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Latina/o Conversion and Miracle-Seeking at a Buddhist Temple

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Abstract

The growing diversification of the US Latino religious’ experiences calls for scholarly attention beyond Protestant or Catholic categories. This study begins to answer this call. Using interview data with 26 Latinos collected over 2 years of observation at the True Lama Meditation Center (TLMC) in Houston, Texas, we describe how Latinos who convert to Buddhism or actively attend the temple while also continuing to attend Christian services (both Catholic and Protestant) see themselves and understand their religious identities and practices. We then explore the reasons for their conversion or changes in religious identities and practices through various theoretical lens. Although the majority of respondents now claim to be Buddhist, many did not switch religions but augmented or extended their religious identities and practices. Reasons for conversion to Buddhism or concurrent involvement at the temple and Buddhist faith practices include seeking material support and miracles and those seeking spiritual fulfillment they felt they were not getting in Christian faith practices.

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Notes

  1. All names and locations are pseudonyms.

  2. We do not know the proportion of Latino to Vietnamese attendees at TLMC because of the high circulation of members and the lack of membership tracking by the temple.

  3. Although verifiable statistics are often incomplete or missing, there are an estimated 287 to 600 Buddhist centers in Latin America with anywhere from 150,000 to 920,000 adherents (less than 1% of the Latin American population depending on the country (see Arda 2010; Usarski 2012; Da Rocha 2016).

  4. One of the few college-educated congregants among the respondents.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Houston—Clear Lake, 2700 Bay Area Blvd, Suite Bayou 1508, Houston, TX, 77058, USA

    Stephen M. Cherry

  2. Emory University, 1555 Dickey Dr., Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA

    Kemal Budak

  3. George Fox University, 414 N. Meridian St., Newberg, OR, 97132, USA

    Aida I. Ramos

Authors
  1. Stephen M. Cherry
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  2. Kemal Budak
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  3. Aida I. Ramos
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Correspondence to Kemal Budak.

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Cherry, S.M., Budak, K. & Ramos, A.I. Latina/o Conversion and Miracle-Seeking at a Buddhist Temple. Int J Lat Am Relig 2, 50–71 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41603-018-0045-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41603-018-0045-6

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