Buddhism has become a major religion in Canada over the last half-century. The 'ethnic Buddhism' associated with immigrant Asian people is the most important aspect, but there is also a growing constituency of Euro-Canadian Buddhists seriously interested in the faith. This insightful study analyzes the phenomenon of Buddhism in Canada from a regional perspective. The work provides an important examination of the place of Buddhism in a developed western country associated with a traditional Judeo-Christian culture, but undergoing profound sociological transformation due to large-scale immigration and religio-cultural pluralism. It is a valuable text for students of religion, Buddhism and North American Studies.
Foreword Paul Bramadat Preface Bruce Matthews Buddhism in British Columbia James Placzek and Larry DeVreis Buddhism in Alberta Leslie Kawamura Buddhism in Saskatchewan and Manitoba James G. Mullens Buddhist Diversity in Ontario Kay Koppedrayer and Mavis L. Fenn Buddhism in the Greater Toronto Area: The Politics of Recognition Janet McLellan Lao Buddhism in Toronto: A Case Study of Community Relations Mary Beth White Buddhism in Québec Louis-Jacques Dorais Blurred Boundaries: Buddhist Communities in the Greater Montréal Region Mathieu Boisvert, Manuel Litalien and Francois Thibeault Buddhism in Atlantic Canada Bruce Matthews Appendix: Buddhismcanada.com, a Decade in Cyber-Samsara George Klima
Biography
Bruce Matthews is the Dean of Arts and C.B. Lumsden Professor of Comparative Religion at Arcadia University, Nova Scotia, Canada. A former Commonwealth scholar in Buddhist Civilization at the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya (1970-71), he has a long-standing interest in Buddhism and the modern world.
'[T]he benchmark for all later studies of Buddhism in Canada.' - G. Victor Hori, Studies in Religion, 36/2, 2007
