“dharma years,” that is, the number of Lenten seasons
since full ordination.
When the many particular rules have been inter-
nalized, the intended result is a dignified demeanor
(lryapatha; Chinese, weiyi), a kind of self-possession of
the body and its robes. Buddhist monastic guides reveal
an elaborate regime of bodily control, especially a mind-
ful control of the hands; there are rules against flapping
the arms around, standing with arms akimbo, carelessly
scratching or blowing one’s nose when in the presence
of superiors, tickling people, and so on. Etiquette should
also be controlled at meal times; the PRATIMOKSA(the
list of monastic precepts, a set of vows assumed as part
of the ordination process) includesrules against, for ex-
ample, licking the fingers, scraping the bowl with fin-
gers, or sticking the tongue out. The activities of seeing,
pointing, and touching are also strongly rule-governed.
The mastery of etiquette is part of a more encompass-
ing effort to mindfully discipline the entire body, as well
as speech and mind.
In some of its modern American versions, Buddhism
seems opposed to any emphasis on etiquette, standing
instead for spontaneity and an egalitarian rejection of
all distinctions. Indeed, CHAN SCHOOLdiscourse has
played with violations of etiquette. However, the non-
dualist rejection of distinctions and the suspension of
the assumed norms are only meaningful in terms of
shared social norms. Buddhist monasteries are the sites
of intensified rather than inverted etiquette, and some
highly refined forms of social behavior, such as the
tea ceremony, have often spread through the medium
of Buddhism.
See also:Precepts; Robes and Clothing
Bibliography
Buswell, Robert E., Jr. The Zen Monastic Experience.Princeton,
NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992.
Dogen. Dogen’s Pure Standards for the Zen Community: A Trans-
lation of the Eihei Shingi,tr. Taigen Daniel Leighton and
Shohaku Okumura. Albany: State University of New York,
1996.
Hurvitz, Leon. “ ‘Render Unto Caesar’ in Early Chinese Bud-
dhism.” Sino-Indian Studies(Liebenthal Festschrift) 5, no. 3–4
(1957): 81–114.
Prip-Møller, Johannes. Chinese Buddhist Monasteries: Their Plan
and Its Function as a Setting for Buddhist Monastic Life.Lon-
don: Oxford University Press, 1937.
ERICREINDERSEUROPEAt the beginning of the twenty-first century, the pres-
ence of Buddhism in Europe is characterized by a di-
versity of traditions, schools, orders, and lineages.
Since the 1970s interest in Buddhism among Euro-
peans has grown steadily, accompanied by the arrival
of Buddhist refugees and immigrants from Asian
countries. Of Europe’s estimated one million Bud-
dhists, about two-thirds are of Asian ancestry. Never-
theless, Buddhism’s public face in Europe and its
representation in the media are dominated by convert
Buddhists, leaving migrant Buddhists for the most part
unseen and unrecognized.The beginning of Buddhism in Europe can be dated
to the mid-nineteenth century, though fragmentary in-
formation about Buddhist customs and concepts had
trickled into Europe since the seventeenth century.
From the 1850s onward, Europe witnessed a boom of
translations of Buddhist works, as well as studies and
portraits of Buddhism. European philosophers and
scholars such as Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860),
Thomas W. Rhys Davids (1843–1922), and Hermann
Oldenberg (1854–1920) helped spread Buddhist con-
cepts through their treatises and translations. These
scholars clearly favored the teachings of the Pali
CANON, which they assumed to be pure and original.
The first converted European Buddhists appeared dur-
ing the 1880s in response to these studies; most con-
verts were educated middle-class men. In accordance
with the dominance of Pali Buddhist ideas, a few young
men from England and Germany became THERAVADA
monks in Burma (Myanmar) and Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
Most prominent among these were Bennett McGregor
(1872–1923), who was ordained as Ananda Metteyya
in 1902, and Anton W. F. Gueth (1878–1957), who was
ordained as Nyanatiloka in 1904.Ethical and intellectual interest in the teachings of
Theravada Buddhism gained organizational momen-
tum in Europe with the founding of new Buddhist so-
cieties. The first of these was the Society for the
Buddhist Mission in Germany, formed by the Indolo-
gist Karl Seidenstücker (1876–1936) in Leipzig in 1903.
Through lectures, pamphlets, and books, the first pro-
fessed Buddhists tried to win members from the edu-
cated middle and upper strata of society. During the
1920s further Buddhist societies and parishes evolved,
many with the support of the Ceylonese reformer ANA-
GARIKADHARMAPALA(1864–1933). Leading Buddhists
included Georg Grimm (1868–1945) and Paul DahlkeEUROPE