Seager, Richard Hughes. Buddhism in America. New York: Columbia UP, 1999. Print.

I searched in the Lafayette College Library catalogue for “American Buddhism” because I am very interested in learning more about America’s perception of Buddhism, and how that perception has changed over the centuries. I am aware how America’s perception of Buddhism is, in some cases, different than how it is actually practiced in Asia, and I would like to know more about where the view that has been popularized in America derived from. When I did my search, Seager’s book was the fifth book to come up. I scrolled through the other pages of results, but this book seemed to be the best fit for what I was looking for.

The cover of the book depicts a modern women praying, making it appear that the book contains information about Buddhism in the contemporary world. The book is divided into three sections: “Background”, “Major Traditions”, and “Selected Issues”. The first section gives information about the development of Buddhism and the Three Vehicles-Mahyana, Theraveda, and Vajrayana. The second section discusses contemporary, Americanized Buddhist traditions, such as meditation. The third section discusses issues of Buddhism in American society, such as the different roles of men and women. Moreover, this book also contains a bibliography with separate book and internet sources, that will be useful if I choose to write my paper on this topic.

While looking for this book in the shelves of the library, I noticed other books around it that related to Buddhism. I did not see any other books that had to do with Buddhism in America, but I did see other books about the religious practices of Buddhism. I am mostly interested in how Buddhism is perceived and how it has adapted to fit in with American culture, so this book seems like it would be helpful to gain more insight into this topic.