Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs in America: A Short History

The religions featured in this book have all been transplanted to the United States from homelands in Asia. As in botany, transplantation does not mean exact duplication; it involves transformation. Plants grow differently in a new soil and climate. For example, I was once served Thai pumpkin at a Thai Buddhist temple in Chicago; when I asked my host whether Thai pumpkins grown in America taste the same as those grown in Thailand, he did not hesitate to answer, “No!” Like plants raised in other soil, then transplanted to a new environment, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism are evolving in new ways in America’s cultural environment. They are being Americanized in ways welcomed by some people within the religions but lamented by others. Change is inevitable.

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Keywords: Buddhism Comes to America, Hindus Come to America, Hindu Temples, American Sikhism Evolves