Talk:Buddhism in the United States

Maybe too trivial to mention, but c1974 a Buddhist clergyman became chaplain to the California Senate. Peter Jackson (talk) 05:38, 3 November 2022 (CDT)

I haven't read all this article, but the situation has changed due to the internet. I, for example, am close to 100% Buddhist by belief but have never become affiliated with any group. Probably I fall in most with the Theravada camp because of my readings of recent translations of some major parts of the Pali Canon. I can't be the only person who has found these teachings. Just for example, there is a Chinese Theravadan monastery (Chuang Yen) about an hour's drive north of New York City. Although some of it's programs are in Chinese and only Chinese speakers attend them, that monastery also gets a steady influx of visitors from the surrounding area by non-Chinese folks who are not even Buddhists but who, for example, want to hear a live class taught by Bhikku Bodhi or other teachers living there. Since the pandemic, many or most of its courses are offered online via Zoom, and typically the recordings of them are left on YouTube for people to watch later. There is even a relatively new zen group near my home in Princeton which was started by a friend--she became a monk and converted her house into a temple and (affiliated with some group in California), holds regular online talks and meditation sessions. Bottom lines is, I think Buddhism has become significantly more accessible just in the past five years, and consequently, this article may need a major update. Pat Palmer (talk) 12:06, 22 November 2022 (CST)