Quan Am
Address: 1410 Glendale Dr., Greensboro, NC 27406
Phone: (336) 854-5238
Spiritual Leader: Dai Due Thich Thien Quang
Lineage: Vietnamese Mahayana
'% far? ^1-^'
j A statue of Amida Buddha stands in front of Chua Quan Am, a meeting place for
several hundred Vietnamese refugees and a small number of American converts.
Vietnamese refugees founded the group in 1989, and six years later members dedi-
:ated the temple, which is now a cultural bedrock for the local Vietnamese commu-
nity. There are approximately three hundred members, of whom about 90 percent are
first or second generation Americans of Asian descent. On most Sundays about fifty
members attend the regular worship seiTice. That service is led by the recently in-
istalled monk, and it includes chanting Buddhist sutras in Vietnamese. Adults and
bhildren homage the Buddha in separate services, both of which are conducted in
Vietnamese. Following the children's' service, a Vietnamese "Youth Group" gath-
ers. There adult members educate the children in Vietnamese Buddhist culture. The
^emple features Buddhist theater productions, which are performed by the children
md highlight the Buddha's life and teachings. Children also benefit from weekly
y/ietnamese music and language instruction at the temple. In these and other ways,
hua Quan Am tries to pass on Vietnamese traditions in the new cultural context.
CGandDP
^
24
Chua Van Hanh
lAddress: 4229 Forestville Road, Raleigh, NC 27604
Mailing Address: North Carolina Buddhist Association RO. Box 4030,
Raleigh, NC 27604
Phone:(919)266-4230
Spiritual Leader: Thuong Toa Thich Thien Tarn
Lineage: Vietnamese Mahayana
When the resident monk, the Most Venerable Thich Thien Tam, arrived in 1 995
o nurture Vietnamese refugees at Chua Vanh Hanh the local devotees met for their
Weekly communal ritual in a modest red brick house on a quiet street in northem
Raleigh. The community has since built a small red and yellow temple and acquired
[line acres of surrounding land. The temple's membership and attendance also has
Expanded. Chua Van Hanh (Temple of a Thousand Steps) now has a membership of
150 Vietnamese Americans, from acculturated children who attend local public
kchools to elderly grandparents who speak little English and long for the homeland
hey fled during the 1970s. Between seventy- five and one hundred devotees attend
:he weekly rituals at 1 1 :30 on Sunday momings, and several hundred gather for
Buddhist holidays such as the Buddha's birthday. Those services, and all others, are
conducted in Vietnamese and the chantings of sacred texts is the central practice,
iowever, members sometimes gather to meditate too, as more than thirty did after
1^
the Buddha's Birthday celebration in 1 999.
In many ways, Chua Van Hanh is a typical Vietnamese American Buddhist
temple, and the contours of its history are mirrored in countless communities across
the state and the nation. It began in November 1986, when the North Carolina!
Buddhist Association officially incorporated. The core members, who were all
Vietnamese refugees, then arranged to convert a modest home into a temple. They
vigorously sought a resident monk, and after Thich Thien Tam arrived the commu-
nity began to gain members and visibility.
But if the story of its growth is familiar, Chua Van Hanh is distinctive in
another way. At the urging of the resident monk, who served two temples in
Vietnam before coming to Raleigh, the community has been at work on a long-
term project they started in 1998. They are building a sculpture garden depicting
the life of the Buddha. When it is finished in several years, it will include five
main statues, and several others, including one image that already has been put
in place — a twelve-foot concrete Buddha seated on a white lotus petal. That
sculptural garden already has attracted local notice, including a story in the
Raleigh newspaper, and the temple might be even more visible in the years
ahead if the community follows through on its plan to construct a larger temple
on the grounds.
TTandDP
26
loud Cottage Sangha
\ddress: The Black Mountain Wellness Center 1243 Montreat Road, Black
Mountain, NC
failing Address: 623 Old Toll Circle Black Mountain, NC 2871 1
Phone and Email: (828) 669-0920; pjtoy@jiinn com
Contact: Judith Toy and Philip Toy
Lineage: Mahayana
Affiliation: Thich Nhat Hanh's Community of Mindful Living
In the heart of western North Carolina's Appalachian mountains a group of
ifteen European Americans meets five times a week at the Black Mountain
A^ellness Center to practice Buddhism in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh's
Drder of Interbeing {Tiep Hien). This group offers beginner's meditation in-
truction each Wednesday at 5:45pm, and the rest of the community gathers
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, when there is an
nformal tea after the service. Those regular sessions include a variety of prac-
ices — seated meditation, walking meditation, chanting, prostrations, and dharma
iiscussions.
j Cloud Cottage Sangha, which formed in 1 998, is guided by Judith Toy, who
ieceived the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings from Nhat Hanh, and her hus-
)and, Philip Toy, who received the Five Mindfulness Trainings from Lyn Fine,
I teacher from the Order of Interbeing.
TT
11
Community of Mindful Living — Durham
Address: Eno River Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship 4907 Garret Road,
Durham, NC 27707
Phone and Email: (9 1 9) 956-9700
Contact: Jolene Barber
Lineage: Mahayana
Affiliation: Thich Nhat Hanh's Order of Interbeing and Community of
Mindful Living
In the local Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship's non-sectarian worship space,
a modem high-ceilinged structure that is decorated in muted gray and mauve
and without any Christian symbols above the altar, ten members of Durham's
Community of Mindful Living sit on chairs or cushions with their eyes closed
in seated meditation. At this and other Thursday evening sessions, these Euro-i
pean- American Buddhist sympathizers and converts also will do walking medi-
tation and chant in English, and end the evening at 9:00 with informal conver-
sation. As at other groups inspired by the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh's
Order of Interbeing, on the Thursday nearest the full moon they also recite the
Five Mindfulness Trainings.
This group, which was organized in 1999, shares the space not only with
the liberal Unitarian-Universalist congregation, which meets on Sunday morn-
ings and is led by a minister who has practiced Buddhist meditation for years,
but a non-sectarian Buddhist group, the Eno River Buddhist Community, also
gathers in a back room every Monday night. So in Durham — as in Raleigh and
elsewhere in the United States — Unitarian-Universalist churches provide meet-
ing space for Buddhist groups, especially those affiliated with Thich Nhat Hanh's
Community of Mindful Living.
