Questions of Identity among 'Buddhist Quakers

Quaker Studies Volume 6 | Issue 1 Article 5 2002 Questions of Identity among 'Buddhist Quakers' Klaus Huber Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/quakerstudies Part of the Christian Denominations and Sects Commons, and the History of Christianity Commons Recommended Citation Huber, Klaus (2002) "Questions of Identity among 'Buddhist Quakers'," Quaker Studies: Vol. 6: Iss. 1, Article 5. Available at: http://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/quakerstudies/vol6/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ George Fox University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Quaker Studies by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ George Fox University. For more information, please contact . QUAKER STUDIES 6!1 (2001) [80-105] HUBER QUESTIONS OF IDENTITY group to Buddhism and where they see connections and differences between Quakerism and Buddhism. In March, I posted 32 of the questionnaires to Charney Manor Quaker Guest House in Oxfordshire who forwarded them to the participants of a seminar on Buddhism that had taken place there in November 1998. QUESTIONS OF IDENTITY AMONG 'BUDDHIST QUAKERS'* Seventeen questionnaires were filled in and returned. In April, the survey was advertised with a letter to the editor in The Friend, resulting in 25 enquiries. Additional snowball sampling accounted Klaus Huber London, England for 5 more questionnaires being sent out. Out of these 30 questionnaires, 24 were filled in and returned. Altogether, 41 (out of 62 approached) responded to the survey. The survey was followed up by semi-structured long interviews with eight respondents, conducted between February and July 2000. ABSTRACT One of the questions in the postal questionnaire asked respondents about their self-identification: This paper is focused on a survey of Quakers who regard Buddhism as the major source of their spirituality, with the aim of establishing how it is possible to be a 'Buddhist Quaker'. It will be argued that there are two distinct groups of survey respondents: 'Quaker Buddhists' and 'semi-Buddhist Quakers' who differ in their self-identification. Tendencies and influences within both groups will be discussed along with their respective choice of spiritual resources, their meditation practices and their belief patterns. It will be observed that Quaker Buddhists have established stronger roots in Buddhism, whereas semi-Buddhist Quakers remain closer to British Quaker orthodoxy. This observation will be explained in the context of respondents' self-identification, and the character and degree of the whole sample's dual identity will be discussed. Would you describe yourself rather as . . . (a) . ..a Quaker (b) . .. a Buddhist (c) . . . a Quaker and a Buddhist, or (d) . . .neither of these. Sixteen respondents described themselves 'rather as a Quaker' and 20 'rather as a Quaker and a Buddhist'. I suggest to use the term 'semi-Buddhist Quakers' (from now on also referred to as 'SBQs') for respondents who identify 'rather as Quakers' and the term 'Quaker Buddhists' (from now on also referred to as 'QBs') for respondents who identify 'rather as a Quaker KEYWORDS and a Buddhist', and I will refer to the whole sample as 'Buddhist Quakers'. I should point out here that all these terms are only working terms, and Quakers, Buddhism, identity, meditation, belief, Buddhist Quakers respondents would not necessarily describe themselves in this way. Jim Pym, who could, according to my terminology, be described as an Introduction From March to July 1999, I carried out a survey among 'Quakers (including attenders) who regard Buddhism as the major source of their spirituality', 1 using a postal questionnaire. The aim was to establish what attracts this outspoken 'Quaker Buddhist', writes: I was a Buddhist when I joined the [Religious J Society [of Friends], and have remained one ever since. However I am not a Buddhist/Quaker or a Quaker/ Buddhist. I do not think there is any such thing. I am a Buddhist and a Quaker. I feel that probably makes me both a Buddhist and a Christian; or possibly neither. Labels are not important-unless you want them to be (Pym 1999: 8). * Based on a paper presented to the Worship in Birmingham Project Annual Conference, University of Birmingham, June 2000. 1. Quote from the Letter to the Editor, The Friend, 16 April 1999, by which the survey was advertised; the expression was also used in the covering letter to respondents differ in their self-identification, but also in the choice of spiritual resources, of the Charney Manor sample. their meditation practices and in their belief patterns. Whilst both groups As will be shown, the two sub-samples of SBQs and QBs do not only 81 QUAKER STUDIES HUBER QUESTIONS OF IDENTITY have left the framework of traditional Quaker Christianity, SBQs are closer • to contemporary Quaker orthodoxy, whereas QBs have established com • paratively strong roots in Buddhism and use the Quaker community as a cultural rather than a spiritual home. The different self-identification among Buddhist Quakers raises several • cultural identification intellectual knowledge familiarity with writings • attendance of worship or meditation groups, and • other spiritual practices (reading, individual meditation, etc.). By replacing 'language use' with 'spiritual patterns', Miemois' model questions: First, which factors determine a respondent's decision to identify as either 'rather a Quaker' or 'rather a Quaker and a Buddhist'? Second, does would explain the self-identification of Buddhist Quakers in Britain as follows (c£ Miemois 1980: 10): the difference in respondents' self-identification correlate with differences in their belief patterns or spiritual practice? And last but not least, do SBQs EXTERNAL FACTORS \ differently relate to Quakerism and/or Buddhism than QBs? The field of religious or spiritual self-identification in the context of dual religious affiliation is still under-researched. In his sociological analysis of contemporary British Quakerism, Pink Dandelion (1996) focuses on corporate identity and makes no investigation into dual membership or dual affiliation of individual Friends. Despite the fact that the journal Concilium recently dedicated an entire issue (2/2000) to identity, the contributions are of little significance for the present study, the most helpful being Albert Musschenga's article (Musschenga 2000) that offers a basic introduction to SELF-IDENTIFICATION the current identity discussion. /j The virtual absence of material forces the researcher to look beyond the discipline of the sociology of religion. The study of bilinguity is the most obvious field of research that could offer models and theories relevant to Present spiritual patterns in the family the present study, because Buddhist Quakers can be described as 'spiritually bilingual'. They share with bilingual people that they draw (...truncated)