Abstract
This chapter focuses on the identity construction at the H temple. The process, which determines what a Buddhist is like and how the Buddhist identity is performed online and offline, is also representative of many other Zen Buddhist temples in the United States. Through my analysis of this chapter, the questions previously raised will be answered: How does the H Temple utilize social media and various technologies to communicate with its members and discursively create and negotiate the online religious experience? How does the setting of the temple as a generative space reflect an adaptation of an Eastern religion in the West?
Buddhism is not a religion in the same way that the theistic, monotheistic traditions are a religion. But it is a religion, I am a priest, there’s a temple. We do ceremonies, precepts, funerals, weddings, seasonal celebrations and holidays. To me, it’s not simply a philosophy.
– Abbot R
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Zhang, F. (2019). Constructing Buddhist Identity at the H Temple. In: Building and Negotiating Religious Identities in a Zen Buddhist Temple. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8863-7_4
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