771
28
Community of Mindful Living-UUFR
;f^ddress: 3313 Wade Avenue
Raleigh, NC 27607
hone and Email: (919) 833-4027; rTail_Ohrien@ncsii edii
Contact: Gail O'Brien
Lineage: Mahayana
\ffiliation: Thich Nhat Hanh's Community of Mindful Living
^ebsite: httpV/roml-nufr 8m com/
Former Unitarian-Universalist Interim Minister, and follower of Thich Nhat
lanh, Marcia Curtis, inspired Raleigh's Community of Mindful Living. This
jroup, which consists of approximately twenty-five Euro- American Buddhist
converts and sympathizers, began when Curtis gave a sermon on Buddhism
md Mindfulness in May 1996. She followed that with a six-week course that
ntroduced members of the liberal congregation to seated meditation, walking
neditation, and mindfulness practice. The following fall, a small group linked
vith the Unitarian-Univeralist Fellowship fomied, and it has continued to meet
;ach Monday night for practice and gather once a month to share a potluck
iinner.
A typical Monday night session begins with the members sitting in a circle
iround a statue of the bodhisattva of compassion Avalokiteshvara, a photo-
graph of the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh, and a stick of burning in-
tense. The leader, who comes from among the group's members and changes
rom week to week, invites a bell to sound the commencement of the medita-
jion period. Some sessions focus on silent or guided meditation. Others high-
ight a previously selected reading or topic, such as relaxation techniques. On
jhe third Monday of each month the group gathers for a ceremony in which
i)articipants rededicate themselves to the mindfulness trainings as outlined by
!|4hat Hanh, and they return on the first Monday of the month for a Dharma
[liscussion, when the group reads and talks about the writings of the popular
Vietnamese teacher who has inspired this group and two others in the state.
EM
2Q
Durham Karma Thegsum Choling
Address: 5061 Hwy. 70 West, Durham, NC 27705
Phone and Email: (919) 383-0410; kcl@visionet.org
Contact: Lily Gage
Lineage: Tibetan, especially Karma Kagyu
Affiliation: Karma Triyana Dharmachakra in Woodstock, NY
Website: http://www.mindspring.com/~strategix/DurhamKTC/index.html
In a cozy house on the outskirts of Durham, Karma Thegsum Choling
(DKTC), a Tibetan Buddhist community founded in 1981, "provides a place
for the hearing, contemplation, and practice of the teachings of Buddhism."
Although the seventeenth Karmapa, His Holiness Ugyen Trinley Dorje, is the
head of the Kagyu lineage, Lily Gage and Christine Lowry serve as co-direc-
tors of the local KTC. The group, which currently has ten dues-paying mem-
bers, meets Wednesday nights from 7:30 to 8:45 pm in the residence of co-
director Gage. She has transformed one room within her home, filled with vivid
images of colorful gods and goddesses, into a comfortable meeting place for
the European- American Buddhist converts who gather there. The weekly meet-
ings open with a brief discussion of group business and continue with a thirty to
forty-five minute session of chanting. Devotees engage in traditional Tibetari
30
Buddhist chants to the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Chenrezig. They beheve
:hat this practice, which include directions and dedications, malces one kind-
learted and aware.
KTC sponsors two guest lamas per year. Although the group does not pro-
luce a formal newsletter, they do have a mailing list they use to notify follow-
brs when a lama is visiting. There are currently 250 names on their mailing list,
ivhich allows the small number of core members to reach out toward others in
he Triangle and the region who have some sympathy or interest in Tibetan
uddhism.
SS and RB
rA
J±
Durham Meditation Center
Address: 1214 Broad St. #2, Durham, NC 27705
Phone and Email: (919) 286-4754; bodhi@duke.edu
Contact: John On-
Spiritual Leader: John Orr
Lineage: Theravada, especially Vipassana meditation
Affiliation: Insight Meditation Society, Barre, Massachusetts; and the Seven
Dharma Retreat Center
Newsletter: leap of Faith (published three times a year). Circulation: 400.
The Durham Meditation Center's Broad Street office in Durham acts as the
organizational base for director John Orr and his three fellow teachers of in-
sight meditation. Ordained in Thailand as a Theravada monk in 1978, Orr spent
eight years studying in Asia, then received his teacher training at the Barre
Meditation Society in Massachusetts before moving to North Carolina 17 years
ago. Since then, he has worked to spread Vipassana practice throughout the
state.
The Durham Meditation Center (DMC), which was founded in 1993 and
now has 400 names on its mailing list, offers insight meditation classes and
sittings led by trained teachers. A typical sitting attracts approximately thirty
European Americans interested in Vipassana practice, and it includes a forty-
five-minute meditation, followed by a Dharma talk and discussion. The medi-
tation classes begin with chanting, continue with silent meditation, and con-
clude with guided meditation. Each year the DMC also sponsors many retreats —
at Seven Dharma Retreat Center, Windsong Retreat Center, and other sites in
the North Carohna mountains. Orr and his fellow teachers also offer continuing
education courses at local universities in Buddhism, yoga, and meditation.
Through these classes, sittings, and retreats, the leaders at the Durham Medita-
tion Center aim to help North Carolinians relieve suffering and experience joy.
KL
32
Eno River Buddhist Community
Address: Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 4907 Garret Road,
Durham, NC 27707
Phone:(919)968-4445
Contact: Steve Seiberling
Lineage: Ecumenical
Website: http://www.pgacon.com/erbc/index.htm
In a unadorned room in the back of the Eno River Unitarian-Universalist
Fellowship, a small group of adults sit in various positions with their eyes closed
in meditation. Those meditators attend the Eno River Buddhist Community,
^vhich was founded in 1992. They gather every Monday night at 7:30 to prac-
tice meditation and listen to a Dharma talk given by another member. Prefer-
ring member-led discussions to a spiritual leader's guidance, those European-
American sympathizers and converts learn from one another as they congre-
gate for meditation and mindfulness practice.
A typical meeting includes long and short periods of sitting meditation,
ivalking meditation, and a discussion of Buddhist literature. Sometimes they
also chant. The first and second Mondays of each month includes a sharing of
Buddhist teachings, as well as meditation and discussion. The third Mondays
ieature meditation instruction sessions that run concurrently with the regular
^toS*^'^'^'+j^¥ *+"%*+* ' ^^^f ■" '*^'
''-'^'^'^^tis^s^^^i^iMiPI
if
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meetings. On the fourth Monday of the month practioners recite the Fourteen
Mindfulness Trainings of Thich Nhat Hanh's Order of Interbeing, while the
occasional fifth Monday consists of Metta, or loving-kindness meditation.
