Collective identity and sacred space: a study of seven zen communities in northern California

Abstract

This thesis is a religious ethnography which utilizes the landscape, architecture and objects created by and found within seven Zen Center communities to understand the norms and operation of this subculture, both in its own terms and in terms of the way in which it differs from and interacts with the dominant American culture. ☐ Following a brief history of Buddhism in the introduction, the Zen Center communities are discussed in three chapters. Chapter One, The Zen Environment, treats the physical environment (which includes community sites, architectural and functional layouts, landscaping and gardens, natural landscape features and characteristics, and the derivation and meaning of component parts). The second chapter, The Zen Life, presents the religious practices and philosophical premises of the seven communities and discusses their choice and use of objects. The third chapter focuses on Zen structures, both new and adapted, as the physical embodiment of an amalgamated (American and Japanese Buddhist) cultural tradition. (Abstract from ProQuest citation page.)