In the nineteenth century, when the first Chinese immigrated to the U.S., Buddhist beliefs came with them. Early migrants tenderly carried icons on ship. On coming ashore, the migrants' abilities were limited to putting up a special table for ceremonies or erecting a small temple. Now there are wealthy and well-staffed Buddhist organizations willing to spend a lot of money to buy a large piece of land and build a temple. Things are miles away from those early days.

"But there is no difference in the meaning of the two to Chinese," says executive director Irma Tam Soong of the Hawaii Chinese History Center. Early immigrants were coolie labor; their life was hard, they were far from friends and family, and often discriminated against. The temple could help relieve some of their spiritual pain.

In recent years temples like Hsi-Lai Temple have been built and Buddhist groups established, supported by post-war Chinese immigrants. Temples provide a spiritual focus, especially for elderly parents without language skills.

Where descendants of Chinese are many and relatively well-off, teachers are invited from Taiwan to establish centers. In L.A., for example, over half the people are of Asian ancestry; over half of those are of Chinese descent. In the ten years from planning to completion of Hsi-Lai Temple, almost all the residences in the area were bought by Chinese.

Temples are not just spiritual centers. They are also meeting places. Lucy Chen, a Hsi-Lai devotee, says that when she comes to L.A. from Houston, she just goes to the temple to wait for family and friends to get off work and meet her. She says, "This is quite common." Some people come especially on weekends to spend the night at the temple.

The government gives special attention to temples supported by large Chinese-American communities. Presidents Bush and Reagan sent representatives to the opening of the Hsi-Lai Temple, and election hopefuls may invite leading abbots to address people at campaign rallies.

Although Buddhism early on followed immigrants to America, it was heavily colored by Taoist and folk beliefs. The coming of pure Buddhism to America was an event which followed the fall of the mainland to the Communists and the relative liberalization of Asian immigration to the U.S.

The earliest to go to the U.S. west coast to teach was Master Hsuan Hua, who went from Hong Kong in 1962. His "Sagely City of Ten Thousand Buddhas" is still the largest center in the U.S. The earliest Buddist teacher on the east coast was Shen Chia-chen, from Hong Kong. He established the World Religions Research Center in New York and has collected a vast amount of materials for the study of Buddhism and comparative religion.

According to estimates of Master Sheng Yen, from the Nong Chen Temple in Peitou, who spends half of each year teaching Zen in New York, there are already more than 90 sites for teaching Buddhism in America. More than half still have overseas Chinese or Chinese-Americans as their main objects.

Small-scale sites with only one teacher and a few disciples are still the majority. They use an ordinary house as the center, teach meditation and reading of the scriptures, and believers meet at prearranged times. Though different from the classic large temple with many incidental wanderers, these still fulfill the function of giving overseas Chinese a place to meet and communicate emotions.

There are also many organizations at schools, set up by students from Taiwan who had been in similar groups at home. These even attract some Americans to join.

Though the main focus of Buddhism in America is still on people of Asian descent, many teachers are also actively spreading the word to Americans of other origins. Over half the students at Master Sheng Yen's Zen center are the latter. "But Western followers and Asian believers are different," he says. Aside from those who are just curious, many of the former also seek the religious experience and Buddhist theory. Most of Asian descent believe from tradition.

Research by University of Hawaii Professor Cheng Chung-ying shows that Western interest in Buddhist philosophy arose as a result of considered reflection, so that it might solve problems of life. Many turn to Buddhism as material prosperity fails to provide spiritual happiness. Many teachers believe Buddhism, with its cleansing of the heart, can give American society a new direction.

The development of Buddhism in America is seen as optimistic, but how can the teachers instruct at the level of the students? "For Americans, if one can teach something, like meditation, that can cause a change of heart, it is easier to attract them," says Sheng Yen. He used the example of the Japanese Jodo Sect; though it came to America early, because it only taught people to chant the Buddha's name (as a means of appealing for salvation), it has today not expanded much beyond people of Asian descent.

But it's not enough just to rely on meditation and religious experiences. For example, Tibetan Buddhism was like a shooting star. A center in Colorado soon had nearly 100 affiliate sites. But because there were many followers but few teachers, many people had no way to gain deep insight. When the lama died, the organization mostly disintegrated.

Hsing Yun of Fu-kuang-shan Temple believes that to spread Buddhism in America one can lack neither location nor skilled teachers.

Most Americans have had no experience with Buddhism, and will use the thinking of western religions to approach and understand Buddhism. To get through, teachers must have rich knowledge, skill, and language ability. Sheng Yen takes the case of his disciples: They often have a foundation in philosophy. If a person does not have profound learning in Buddhism as well as a certain degree of understanding in Western and Eastern philosophy, there's no way to "cope", with American followers.

Unfortunately, this does not fit well with the view in the ROC that religious education and cultivating skilled talent are matters for the faithful. Even today universities lack religious studies. Because Buddhist institutions lack a strong organization, there is no way to unify education for the Buddhist clergy, and monks' organizations are of uneven quality.

As for Buddhist studies, "Most teachers in our Buddhist community feel meditation and chanting the name of the Buddha is the way to practice the rules, and writing, lecturing, and research are secondary," points out associate professor Yang Hui-nan of National Taiwan University. But scholarly studies are one aspect of activities for promoting the religion.

Now there exists "hardware" (like Hsi-Lai Temple) and numerous followers (in overseas Chinese). If this is considered as the first step for Buddhism in America, what kind of second stride is in the offing?

[Picture Caption]

The Hsi-Lai Temple, Los Angeles.

Hsi-Lai Temple is a gathering place for many Chinese. Here overseas Chinese from Vietnam are holding a wedding ceremony.

Blond-haired blue-eyed Westerners also come for a look-see.

Even when Buddhism goes to a new and different land, it still needs the support of Chinese believers.

Accompanying elders to the temple, young over-seas Chinese also get the chance to make a sincere offering.

Many temples were built by Chinese in the 19th century, and been renovated and expanded by their descendants.

"The Orient is hot. . . ." The growing popularity of things Asian deepens the interest of Americans in Buddhism.

Hsi-Lai Temple is a gathering place for many Chinese. Here overseas Chinese from Vietnam are holding a wedding ceremony.

Blond-haired blue-eyed Westerners also come for a look-see.

Even when Buddhism goes to a new and different land, it still needs the support of Chinese believers.

Accompanying elders to the temple, young over-seas Chinese also get the chance to make a sincere offering.

Many temples were built by Chinese in the 19th century, and been renovated and expanded by their descendants.

"The Orient is hot. . . ." The growing popularity of things Asian deepens the interest of Americans in Buddhism.