Strongly influenced by the teachings of the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh,
but also drawing from other traditions — Insight Meditation, Japanese Zen, and
Tibetan Buddhism — the group considers itself ecumenical. Average attendance
is about twenty each week, but all of the estimated fifty members are invited to
attend special half-day mindfulness retreats that take place once each month.
This amiable group, which is connected with a non-sectarian UU congrega-
tion, provides a cozy atmosphere for casual study and meditation.
QW
34
Greensboro Buddhist Center
Wat Greensboro)
kddress: 2715 Liberty Road, Greensboro, NC 27406
Phone:(336)272-1607
Fax: 272-2074
iSpiritual Leader: Phramaha Somsak Sambimb
Lineage: Theravada
ffiliation: Mahanikayah
j The rural setting of the Greensboro Buddhist Center enhances its serene
atmosphere despite its location in one of North Carolina's largest metropolises.
Drganized in 1 985 by the Khmer Aid Group of the Triad with help from Lutheran
Family Services and a grant from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, the center
is located on ten acres that includes two houses. The temple functions as a
religious, cultural, and educational center for over 500 families from North
Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The congregation is made up primarily
of Lao and Cambodian refugees and their families.
j An annual calendar of Buddhist ceremonies are held at the Greensboro Cen-
:er, including celebrations of Buddha's Birthday, Southeast Asian New Years,
ind Kathin, when the monks are offered new robes. Each week the Greensboro
Buddhist Center holds a service beginning at nine o'clock. Up to two hundred
35
regular members attend and stay for lunch, dharma lessons, and recreation. The
temple holds larger monthly services in Thai, Lao, or Cambodian traditions that
attract four or five hundred devotees. Led by the three resident monks, the ser-
vices include chanting of the sutras and offerings of food to the monks. Al-
though the monks (including the temple's Thai-bom spiritual leader Phramaha
Somsak Sambimb) speak English, the services are held in Lao or Khmer. Trans-
lators are available for these languages and the center also offers language classes.
During the week, Somsak and the other monks offer classes in Buddhism and
lecture at local schools. The temple also sponsors two dance groups as well as a
summer camp for children. Members of all ages enjoy the lake, volleyball court,
and gardens located behind the worship site. In these and other ways, the Greens-
boro temple provides a religious, social, and cultural center for refugee and
immigrant families in the surrounding area.
NP
36
jGreenville Karma Thegsum Choling
Address: P.O. Box 4243, Greenville NC, 27836
Phone:(252)756-8315
Contact: Bonnie Snyder
Lineage: Tibetan, especially Karma Kagyu
Affiliations: Karma Triyana Dharmachakra, Woodstock, New York; Durham
Karma Thegsum Choling
IWebsite: httpV/www, kagyu org
'"^S^
In front of a beautiful altar, which a Tibetan artist painted, members of the
Greenville Karma Thegsum Choling (GKTC) practice meditation and prayer.
Devotees meet twice a week at the local Unitarian-Universalist Church, as well
as at a member's home. The GKTC was founded in 1983, and includes about
twelve convert members. They also send mailings about their activities to ap-
proximately one hundred and fifty people. A majority of those affiliated with
this Buddhist group, the only one located in Carolina's Inner Coastal Plain, are
European- Americans from either Jewish or Christian backgrounds. Participants
range in age from seventeen to seventy-six, and an equal proportion of men and
women attend. Approximately ten devotees come to the Unitarian Church on
Wednesday nights, and eight to twelve participate weekly in the Sunday prac-
tices held at a member's private residence. At the Wednesday sessions, the group
ii
practices shinay, or silent meditation. They offer devotions to Chenrezig.i
Amitabha, and Medicine Buddha on Sundays. Greenville KTC organizes othei
activities as well. They sponsor visits by guest lamas and plan First Light services
on New Years Day. The First Light service includes readings, light offerings foi'
hope, and prayers for world peace.
38
Healing Springs Community of Mindful Living
ij
lAddress: 222 E. Fifth Avenue, Red Springs, NC 28377
Phone and Email: (QIO) M^-?471- jnhnhnwman^thnnipfaj^n] com
Contact: John Bowman
Lineage: Mahayana
Affiliation: Thich Nhat Hanh's Community of Mindful Living
In a rural region of southeastern North Carolina, about thirty-five miles
west of Fayetteville, followers of Thich Nhat Hanh's Community of Mindful
Living meet weekly in members' homes for seated meditation, walking medita-
tion, chanting, singing, and dharma discussion. To enrich their Buddhist prac-
tice the members of the Healing Springs sangha also travel to attend retreats
several times a year in North Carolina and around the United States.
John Bowman and Emily Whittle founded this small group in 1999, and
Whittle is now training with Anh Huong, Thich Nhat Hanh's niece, as she pre-
pares to join the Vietnamese monk's Order of Interbeing.
TT
39
Kadampa Center
Address: 7404-G Chapel Hill Road, Raleigh, NC 27607
Phone and Email: (919) 859-3433; 73571.701@compuserve.com
Contact: Robbie Watkins, Center Director
Spiritual Leader: Geshe Gelek Chodak
Lineage: Tibetan, in the Gelugpa tradition
Affiliation: The Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition,
Taos, New Mexico
Website: httpV/www kadnmpa-center org
Newsletter: Prayer Flag (quarterly). Circulation: 800.
Founded in 1 992 by Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, Kadampa Center, a Tibetan
temple in the Gelugpa tradition, seeks to cultivate wisdom and compassion in the
group's eighty-five European- American member families. On Sunday momings at
9:45, some of those devotees gather for meditation and instructional sessions, which
are led by the resident teacher, Geshe Gelek Chodak. A monk since the age of seven,;
Geshe Gelek studied at the Sera Je monastery in India and was ordained by Geshe
Larumpa. About forty devotees usually attend the Sunday services that Geshe Gelek
leads, with somewhat fewer coming to the weekday meetings. Both services usuallyj
involve meditation and chanting; and, as the center's name signals, there is a focus
on applying Buddhist teachings. As the center's website reminds visitors, kadampa
refers to "those who are able to see the word of the Buddha as personal instruction
that applies immediately to their own practice." The members of this center dedi-
cated to integrating instruction and practice meet now in a leased office space they
have remodeled; however, they are searching for a more permanent space.
