Buddhist Life, Tantric & Esoteric Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Spirituality, General & Miscellaneous Buddhism, Buddhist Biography, Buddhist Doctrine

Guru devotion and the American Buddhist experience

Name: Guru devotion and the American Buddhist experience
Author: Daniel Stuart Capper
ISBN: 9780773469860

by Daniel Stuart Capper

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Overview

This book explores why numerous Americans currently adopt the practice of Tibetan Buddhism. It suggests that many Americans become Tibetan Buddhists because of satisfying long-term relationships that they develop with Tibetan religious teachers, or lamas. To reach this conclusion, life stories of several practitioners were collected in the course of more than two years of field work at a major Tibetan Buddhist monastery in the United States. Analyses of these life stories, following self psychology, reveal enhanced self-esteem, personal autonomy, and creation of meaning in conjunction with Buddhist practice. The final chapter suggests that Tibetan Buddhist practice may respond in growth-enhancing ways to the psychological and social dimensions of some Americans’ lives.