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AUTHORITY and ADAPTATION: a CASE STUDY in BRITISH BUDDHISM HELEN JEAN WATERHOUSE a Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfilment Of

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AUTHORITY and ADAPTATION: a CASE STUDY in BRITISH BUDDHISM HELEN JEAN WATERHOUSE a Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfilment Of AUTHORITY AND ADAPTATION: A CASE STUDY IN BRITISH BUDDHISM HELEN JEAN WATERHOUSE A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of the West of England, Bristol for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Bath College of Higher Education The University of the West of England February 1997 This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to the many Buddhists in Bath and up and down the country who have welcomed me at their meetings and in particular to those who have generously given their time to talk to me. In the course of researching and writing this thesis I have been supported, willingly or out of necessity, by many people. My sons, Alexander and James Waterhouse, did their best to endure the process philosophically and my mother, Jean Ball kept our household running smoothly. My sister, Marion Miller and loyal friends, Jane Briggs, Andria Bruce and Rita Bush tried to keep my endeavour in perspective and, I hope, largely succeeded. At BCHE Marion Bowman, Wendy Jermyn, Sally Allison and latterly, Michael York have been wonderfully supportive. I also owe a debt of gratitude to Michael Pye and Robert Mears for their timely advice and supervisory input. I am fortunate to have been associated with the Study of Religions Department at Bath at a time of growth and development. I gladly acknowledge the encouragement, inspiration and example of the Head of Department, Brian Bocking. His wise and compassionate supervision has brought me this far. 11 ABSTRACT Buddhism is transferring to Britain in a variety of contrasting forms which claim the authority of the traditions upon which they are based for the legitimation of practices and doctrines. The major part of this work is a detailed case study, based on fieldwork, of six such contrasting forms as they are represented in the city of Bath. These are, an eclectic group which is not formally affiliated to any one tradition, two groups which claim affiliation to Theravada monastic Buddhism but practice in divergent ways, a local group of the Japanese based Soka Gakkai, and two Tibetan derived forms of Buddhism. Chapter 1 introduces the phenomenon of Buddhism as practised by British people. Chapters 2 to 6 examine each of the six groups paying particular attention to the ways in which they are developing and adapting to British culture and the ways in which they legitimate such changes. Chapter 7 argues that the authority sources which the groups acknowledge determine how Buddhist practices and doctrines may be adapted and interpreted. The study achieves two objectives. First it extends knowledge about the practice of Buddhism by British people operating outside of the major Buddhist centres in Britain and second, it illustrates the importance of authority structures for individual practice and for the inevitable process of adaptation as Buddhism continues to adapt to British cultural norms. An understanding of the authority structures underlying contrasting forms of Buddhist practice is fundamental to an understanding of the ways in which Buddhism is adapting and also helps to explain sectarian attitudes which exist among groups making contrasting claims to legitimacy. The adaptation of roles played by women receives particular attention. in CONTENTS Acknowledgements ...................... Abstract .............................. PARTI Chapter 1: Introduction Introduction ......... The Theory ............................................... 1 The Objectives ............................................. 1 Methodology .................................................. 3 The Research Technology .................................... 3 The Case Study ............................................ 4 Underlying Assumptions and the Postmodern Challenge .............. 9 British Buddhism ............................................... 15 Numbers of British Buddhists ................................. 16 Group Trends ............................................ 18 Adaptation .................................................... 23 Recent Literature and the Spectrum of Adaptation ................. 23 Women and Buddhism ........................................... 32 Religious Authority ............................................. 35 Authority in the late twentieth century ............................... 37 Authority in Buddhism ........................................... 38 Faith ................................................... 43 IV PART II: THE CASE STUDY, BUDDHISM IN BATH Introduction .............................--••••••••••••--•••••• 47 Chapter 2: The Thai Theravada Meditation Group and the Bath Buddhist Group ............................. 48 Organization - The Thai Theravada Meditation Group .........-....-•••• 48 Organization - Bath Buddhist Group .........................••••••• 51 Relationships with other groups ............................... 57 Symbols ...................................................... 58 Doctrines ..................................................... 58 Practices ..................................................... 62 Experience .................................................... 66 Ethics ....................................................... 67 Gender ...................................................... 68 Adaptation .................................................... 72 Authority ..................................................... 73 Chapter 3: The House of Inner Tranquillity A Note on Methodology .......................................... 86 Organization .................................................. 88 Relationships with other groups ............................... 94 Symbols ...................................................... 95 Doctrines ..................................................... 95 Practices .................................................... Experience ............................................... Ethics ............................................ Gender ........................................ Adaptation ........................••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 104 Authority ...............................-........-••••-•-•••• 108 Chapter 4: Soka Gakkai Organization ................................................. 111 Relationship with other groups .....................-...-••••• 11# Symbols ..................................................... 124 Doctrines .................................................... 131 Practices .................................................... 132 Study .................................................. 133 Gongyo ................................................ 138 Faith .................................................. 141 Experience ................................................... 142 Ethics ...................................................... 145 Gender ..................................................... 149 Adaptation ................................................... 152 Authority .................................................... 157 Chapter 5: New Kadampa Tradition, Amitabha Centre Organization ................................................. 164 Ordination .............................................. 157 Marketing .............................................. 173 Finance ............................................... 174 Relationship with other groups ............................... 178 Symbols ..................................................... Doctrines .................................................. Practices .............................................. 197 Study ............................................... 197 vi Sadhanas ...............•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 202 Experience ...................................•••••••••••••••• 207 Ethics ...................................................... 211 Gender ..................................................... 212 Adaptation .......................................•••••••••••• 215 Authority ........................................-••••••••••• 219 Chapter 6: The Karma Pakshi Group Organization ................................................. 222 Finance ................................................ 227 Relationship with other groups ............................... 227 Symbols ..................................................... 229 Doctrines .................................................... 231 Practices .................................................... 235 Experience ................................................... 238 Ethics ...................................................... 239 Gender ..................................................... 240 Adaptation ................................................... 241 Authority .................................................... 242 The Karmapa dispute ...................................... 244 Personal experience ....................................... 250 Teachers ............................................... 251 The flexibility of tradition .................................. 253 The authority of lineage .................................... 255 vn PART III: ANALYSIS Chapter 7: Authority and Adaptation A Review of Authority Sources ......................-..•••••••••• 257 The Authority of Texts ................................•••••••••• 265 The Authority of Personal Experience .....................•••-••••• 269 Authority and Adaptation .......................................
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