EWandJB
40
Piedmont Zen Group
\ddress: Raleigh, North CaroHna. (Further information about the location is
ivailable by calling the contact number or visiting the center's website.)
Phone:(919)833-6200
Contact: Bob Shuman
Lineage: Soto and Rinzai Zen
Website: http7/www ntomir npt/~ghl
Three days a week North Carolinians gather to take part in formal Zen
practice at the Piedmont Zen Group. The group, which is composed primarily
bf European- American converts and includes about eight to ten core members,
Was founded in 1985. Members meet in a private residence for formal practice,
which consists of several sessions of zazen, kinhin, and chanting on Tuesday,
Thursday and Sunday mornings. The group does not have a fomial leader, al-
though some members have received fornial Soto and Rinzai Zen training in
traditional monastic centers. The Piedmont Zen Group offers an intimate set-
ting for Rinzai and Soto converts to practice in one of North Carolina's largest
cities.
LA
M
Sandhills Zen Group
Address: 150 Merry Mock Hill Road, Southern Pines, NC 28388
Phone and Email: (910) 695-7851; 76460 3000@r,oiTipnst-rvt- mm
Contact: Barbara Muso Perm
Lineage: Zen
Affiliation: No official affiliation, but they incorporate the practices of
Ordinary Mind Zen School of Charlotte Joko Beck, spiritual leader of the
Zen Center of San Diego
Website: httpV/literaryorg/sandhillszen/
Candles flicker in a darkened room, where a small group sits in silent medi-
tation. This is the Sandhills Zen Group (SZG), which was founded in 1998 by
its current leader, Barbara Muso Perm. The community she leads is predomi-.
nantly European- American, and many affiliate with religions other than Bud-j
dhism. Although there are no official ties, SZG draws on the practices devel-
oped by the Ordinary Mind Zen School, which is inspired by Charlotte Joko
Beck, leader of the San Diego Zen Center. Perm, who has been sitting regularly,
for twenty years, studied with Beck in San Diego.
SZG moved to its current location in the southern piedmont in 1999, and it
sponsors meditation sessions on Sundays from 5:00 to 7:00pm, Tuesdays from
7:00 to 9:00pm, and Wednesday mornings from 6:45-7:45. Each session con-
sists of two periods of zazen (seated meditation) and kinhin (walking medita-
tion). That is followed by a taped Dharma talk by Beck and a discussion by'
SZG members. Every third Sunday of the month the SZG holds half-day or
full-day sittings, and followers do a more strenuous two-day sitting every few
months.
CL
42
iSeidoan Soto Zen Temple
'Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1447, Blowing RockN.C. 28605
Address: 418 Curwood Lane, Boone N.C. 28607
Plione and Email: (828) 295-0916; seidoanhardison@boone.net
Spiritual Leader: Tozan (Tom) Hardison, a Soto Zen priest
Lineage: Soto Zen
[Website: httpV/n^er'; hnnne ne.t/^p\dn^nh^rd\<inn
\\*M
Tucked away in a valley of the Blue Ridge Mountains is Tozan (Tom)
Hardison's quaint home, which doubles as the Seidoan Temple. Its serene loca-
tion provides an excellent setting for the practice of Soto Zen, which includes
both zazen (sitting meditation) and kinhin (walking meditation).
Tozan Hardison, the temple's spiritual leader, studied Zen for years in sev-
eral Buddhist temples in the United States and Japan. He spent time at Squirrel
Mountain Zendo in North Carolina and practiced under both Dainin Katagiri
Roshi at Minnesota Zen Meditation Center and Tenshin Reb Anderson at San
Francisco Zen Center. He then practiced for years in Japan, where he was or-
dained as Seiun Tozan at Daimanji Temple and later received dharma transmis-
sion from Kosen Nishiyama, who formally acknowledged his spiritual insight
and readiness to teach. Hardison then returned to the United States and eventu-
M
,^'-' ^ r ' \''~' ' 111
ally settled in the North Carolina mountains, where he opened his home to
other followers of the faith. Seidoan Temple was officially established on May
17, 1998.
The core congregation consists of about five or six middle-aged European
American converts. Occasionally, on days of celebration or sesshins, more visi-
tors attend. Zazen is held daily at 7 a.m., as well as on Sundays mornings and
Thursday evenings. Those regular practice sessions are complemented by all-
day sittings the last Saturday of each month.
KM
44
Shambhala Meditation Center
Address: 733 Rutherford Street, Durham, NC 27705
Phone and Email: (919)286-5508; gaylords@med.unc.edu
Contacts: Susan Gaylord, Center Director: (919) 286-1487; Wendy Farrell,
Center Coordinator: (919) 382-2811; Lee Bowers, Practice Coordinator:
[919)683-1409
Lineage: Tibetan, Kagyu and Nyingma lineages
l4ffiliation: Shambhala International, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Website: httpV/www shambhala org/centers/durham
Newsletter: The Durham Shambhala Center News (quarterly).
In a one-story wooden house set in a spacious yard, Shambhala Meditation
Center members, most of them European- American converts, gather for reli-
gious practice. Although there are currently about twenty-five members, an
average of twelve attend the service.
The Shambhala Meditation Center is part of a network of centers through-
put the U.S. and the world affiliated with Shambhala International, headquar-
tered in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Shambhala International, originally known as
Vajradhatu International, was founded and directed by the Vidyadhara Chogyam
Trungpa Rinpoche, a Tibetan meditation master and holder of the Kagyu,
i^
Nyingma, and Shambhalian lineages. After the death of the Venerable Trungpa
Rinpoche in 1987, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche became the spiritual director.
He changed the name of the parent organization to Shambhala International.
Founded in 1978, the Durham center continues to thrive under the leader-
ship of Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, who trained in India and in the United
States under the direction of senior teachers of the Kagyu and Nyingma lin-
eages. Services typically include opening chants followed by sessions of sitting
meditation alternating with briefer periods of walking meditation. After the ses-
sions close with another chant, the devotees drive off to their homes in Durham
and other cities and towns in the Piedmont region.
