Other Religion Commons^™

Buddhist Values And Ordinary Life Among Members Of The Toronto Zen Buddhist Temple, Patricia Q. Campbell

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This paper considers the relationship between ordinary life and religious commitment among twelve convert Buddhist practitioners who were members of the Zen Buddhist Temple in Toronto, Canada. Their experiences are investigated from the perspective of Charles Taylor's theories on the affirmation of ordinary life. Taylor argues that a tension exists between ordinary life and religious values in North American society. The paper's objective is to discover how interview participants balanced the demands of ordinary life (i.e. those aspects of life relating to family and vocation) and their commitment to a religious tradition that emphasizes renunciation, contemplation and monasticism. The study …