proselytize themselves as part of their ongoing practice. The Soka Gakkai group, a
devotional Buddhist sect born in the 1930s and whose practice is based on the
recitation of a simple canonical chant, is typical of Evangelical Buddhism (Nattier
1998). Defined by its ethnicity, Ethnic Buddhism is the cultural legacy of Asian
immigrants who traveled to the United States in search of new opportunities, such
as jobs and better educational and economic opportunities for their children. These
immigrants simply brought their religion along with them and continued to practice
it in communal fashion (Nattier 1998).
Old-line Asian American Buddhists, native-born converts, and new-wave Asian
immigrant Buddhists with a large gulf between them make up yet another
three-category typology of American Buddhists (Seager 1999). Old-line Asian
American Buddhists are descendants of the first wave of Asian immigrants who sought
better futures in the United States. Nativeborn converts tend to be educated, and to
have characteristics similar to those described for white, Euro-American, and Elite
Buddhists. Due to war and political upheaval in their countries of birth, many
new-wave Asian immigrant Buddhists have come to the United States as refugees
(Seager 1999).
In the United States, the most likely psychotherapists and clients in therapy who
also practice Zen meditation will be white, middle-class, educated, of European
descent, and will belong to a group that is organized around a non-proselytizing Asian
or American Zen teacher (Finn and Rubin 1999; Imamura 1998). Lacking solid,
trusting community and extended family ties, these clients and/or therapists will most
likely have joined the Zen group as isolated individuals attempting to create an
artificial community (Imamura 1998), and will have a commitment to Zen Buddhist
practice that goes far beyond intellectual curiosity or leisure pursuit.
Lay, contemplative, Euro-American or Elite Zen Buddhists tend to be far more
interested in the connections between Western psychology and Buddhism than
Ethnic Buddhists (Imamura 1998). At the same time, as clients, they may view their
need for psychotherapy as a failure of their meditation practice, and therefore feel a
‘specifically Buddhist shame around seeking psychotherapeutic help’ (Finn and Rubin
1999:328).
Need-based motives for coming to meditation practice do not seem to differ from
the motives of non-meditators who seek psychotherapy. Loneliness, alienation,
existential angst, the yearning to belong, death of loved ones, separation and
abandonment issues are among the most common motives to join Buddhist
meditation practice (Gopfert 1999; Imamura 1998; Finn and Rubin 1999; Kapleau
1989; Kornfield 1993b; Muzika 1990; Welwood 2000).
Also present are the desire to overcome early emotional losses, restore a fragile sense
of self, and heal addictions; the presence of self-hatred, disturbing thoughts and
feelings; and the tendency to provide a rationale for self-punishment and for
submissiveness to authority (Finn and Rubin 1999). Many meditation practitioners
seek freedom from behavioral, cognitive, or affective confinement and wish to
enhance their potential and discover a larger meaning in their life (Watson 1996).
Suffering from feelings of inner emptiness, some meditation practitioners may
AMERICAN ZEN AND
PSYCHOTHERAPY 149