SSi
46
Soka Gakkai International — USA
Address: 6307-A Chapel Hill Road, Raleigh, NC 27607
Phone and Email: (919) 859-0112; SGlNrTFR^aol mm
Contact: Walter T. Woodall
Lineage: Mahayana: Nichiren Buddhism
Affiliations: Soka Gakkai International — USA, Santa Monica, California;
and Soka Gakkai, Tokyo, Japan
Website: http://wwwsgi-iisa org/
This Raleigh-based group is a part of a larger organization, Soka Gakkai
International (SGI). SGI, a form of Nichiren Buddhism, claims approximately
13 million members worldwide and boasts more than sixty centers in the United
States.
In North Carolina, where a group formed in 1960 as part of the Washington,
D.C. chapter, there are an estimated 800 followers of Soka Gakkai (literally
"Society for the Creation of Value"). Most of those are converts, although some
are cradle Buddhists of Asian descent. SGI, the most ethnically and economi-
cally diverse U.S. Buddhist convert group, also includes many European- Ameri-
cans and African-Americans, and some Hispanic members as well.
Those diverse members engage in a variety of rituals. At home, most mem-
bers regularly chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the title of the Lotus Sutra, the
most sacred text for all who revere the teachings of Nichiren (1222-82), the
Japanese religious founder. When devotees gather together in private residences
each week they not only chant but also hold discussions. And there are activi-
ties for the younger members too, including a youth group that meets once a
week. The North Carolina SGI, like the national organization, has been active
in working for peace, and in a larger and more formal gathering followers come
together on the first Sunday of each month to participate in the World Peace
Gongyo, when the members chant the first two chapters of the Lotus Sutra.
EW
^
Southern Dharma Retreat Center
Address: 1661 West Road, Hot Springs, NC 28743
Phone and Email: (828) 622-71 12; s(ihanTiri@niain nc us
Contact: Ron Dogyo Feamow, co-manager
Lineage: Ecumenical
Website: www main nr us/SDRT
Located in the North Carolina mountains, an hour's drive from Asheville, the
Southem Dharma Retreat Center (SDRC) is a nonprofit educational facility that
organizes regular meditation retreats. Spiritual teachers from a variety of religions
lead those multi-day sessions — including Christians, Hindus, Sufis, and Jews — ^but
the majority are Buddhists from Zen, Vipassana, or Tibetan traditions. Among those
Buddhist retreat leaders have been prominent teachers from the state, including Teijo
Munnich from the Ashville Zen Center and Sandy Gentei Stewart from Pittsboro's
Brooks Branch Zendo.
The retreats began in 1978, when Melinda Guyol and Elizabeth Kent founded
the center. And the facilities now include a meditation hall, dormitory, forest hermit-|
age, as well as primitive creek-side campsites. Individual visits are arranged foi
private meditation when the facilities are not being used, but thematically focused
collective retreats are held throughout the year, with the topics changing regularly. II
the topics and teachers for the communal sessions vary widely, all use some form ol
silent seated meditation as a central practice. By offering a secluded center for medi-
tation, the SDRC aims to provide a comfortable gathering place, removed from ev-
eryday distractions, where Buddhists and those who affiliate with other traditions,.,
can find spiritual quiet.
AC
48
Valley of the Moon Sitting Group
Address: 3013 White Oak Creek Road, Bumsville, NC 28714
Phone and Email: (828) 675-5440; cziet]ow@yanc(^y main nc ns
Contact: Janey Zietlow
Lineage: Theravada
Affiliation: Loosely affiliated with the Insight Meditation Society, Massa-
chusetts; Spirit Rock Meditation Center, California
On Monday evenings meditators sit in a circle in the living room of a simple
Japanese-style home that overlooks a pond and the Black Mountains that rise in the
distance above it. The group, which includes fifteen core members and more who
attend occasionally, meets Monday nights from 7:00 to 9:00, and the first Monday
of the month they gather earlier and conclude with a potluck dinner. Those weekly
sessions include an hour and fifteen minutes of seated and walking meditation, and
the members then either listen to tapes of dharma talks by teachers from other
centers or engage in a discussion of Buddhist doctrine and practice. For beginners,
the group also offers introduction to meditation, and the sangha has extended its
reach into the wider community with public dharma talks on Sunday afternoons.
Four members take turns offering reflections at those dharma talks, since there
is no resident spiritual leader for Valley of the Moon Sitting Group, which is loosely
affiliated with the Insight Meditation Society. Some members practice Vipassana
meditation in Bumsville and travel to the Insight Meditation Community in Wash-
ington, D.C. to study with Tara Brach, that center's founder and senior teacher. But,
as with other small Buddhist groups in rural areas, not all the core members follow
exactly the same spiritual path. Several look to the Vajrayana tradition for guidance
and also visit Tibetan temples in nearby states. A few others find inspiration in
Thich Nhat Hanh's Community of Mindftil Living. Yet, bound by their common
commitment to the teaching of the Buddha and the practice of meditation, this
diverse group has continued to meet since 1994.
TT
AQ
Wat Carolina Buddhajakra Vanaram
Address: 1610 Midway Rd. Bolivia, NC 28422
Phone and Email: (910) 253-4526; Debby@webtrawler.com
Fax:(910)253-6618
Contact: Debrah Welch (910-791-5238)
Spiritual Leader: The Venerable Phrakru Buddhamonpricha, abbot
Lineage: Theravada
Affiliation: Dhammayut Nikaya
Website: httpV/ww^wwisecom com/wat
Nestled comfortably in the small Tidewater town of Bolivia, Wat Carolina offers
a taste of Thai religion and culture. The impressive red-roofed building, standing on
its twenty-three-acre plot, makes the monastery a prominent fixture in the small town,
The Venerable Phrakru Buddamonpricha, a monk ordained in the Dhammayut Order
of Thai Theravada Buddhism, is the temple's spiritual leader. In Thailand, he received'
his B.S. at Bangkok University and later studied Buddhism under H.H. Somdet Phra
Nyanasamvara. And it was Plirakru Buddhamonpricha, the temple's abbot, whoi
selected Wat Carolina's location. It opened its doors in 1988 as North Carolina's first
Theravada community, and the temple has grown to be one of the major Theravada
Buddliist centers in the Soutlieast. Average weekly services draw from fifty to a hundred
devotees, with holidays attracting almost a thousand faithfial.
50
The congregation is predominately Thai. However, there are a significant num-
ber of European- American converts. The temple leaders work hard to welcome
iand integrate those converts into the congregation: monks give sermons in both
English and Thai, and the monastery holds instructional seminars after the Sunday
services on the basics of Buddhism and meditation. The regular worship services
! consist of Thai chanting and seated meditation, which is followed by a dharma talk.
