Author: Avijit Ghosh
Publication: The Times of India
Date: May 16, 2006
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1531699.cms
Introduction: Cristina Rocca, a post-doctoral
fellow in University of Western Sydney and author of Zen in Brazil: The Quest
for Cosmopolitan Modernity, talks about the phenomenon in an e-mail interview
with Avijit Ghosh :
What is Zen in Brazil all about?
Brazil is widely perceived as an overwhelmingly
Catholic nation. But since the 90s, Buddhism in general and Zen in particular,
were adopted by its national elite, media and popular culture as a set of
humanistic values to counter rampant violence and crime in Brazilian society.
My book shows that in practising Zen, the
Brazilian intellectual elites from 1950s onward have been driven by a desire
to acquire and accumulate cultural capital, both locally and overseas.
Their consumption of Zen has been an expression
of their desire to distinguish themselves from popular (Catholic) taste at
home while at the same time associating with overseas cultural elites who
follow Buddhism.
Why are westerners attrac-ted to Buddhism?
Westerners associate Buddhism with therapy.
Buddha's teachings deal with how to address suffering and anger in everyday
life. When global warming is such an impending tragedy, westerners realise
that environmentalism and Buddhism are associates.
They also associate non-violence and Buddhism.
Meditation is perceived as the central practice of Buddhism. Many westerners
think that they don't need a temple or a monk to meditate. This goes well
with western individualism.
In this New Age for spiritual quest, people
are picking from diverse religions (amongst them Buddhism) and constructing
their own spiritua-lity. Buddhism has another appea-ling component: it is
fashionable.
Is there any data to show that Buddhism is
growing fast in the West?
Statistics are available but they vary considerably.
Martin Baumann, a German researcher, suggested in 1997 there were 3-4 million
Buddhists in the US. Of these, 800,000 were converts and 2.2-3.2 million migrants
the most in any western country. In Australia, there was a rise of 80 per
cent between 1996 and 2001 census.
How much has Hollywood helped growth of Buddhism?
Movies like The Little Buddha and Seven Years
in Tibet, and celebrities like Richard Gere and the Beastie Boys have used
their status to draw attention to the plight of Tibet. Books by the Dalai
Lama are bestsellers.
People flock to see and hear him speak as
he travels the world. In the US, this movement has been called Tibetan Chic.
There is also a set of consumer goods associated with Buddhism: books, statues
of the Buddha, music CDs, magazines, incense, organic food, T-shirts, and
so forth. All these help disseminate Buddhism even more.
