This is the first scholarly treatment of the emergence of American Buddhist Studies as a significant research field. Until now, few investigators have turned their attention to the interpretive challenge posed by the presence of all the traditional lineages of Asian Buddhism in a consciously multicultural society. Nor have scholars considered the place of their own contributions as writers, teachers, and practising Buddhists in this unfolding saga. In thirteen chapters and a critical introduction to the field, the book treats issues such as Asian American Buddhist identity, the new Buddhism, Buddhism and American culture, and the scholar's place in American Buddhist Studies. The volume offers complete lists of dissertations and theses on American Buddhism and North American dissertations and theses on topics related to Buddhism since 1892.

Part 1 Asian American Buddhist Identities; Chapter 1 Issues of Ethnicity in the Buddhist Churches of America, Kenneth K. Tanaka; Chapter 2 Japanese American Zen Temples: Cultural Identity and Economics, Senry? Asai, Duncan Ry?ken Williams; Chapter 3 Placing Palms Together: Religious and Cultural Dimensions of the Hsi Lai Temple Political Donations Controversy, Stuart Chandler; Chapter 4 Ritual and the Performance of Buddhist Identity among Lao Buddhists in North America, Penny Van Esterik; Part 2 Profiling the New Buddhists; Chapter 5 Night-Stand Buddhists and Other Creatures: Sympathizers, Adherents, and the Study of Religion, Thomas A. Tweed; Chapter 6 The New Buddhism: Some Empirical Findings, James William Coleman; Chapter 7 Supply and Demand: The Appeal of Buddhism in America, Phillip Hammond, David Machacek; Part 3 Modes of Dharma Transmission; Chapter 8 Local Inter-Buddhist Associations in North America, Paul David Numrich; Chapter 9 The Pacific Buddha's Wild Practice: Gary Snyder's Environmental Ethic, Charles R. Strain; Chapter 10 The Internet as Window onto American Buddhism, Richard P. Hayes; Part 4 The Scholar's Place in American Buddhist Studies; Chapter 11 The Academic Study of Buddhism in America: A Silent Sangha, Charles Prebish; Chapter 12 Buddhist Studies at Naropa: Sectarian or Academic?, Robert E. Goss; Chapter 13 Buddhist Worlds in the U.S.A.: A Survey of the Territory, Richard Hughes Seager;