2006 Articles

Constructing Buddhism(s): Interreligious Dialogue and Religious Hybridity

Bender, Courtney; Cadge, Wendy

This paper presents data from interviews with senior Catholic and Buddhist nuns living in the United States who participated in an interreligious dialogue. We focus on how Catholic nuns develop, appropriate, and adapt Buddhist forms and ideas in their daily religious practices and how Buddhist nuns respond. We describe and analyze three distinct discursive constructions of Buddhism that Catholic and Buddhist nuns draw upon, and discuss the significance of these constructions for members of both traditions as they think about their groups' futures. This material contributes to research on religious syncretism, appropriation, and the hybrid nature of religious traditions in practice.