Word: buddhists
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Modern interest in the practice of Buddhism still incorporates that scientific mindset. Many Harvard students who practice Buddhist meditation reiterate their fondness for what they perceive as Buddhism’s compatibility with science. These student practitioners often bring up the Dalai Lama’s stance on Buddhism and science, that “if Buddhism and science don’t agree, we have to follow science.” This institutional willingness to be corrected is refreshing to many, including Myhrum, who spent the summer after her first year of college studying and meditating at a monastery...
Indeed, the central difference between Buddhism in America and in Asia is meditation. Though most Americans may perceive Buddhism as primarily practiced through meditation, that is certainly not the historical case. Janet Gyatso, Hershey Professor of Buddhist Studies, says that traditionally, “meditation is usually done only by specialized people,” such as monks, nuns and yogis. These specialists typically spend much more time on meditation than most modern lay people. Myhrum recalls a funny conversation from her stay at a monastery in Taiwan, when a bemused nun asked...
...appeal of Buddhism, however, is not just about life-changing meditation practice. It’s also an increasingly popular field of academic study. The Buddhist studies program at Harvard is “expanding rapidly,” Visiting Professor of East Asian Studies and Religious Studies Robert M. Gimello says, pointing out that “there are more professors and graduate students studying Buddhism at Harvard than any other institution in the country.” This interest in studying Buddhism is not a 21st century development. In fact, it goes back to the late 19th century...
Many of Myhrum’s fellow practitioners at Harvard are also drawn to the flexibility they perceive within the Buddhist tradition. They often emphasize the sentiment that the Buddha himself expressed in the Kalama Sutta, a central treatise of Buddhism, that his followers should personally test what they are told and accept it only if they truly see and understand...
Sean D. Sullivan, a Divinity School student studying Buddhism and a board member of the graduate student dominated Harvard Buddhist Community, describes the phenomenon of making personal choices about all Buddhist beliefs and doctrines as something many Americans do. “I think Americans selectively choose like that—I like this, oh not this, oh that makes sense,” Sullivan says as he pantomimes plucking ideas out of the air. Sullivan personally practices this process of selective screening. “Things like reincarnation and stuff like that, I don’t believe...