Becoming Buddhist: Experiences of Socialization and Self-transformation in Australian Buddhist Centres

289 Pages·2012·0.91 MB·English

by  Glenys Eddy

Becoming Buddhist
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Becoming Buddhist
Experiences of Socialization and
Self-Transformation in Two Australian
Buddhist Centres
Glenys Eddy
Continuum Advances in Religious Studies
Continuum International Publishing Group
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© Glenys Eddy, 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or
retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from
the publishers.
Glenys Eddy has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act,
1988, to be identified as Author of this work.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
e-ISBN: 978-1-4411-6145-1
Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Eddy, Glenys.
Becoming Buddhist : experiences of socialization and self-transformation in two
Australian Buddhist centres/Glenys Eddy. – 1st.
p. cm. – (Continuum advances in religious studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4411-1846-2 (hardcover)
1. Buddhism–Social aspects–Australia. 2. Buddhist converts–Australia.
I. Title. II. Series.
BQ772.E33 2011
294.30994–dc23 2011031363
Typeset by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
This work is dedicated to the well-being and happiness
of all sentient beings.

Contents
Foreword viii
Acknowledgements x
Glossary xi
Chapter 1: Approaching the Western Buddhist Experience 1
Chapter 2: Instruction and Practice at the Blue Mountains
Insight Meditation Centre 31
Chapter 3: Self-Transformation through Vipassana Practice 71
Chapter 4: Participation and Exploration at Vajrayana Institute 107
Chapter 5: The Practice of Self-Transformation
at Vajrayana Institute 137
Chapter 6: An Overview of the Experimental Journey:
Vipassana- and Vajrayana-Insights 167
Appendices 211
Notes 221
References 249
Index 263
Foreword
This book is an outgrowth of my Doctoral thesis (2007b). Although during its
preparation I was privileged to have the advice and intellectual support of
many people from the University of Sydney and beyond—which I happily
acknow ledge—of course I bear the responsibility for the finished work.
My grateful thanks are due to the practitioners, teachers and administrators
of the two Buddhist Centres—the Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Centre at
Medlow Bath, in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, and Vajrayana Institute in
Ashfield, in Sydney’s Inner West—that permitted me to conduct the research
for my thesis. Not only did their kindness enable me to pursue an academic
analysis of a subject of interest to me, but also it gained me stimulating dis-
course and friendly encounters. For their support, in particular I must thank
Venerable Tenzin Chönyi from Vajrayana Institute, Patrick Kearney—formerly
a resident teacher at the Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Centre—and
Danny Taylor. No less gratitude is due to the practitioners who willingly gave
their time, experiences and insights during interview.
The fundamental purpose of this book is to explore and articulate what it
means—for the practitioners and adherents of two forms of Western Bud-
dhism—to be a Western Buddhist. It accomplishes this by exploring individual
encounters with, socialization into and appropriation of the worldview of a
Buddhist centre as a taken-for-granted reality, leading to a coherent picture of
reality as if it were an object existing prior to our awareness of it, and which an
individual acquires through socialization.
Throughout, my intention is to articulate the subjective experience of
being a Western Buddhist, in a largely Anglo-Australian context, and of how
Buddhist doctrine and practice, as it is mediated by the organization, is
understood and applied by the individual.
Because this book deals with the import to Western English-speaking minds of
the Pali and Sanskrit words mentioned rather than with their philology, I have
used the relevant English terms where those are likely to be in common use.
The original terms are therefore given in their transliterated forms, but without
their romanized diacriticals. The equivalences between Pali, Sanskrit and
English terms of significance appear in the Glossary.
Foreword ix
Permission to use published material has been graciously given by Dr Cristina
Rocha, Managing Editor of the Journal of Global Buddhism; Dr Maureen Miner
Bridges, former Chair of the University of Western Sydney Psychology and
Spirituality Society; and by Associate Professor Douglas Pratt, President of
the Australian Association for the Study of Religion, and is hereby gratefully
acknowledged.
Sydney, 2011