' Holiday services are elaborate celebrations that draw the largest crowds, with devo-
tees traveling from as far away as New York. The center also takes part in numer-
lous charitable efforts, which has helped it find its place in the wider community.
Currently, the monastery serves as a teaching facility for Asian monks who live
at the temple for roughly a year as they study Buddhism and English. Future plans
for the temple include fiarther expansion of its sprawling structure to accommodate
larger training centers and living areas for monks from Thailand and around the
jworld,
CL, DP, and CG
51
Wat Mungme Srisuk
Address: 1919 NC 24, Cameron, NC 28326
Phone:(919)499-0567
Fax:(919)499-6268
Lineage: Theravada
Newsletter: Way of Happiness. Circulation: 700.
Down a winding country road in the small town of Cameron sits Wat Mungme
Srisuk. Wilert Pavattasiri founded this traditional Thai temple in 1997, and
Ampom Campala took over as spiritual leader two years later. In 2000, Wat
Mungme Srisuk moved from nearby Spring Lake to its present location in
Cameron, where devotees congregate in a trailer. But construction of a perma-
nent temple is expected to be complete by the end of 200 1 . |
Sunday services are attended by a predominately Thai congregation of fifty
members, while religious holidays draw larger crowds of nearly five hundred
Buddhists from all over the state. The temple houses Thai monks who travel to
the United States to study both Buddhism and English. The monks hold to tra-
ditional practices as much as possible, such as receiving food donations from
the local lay Buddhist community. However, they find that some monastic rules,
52
!|:
i
te.i
il
m
such as the traditional prohibition against touching money, must be broken to
complete daily chores. Although it was only recently established, the temple
already is important for the local Thai community. And when the new building
is complete, Wat Mungme Srisuk will serve as one of the two major Thai
Theravadin centers in North Carolina.
CL
Zen Center of Asheville
(Daishinji)
Address: 295 Hazel Mill Road, Asheville, NC 28816
Phone and Email: (828) 253-2314; 7r:a@niain nciis
Contact: The Reverend Teijo Munnich
Lineage: Soto Zen
Affiliation: Minnesota Zen Meditation Center (Ganshoji)
Website: httpV/www main nciis/zca/
Newsletter: Zen Center of Asheville Rnllt^tin. Circulation: 400.
At six o'clock on Saturday morning the world outside is quiet. Most
Asheville residents are in their beds, recovering from a long week of work. But
in a modest house on the city's west side members of the Zen Center of Asheville
are already awake and sitting zazen. The center was founded in 1995 and moved
to its current location the same year. (During the preceding two years members
had met in private residences.) The current congregation consists of both Bud-
dhist converts as well as sympathizers who also practice Christianity or Juda-
ism. Members range from young adults to senior citizens, and they are from!
several different ethnic groups — European-American, African- American, Ko-
rean, and Japanese. The average attendance at a zazen session ranges from five
54
to ten people; however, all-day sittings often attract more.
The Center offers both morning and evening practice five days a week.
Special services and lectures are also offered regularly. A typical meditation
session consists of one 10-minute session of kinhin in between two forty-minute
periods of zazen. After sitting and walking meditation, participants chant the
Heart and Robe Sutras and perform a series of prostrations.
The Reverend Teijo Munnich is the guiding light of the Zen Center of
Asheville. She was introduced to Zen practice at the San Francisco Zen Center
in the early 1970s. There she met Katagiri Roshi, whom she followed to his
center in Minnesota in 1 975. She received formal training under Katagiri Roshi,
who died in 1990, and also studied in Obama, Japan, and at Tassajara Zen Moun-
tain Center in California. At the Zen center that Teijo Munnich leads in Asheville
residents of North Carolina's mountain region gather — sometimes before most
of the city has stirred — to incorporate an ancient practice into their daily lives.
LA
55
Appendices
Appendix A
I
Temples and Centers Listed by Founding Date
Buddhist Organization Year
I Founded
Soka Gakka International 1960
Brooks Branch Zendo 1977
Shambhala Meditation Center 1 978
Southern Dharma Retreat Center 1 978
Chapel Hill Zen Center 1 980
Durham Karma Thegsum Choling 1 98 1
Greenville Karma Thegsum ChoHng 1 983
Cambodian Buddhist Society (Charlotte) 1984
Greensboro Buddhist Center (Wat Greensboro) 1985
Piedmont Zen Group 1985
ChuaVanHanh 1986
ChuaLienHoa 1987
WatCaroHna 1988
ChuaQuanAn 1989
Cambodian Cultural Center (Lexington) 1990
Charlotte Zen Meditation Society 1990
Kadampa Center 1 992
Eno River Buddhist Community 1 992
SL
Buddhist Organization
Mountain Zen Group
Durham Meditation Center
Charlotte Community of Mindfulness
Valley of the Moon Sitting Group
Zen Center of Ashville
Community of Mindful Living (UUFR)
Wat Mungme Srisuk
Sandhills Zen Group
Seidoan Soto Zen Temple
Cloud Cottage Sangha
Community of Mindful Living — Durham
Healing Springs Community of Mindful Living
Cape Fear Tibetan Buddhist Study Group
1992
1993
1994
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1998
1998
1999
1999
2000
58
Appendix B
Temples and Centers Listed by Geographical Location
The Piedmont
The Triangle (Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill)
Buddha Light International Association (Chapel Hill and Cary)
Chua Van Hanh (Raleigh)
Durham Insight Meditation Center (Durham)
f Shambhala Meditation Center (Durham)
[' Piedmont Zen Group (Raleigh)
' Chapel Hill Zen Center (Chapel Hill)
! Brooks Branch Zendo (Pittsboro)
Soka Gakkai International-USA (Raleigh)
' Durham Karma Thegsum Choling (Durham)
! Eno River Buddhist Community (Durham)
; Kadampa Center (Raleigh)
: Community of Mindful Living — UUFR (Raleigh)
Community of Mindful Living — Durham
The Triad (Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem)
Greensboro Buddhist Center (Greensboro)
Cambodian Cultural Center (Lexington)
Chua Quan An (Greensboro)
Salisbury Community of Mindfulness (Salisbury)
^
Charlotte and Vicinity
Cambodian Buddhist Society (Charlotte)
Chua Lien Hoa (Charlotte)
Charlotte Community of Mindfulness (Charlotte)
Charlotte Zen Meditation Society (Charlotte)
The Southern Piedmont
Wat Mungme Srisuk (Cameron)
Sandhills Zen Group (Southern Pines)
Healing Springs Community of Mindful Living (Red Springs)
The Inner Coastal Plain
Greenville Karma Thegsum Choling (Greenville)
The Tidewater (Or Outer Coastal Plain)
Wat Carolina (Bolivia)
Cape Fear Tibetan Buddhist Study Group (Wilmington)
The Mountain Region
Zen Center of Asheville (Asheville)
Mountain Zen Group (Asheville)
Seidoan Soto Zen Temple (Boone)
Southern Dharma Retreat Center (Hot Springs)
Valley of the Moon Sitting Group (Bumsville)
Cloud Cottage Sangha (Black Mountain)
60
Appendix C
Temples Listed by Type and Tradition
Asian-American Immigrant and Refugee Temples
THERAVADA
Cambodian Buddhist Society
Cambodian Cultural Center
Greensboro Buddhist Center
Wat Carolina Buddhajakra Vanaram
Wat Mungme Srisuk
MAHAYANA
Buddha Light International Association of North Carolina
Chua Lien Hoa
Chua Quan An
Chua Van Hanh
European-American and African-American
Convert Centers
THERAVADA
VIPASSANA/INSIGHT MEDITATION SOCIETY
Durham Meditation Center
Valley of the Moon Sitting Group
MAHAYANA
THICH NHAT HANH'S COMMUNITY OF
MINDFUL LIVING
Charlotte Community of Mindfulness
Cloud Cottage Sangha
Community of Mindful Living — UUFR
Community of Mindful Living — Durham.
