SLC Tribune: How Buddhists and Mormons are alike

How Buddhists and Mormons are alike BY PEGGY FLETCHER STACK THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE PUBLISHED MARCH 12, 2010 3:55 PM This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted. It took a Utah newcomer to uncover parallels between Mormonism and American Buddhism, two religious systems that have coexisted in the state for more than 100 years. There are obvious theological, ritualistic and practical differences between American Buddhism and Mormonism, but both use a lay clergy, reinforce the importance of family and share a view of morality that embraces wisdom and compassion, says Charles Prebish, who will offer these and other insights in a paper at next week's conference on "Buddhism Without Borders" in Berkeley, Calif. Prebish -- a pre-eminent Buddhist scholar in America who has published 21 books and more than 75 scholarly articles -- accepted a position as director of Utah State University's newly created religious-studies program three years ago after teaching at Penn State for more than three decades. The Buddhist scholar-practitioner knew little about Utah's LDS-dominated landscape before he moved to the state, he says. "Yet no group has been more interesting, and challenging to understand, than the Buddhist communities in my new Utah homeland." Shortly after arriving in Logan, Prebish began to explore the history of Buddhism in the Beehive State. He learned that Japanese officials visited the territory in 1872, that the 1910 Census showed more than 2,000 Japanese residents in Utah, that a group created the Young Buddhist Association in 1923 because children of the Intermountain Buddhist Church were being excluded from extracurricular school activities and that, during World War II, many Japanese residents of Utah and other Western states were held at the Topaz internment camp near Delta. It was at Topaz in 1944, Prebish says, that the Buddhist Mission of North America officially changed its name to Buddhist Churches of America, "in hopes of sounding more acceptable to the American people." Today, Utah boasts some 21 Buddhist groups: six Zen, three Theravada, three Pure Land, three Tibetan, two Soka Gakkai, one Vipassana and three non- or multidenominational. "My experience in exploring Buddhist communities in Utah -- in Mormon land -- is that the sangha [community] is thriving here," Prebish says, "and enjoying a profound mutual respect with its LDS neighbors." That hasn't always been the case, says the Rev. Jerry Hirano, who leads one of Utah's oldest Buddhist churches -- Jodo Shinshu, in downtown Salt Lake City. "I have seen big changes in the last 30 years," says Hirano, who was born and reared in the state. "The Mormon church has become a lot more open." Comparing the two faiths may be apt. No one knows exactly how many Buddhists, whether Asian immigrants or American converts, live in the United States, but the best estimate seems to be 6 million, about the same number as Mormons in the country. As to convergences between the two, in his paper for the conference Prebish notes several, including the Mormon emphasis on individual morality, its prohibitions against alcohol and sex outside marriage, and making family rituals and celebrations the center of community life. To illustrate the connections, he points to the LDS 13th Article of Faith, which says Mormons "believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous and in doing good to all men." Those words easily could be the writings of a Buddhist expressing faith in the laity's five traditional vows: nonharming, truthfulness, nontheft, sexual propriety and avoidance of intoxicants, Prebish says. "Throw in a little cultivation of wisdom and compassion, and these two traditions seem to have remarkably similar moral frameworks." Then there's the idea of family. Unlike many Buddhist groups, the founder of Hirano's sect, Shinran Shonin, broke with Japan's monastic tradition in the 13th century, married and had children. The Utah group continues to attract families with children, as well as solitary practitioners. "Clearly, this temple provides a vibrant religious life for the Japanese American community of Salt Lake City," Prebish says, "offering infant presentation ceremonies, weddings, funerals, chanting and a series of services to celebrate various Buddhist holidays." Can funeral potatoes and Pioneer Day floats be far behind? pstack@sltrib.com" Target="_BLANK">pstack@sltrib.com Buddhist temples and congregations in Utah Cache Valley Sangha, Logan Cambodian Buddhist Temple, Salt Lake City, Theravada Tradition Chua Pho Quang. Salt Lake City, Vietnamese Unified Buddhist Church of Utah Chua Tam Bao. Salt Lake City, Vietnamese Buddhist Association of Utah Desert Lotus Sangha, St. George Honeyville Buddhist Temple, Jodo Shinshu Japanese Buddhist Churches of America Insight Meditation Vipassana, Salt Lake City, Theravada Tradition Kanzeon Zen Center, Salt Lake City, Japanese Soto Zen Layton Buddhist Temple and Meditation Center, Theravada Tradition Ogden Buddhist Church, Jodo Shinshu Japanese BCA Salt Lake Buddhist Temple, Jodo Shinshu Japanese BCA Salt Lake Buddhist Sangha, Vietnamese Zen Soka Gakkai, Salt Lake City Soka Gakkai, Southern Utah Thupten Choling, La Verkin, Tibetan Buddhist Practice Center Urgyen Samten Ling, Salt Lake City, Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism Utah Tibetan Association, Salt Lake City, Tibetan Buddhist Wasatch Zen Center, Salt Lake City Wat Dhammagunaram, Layton, Theravada Tradition Wat Lao Munisriratnaram, Salt Lake City, Theravada Tradition Source: http://www.utah-faiths.org/ © Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. 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