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Buddhism has become a major religion in Canada over the last half-century. The 'ethnic Buddhism' associated with immigrant Asian people is the most important aspect, but there is also a growing constituency of Euro-Canadian Buddhists seriously interested in the faith. This insightful study analyzes the phenomenon of Buddhism in Canada from a regional perspective. The work provides an important examination of the place of Buddhism in a developed western country associated with a traditional Judeo-Christian culture, but undergoing profound sociological transformation due to large-scale immigration and religio-cultural pluralism. It is a valuable text for students of religion, Buddhism and North American Studies.
List of contents
1. Buddhism in British Columbia 2. Buddhism in Alberta 3. Buddhism in Saskatchewan and Manitoba 4. Buddhist Diversity in Ontario 5. Buddhism in the Greater Toronto Area: The Politics of Recognition 6. Lao Buddhism in Toronto: A Case Study of Community Relations 7. Buddhism in Québec 8. Blurred Boundaries: Buddhist Communities in the Greater Montréal Region 9. Buddhism in Atlantic Canada Appendix: Buddhismcanada.com, a Decade in Cyber-Samsara
About the author
Bruce Matthews is the Dean of Arts and C.B. Lumsden Professor of Comparative Religion at Arcadia University, Nova Scotia, Canada. A former Commonwealth scholar in Buddhist Civilization at the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya (1970-71), he has a long-standing interest in Buddhism and the modern world.
Summary
This insightful study analyzes the phenomenon of Buddhism in Canada from a regional perspective, providing an important examination of the place of Buddhism in a developed western country associated with a traditional Judeo-Christian culture, but undergoing profound sociological transformation due to large-scale immigration and religio-cultural pluralism.
Additional text
'[T]he benchmark for all later studies of Buddhism in Canada.' - G. Victor Hori, Studies in Religion, 36/2, 2007