Healing Springs Community of Mindful Living
Salisbury Community of Mindfulness
ZEN
Brooks Branch Zendo
6L
Chapel Hill Zen Center
Charlotte Zen Meditation Society
Mountain Zen Group
Piedmont Zen Group
Sandhills Zen Group
Seidoan Soto Zen Temple
Zen Center of Ashville
NICHIREN
Soka Gakkai International — USA
VAJRAYANA: TIBETAN CENTERS
Cape Fear Tibetan Buddhist Study Group
Durham Karma Thegsum Choling
Greenville Karma Thegsum Choling
Kadampa Center
Shambhala Meditation Center
NON-SECTARIAN OR ECUMENICAL CENTERS
Eno River Buddhist Community
Southem Dharma Retreat Center
62
Appendix D
Estimating the Number of Buddhists
i No one knows for sure how many Buddhists live in the United States, or in
North CaroHna, since the U.S. Census does not ask questions about religious
affiliation. One scholar has estimated that there are four million U.S. Buddhists,
and about 800,000 of those are European American or African American con-
verts. For North Carolina, we can make informed guesses based on several fac-
tors, including the U.S. Census statistics on ethnicity and foreign-born resi-
dents, as we also refine that by appealing to estimates of the national Buddhist
population.
There are as few as 5,000 and as many as 20,000 Buddhists in North Caro-
lina. If we take the most conservative route to estimating the total, we could use
the self-reported information we have gathered about membership in the Bud-
dhist temples and centers. That yields an estimate of about 5,000. Some of those
persons who are claimed in that figure are nominal or luke-warm Buddhists, but
there are still many more who remain uncounted in that lower figure. But how
many?
To find out we can turn to the U.S. Census data for some help. First, Asian
Americans in North Carolina who were bom in four predominantly Buddhist
Qations — Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand — constituted 13.7 percent
of the state's 1990 Asian American population (69,020), and if we adjust that
figure downward to 10 percent (to allow for Christians in those migrant popula-
tions) we can begin to arrive at more reliable, though still uncertain, estimates.
If we then conservatively estimate that one third of the 21,146 Chinese, Japa-
nese, and Koreans in North Carolina in 1990 were Buddhists in some sense
(they hailed from Buddhist families or engaged in some Buddhist practices), we
arrive at the informed speculation that about 20 percent of the 1990 population
of Asian Americans in North Carolina were Buddhists (13,804 residents). Fur-
ther, if the estimated increases in the Asian American population between 1990
and 1997 yielded the same ethnic and national group proportions, that would
mean the Tar Heel State was home to 18,407 Asian- American Buddhists in
1997.
But we can refine that figure still more. If we assume that the same propor-
tion of convert to cradle Buddhists holds in the state as it does in the nation
(approximately 4 to 1), and then adjust the figure to include the total number of
convert members we were able to identify in our collaborative project (1,400),
then the total number of North Carolina Buddhists, cradle and convert, is ap-
proximately 20,000.
But even this higher figure, if it is accurate, does not fully represent the
61
presence of Buddhism in the state. Some North CaroHnians sign up to receive
temple newsletters, occasionally listen to lectures or dharma talks, attend one
or more centers irregularly, and read Buddhist books they stack on their
nightstand at home. If we considered these night-stand Buddhists, or sympa-
thizers, those with interest in the tradition but who have not formally joined an
organization, the number of the state's Buddhists would be even higher. But
even if we omit them because they are too difficult to identify and count, it
seems that Buddhism now has a significant presence in the state.
64
Resources for Further Study
Books
Fenton, John Y., et al, Religion'^ of A«;ia 3'^^ ed. New York: St. Martin's, 1993.
Seager, Richard. Rnddhism in AmmcR. New York: Columbia University
Press, 1999.
Takaki, Ronald. Sltranger*; from n Different Shore- A Hi<;tnry of A<;irin Ameri-
cans. Updated and revised edition. Boston: Little, Brown, 1998.
Tweed, Thomas A., The Ammcan Fn counter with Rnddhism, 1844-1917.
Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000.
Tweed, Thomas A. and Stephen Prothero, eds., A<;i?in Religions; in AmeHra-
A Documentary History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Reference Works
Hill, Samuel and Charles Lippy, eds., FneyrlopeHia of Religion in the South
2"^* ed. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, forthcoming 2002.
Levinson, David and Melvin Ember, eds., AmeHran Tmmigrant rnltnre*; 2
vols. New York: Macmillan, 1997.
Morreale, Don, ed. The Complete Guide to Buddhist America. Boston:
Shambhala, 1998.
Roof, Wade Clark, ed. Contemporary American Religion. 2 vols. New
Macmillan, 2000.
Smith, Jonathan Z. The HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion. San Francisco:
HarperSanFrancisco, 1995.
