In the 1990s, a new form of popular Americanized Buddhism emerged with the publicity of celebrity followers like Richard Gere and Tina Turner. At the same time, new generations of Asian American Buddhists continued to grow and shape their traditions.... Read more about Popularizing Buddhism

After the outbreak of the Pacific War between the United States and Japan in 1941, Japanese Americans who had already put down roots in America—citizens and noncitizens alike—were sent to internment camps. The internment crisis lasted from 1942 until 1946 and fundamentally reshaped Japanese Buddhist institutions, such as the Buddhist Churches of America, which afterward attempted to “Protestantize” Buddhist temples and organizations.... Read more about Internment Crisis

The 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions, held at that year's Chicago World’s Fair, gave Buddhists from Sri Lanka and Japan the chance to describe their own traditions to an audience of curious Americans. Some stressed the universal characteristics of Buddhism, and others criticized anti-Japanese sentiment in America.... Read more about At the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions

On the East Coast, interest in Buddhism rose in the 1870s through the influence of prominent figures like Henry David Thoreau and H.P. Blavatsky, who founded the Theosophical Society with Henry Steel Olcott. Many of these East Coast Buddhists drew spiritual inspiration from what they considered “exotic” or “ancient” Buddhist texts and ideas.... Read more about East Coast Buddhists

Anti-Chinese rhetoric in San Francisco and throughout the American West culminated in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Japanese immigrants also faced hostility; by 1924, the exclusionary policy was expanded to include quotas that further restricted the entry of immigrants seen as nonwhite. ... Read more about Discrimination and Exclusion

Buddhism first entered America in the middle of the 19th century when Chinese workers arrived in Hawaii and the West Coast. Japanese immigrants began to arrive in the late 19th century. Both groups soon built Buddhist temples in America; by 1875, there were eight temples in San Francisco’s Chinatown.... Read more about Buddhists in the American West

In the 5th century BCE, Siddhartha Gautama became Buddha (“the Awakened One”); his teachings would spread throughout Asia and the world. The two main contemporary streams of Buddhism are the Theravada and Mahayana traditions, with Vajrayana, a subset of Mahayana, sometimes recognized as a third stream.... Read more about The Path of Awakening

Emerging in the early centuries CE and flourishing in East Asia, the Mahayana tradition allows for the flexibility of the scriptural canon and forms of practice and considers itself open to a broader group of people than other streams of Buddhism. It encourages its followers to become bodhisattvas, dedicated to the salvation of all sentient beings. ... Read more about Mahayana: The Great Vehicle

The Theravada school of Buddhism took root in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Its major characteristics include the importance of Pali Canon of scripture and commentary; the veneration of the historical Shakyamuni Buddha; and the spiritual model of the arahat, or “worthy ones” who have attained nirvana.... Read more about Theravada: The Way of the Elders

As Buddhism spread through Asia, it formed distinct streams of thought and practice: the Theravada ("The Way of the Elders" in South and Southeast Asia), the Mahayana (the “Great Vehicle” in East Asia), and the Vajrayana (the “Diamond Vehicle” in Tibet), a distinctive and vibrant form of Mahayana Buddhism that now has a substantial following.
... Read more about The Expansion of Buddhism

All Buddhists “take refuge” in the Three Treasures—Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha—but interpretations of these Three Treasures differ widely across Buddhist traditions. ... Read more about The Three Treasures

The Buddha established the Sangha— originally a community of celibate monks and nuns who follow strict discipline and teach the Dharma to fellow Buddhists. Some consider the Sangha to include both monastics and Buddhist laypeople.... Read more about The Sangha: The Buddhist Community

After achieving enlightenment, the Buddha gave his first sermon, teaching his disciples about suffering and the way to escape it. This teaching includes the Middle Way, the Four Noble Truths, and the Eightfold Noble Path. The truths that the Buddha revealed are called Dharma.... Read more about The Dharma: The Teachings of the Buddha

Under the Bodhi Tree, Siddhartha defeated the demon Mara. Siddhartha attained nirvana, the “blowing out” of the flames of desire. In that moment Siddhartha became the Buddha ("the Awakened One"), and he is now called Shakyamuni Buddha, the “Sage of the Shakya Clan.”... Read more about Becoming the “Buddha”: The Way of Meditation

Living in luxury, the young Prince Siddhartha traveled outside his palace and encountered the Four Sights: an old person, a sick person, a dead person, and a wandering ascetic. He left his royal life to live in the forest, and he began his training in meditation and asceticism in hopes of discovering the root of human suffering. Rejecting the luxury of the palace and the self-denial of the forest-dwelling ascetics, he chose to pursue a "middle way" between the two extremes.... Read more about Prince Siddhartha: Renouncing the World