Videos and CD-ROMS
"Becoming the Buddha in LA." Video. WGBH Boston Video (1993).
"Blue Collar and Buddha." Video. Taggart Siegal Productions. (1988).
61.
"Buddhism: The Middle Way of Compassion." Delphi Productions. (1993).
Diana Eck, On rommon Ground" World Religions in Ammra. CD-Rom.
New York: Columbia University Press, 1997.
Web Pages
The Buddhism in North Carolina Project: httpV/www unc edu/nchuddhism
Buddhist Worlds in the USA: http://academir;s hamilton edu/rp1igious_snidies/
rseager/huddhistworlds
Dharma Net Intemational: http'//\vww dhaminnet org
The Pluralism Project: httpV/www pluralism org
Tricycle' The Buddhist Review: http://www,tricycle.com
66
Glossary
Amitabha (Sanskrit): Amida (Japanese). In Mahayana Buddhism, a
Buddha or enlightened being who presides over a "Pure Land" or paradise in
the western part of the universe.
Avalokiteshvara (Sanskrit): Also Kuan-yin (Chinese), Kaimon
(Japanese), and Chenrezig (Tibetan). The bodhisattva of compassion. An
important object of devotion in Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhsim.
bodhisattva: A living being who has made a commitment to follow
the path leading to full enlightenment. A future Buddha who embodies wis-
dom and compassion and is devoted to liberating all beings.
buddha: The "awakened one." A fully enlightened being. A title
given to those who have attained the goal of Buddhism.
(Chenrezig: See Avalokiteshvara.
chua: Vietnamese term for "temple."
dharma: Sanskrit term with many meanings — truth, law, doctrine.
Most fiindamentally, it refers to the teachings of the Buddha.
[ dharma transmission: The passing of spiritual insight from teacher
to student, who as the "dharma heir" now has the authority to teach.
dokusan (Japanese): The traditional private meeting or interview
between a Zen teacher and student.
ecumenical: Non-sectarian. Not affiliated with any particular group or
institution.
Kathin: A major festival in Theravada Buddhism when the lay
followers offer new robes and other supplies to the monks.
kinhin (Japanese): Walking meditation.
! lama: In Tibetan Buddhism, a teacher, or anyone regarded as a
teacher because of spiritual attainment. Usually but not always a monk or
nun, although not all ordained men and women are lamas.
Lotus Sutra: A Mahayana Buddhist sacred text dating from the first
century of the common era.
Mahayana: "The Great Vehicle." A name applied to one the three
major traditions or branches of Buddhism in Asia — especially prominent in
China, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan.
metta: "Loving kindness" meditation. The first of the four sublime
moods or states of mind {brahma-viharas), in which active good will is
extended to all beings.
mindfulness: The practice of attending fully to each moment.
Nichiren (1222-82): Japanese Buddhist leader who founded the sect
that bears his name.
67
prostration: Ritualized bowing.
Rinzai: A Japanese Zen tradition based on the Chinese Lin-chi school
of Ch'an Buddhism. Eisai (1141-1215) is usually regarded as the school's
Japanese founder. This form of Zen relies not only on zazen but also koan
(Japanese; or kung-an in Chinese), stories of question-answer sessions be-
tween masters and their disciples that pose paradoxical questions.
rinpoche: Literally "precious jewel." An honorific title in Tibetan
Buddhism given to those who have been judged to be a tiilku, or reincarna-
tion of a deceased enlightened teacher.
roshi: The Japanese term literally means "old teacher" and is a
respectful way to refer to an established teacher or senior monk in a monas-
tery or temple.
sangha: Sanskrit term referring to the Buddhist monastic order or,
more broadly, the community of all Buddhists.
sesshin: In Zen Buddhism, a period of intense meditation that lasts up
to seven days.
Soto: A Japanese tradition of Zen based on Ts'ao-tung Ch'an Bud-
dhism. It was brought to Japan by Dogen (1200-53). The school emphasizes
the use of zazen or seated meditation.
sutra: A sacred Buddhist text that followers take as the teachings of
the Buddha.
sympathizer: One who does not formally join or affiliate with a
religion but expresses some interest in it.
Theravada: Pali term for "Way of the Elders." One of the three main
surviving traditions or branches of Buddhism. The self-chosen name for the
diverse Buddhist traditions found in Southeast Asia: Sri Lanka (formerly
Ceylon), Myanmar (formerly Burma), Kampuchea (formerly Cambodia),
Thailand, and Laos. They were dismissed by Mahayana followers, who used
the pejorative term Hinayana, or "the small vehicle," to describe them.
Thich: An abbreviation of "Thich-ca," Vietnamese for Shakya, which
is the name of the Shakyamuni Buddha's clan. So a title taken by Vietnamese
monks to denote kinship in the spiritual family of the Buddha.
"Tiiree Jewels": In a formal ceremony most Buddhists "take refuge
in" these three foundations of the faith: 1) Buddha, the founder; 2) Dharma,
his teachings; and 3) Sangha, the community of Buddhists.
Unitarian-Universalism: A liberal American denomination whose
1984 statement of principles acknowledges "wisdom from the world's reli-
gions" as one of the sources of their faith. There is no official affiliation with
Buddhism, but the denomination sponsors the Unitarian-Universalist Bud-
dhist Fellowship, and (as in North Carolina) often provides the space where
68
some smaller Buddhist groups meet.
Vajrayana: Sanskrit term meaning "The Diamond Vehicle." Tantric
Buddhism. One of the three main traditions or branches of Buddhism. Tradi-
tionally, it has predominated in Mongolia and Tibet, but all of Tibet's four
main schools of Buddhism — Gelugpa, Kagyu, Nyingma, and Sakya — have
found their way to the West, and to North Carolina.
zazen: Japanese term for seated meditation.
vipassana: A type of "insight" meditation practiced in Theravada
Buddhism.
wat: Thai term for "temple."
Zen (Japanese): Ch 'an (Chinese), Son (Korean), and Thien (Viet-
namese). Mahayana sect of Buddhism that originated in China and spread
throughout East Asia. In the United States, the sect is best known by the
Japanese term.
zendo: Meditation hall. Japanese term for the place in a Zen temple or
monastery where meditation is practiced.
,^n,
Buddhist Temples in Nortti Carolina
c
^J Mountains
n^'
:\ 7 -^ -^
Greensboro /
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