About 1 in 100 American adults is Buddhist. Pew counted about 4.4 million Buddhists in the United States in 2020, children included.
Ask most Americans to picture a Buddhist and they’ll describe a calm white guy on a meditation app. The numbers tell a different story. Pew found that 64% of American Buddhist adults are Asian, 21% are white and 8% are Hispanic. About half were born in Asia, most often in Vietnam, China or Thailand.
So the typical Buddhist on your street is more likely to be a Vietnamese American grandmother than a podcast host. She’s also less likely to sell you a course.
What the Buddha taught
Buddhism traces back to Siddhartha Gautama, a teacher in ancient India. Buddhists call him the Buddha, which means “the awakened one.” He is honored as a teacher, not worshipped as the creator God.
At the center of his teaching are the Four Noble Truths:
- Life involves suffering, or deep dissatisfaction.
- Suffering comes from craving and clinging.
- Suffering can end. That ending is called nirvana.
- The way to end it is the Eightfold Path: right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration.
All schools of Buddhism accept these. After that, they branch out.
Many kinds of Buddhists
Buddhism spread across Asia over centuries and took on local shape everywhere it went. Very roughly:
- Theravada Buddhism is common in Sri Lanka and much of Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.
- Mahayana Buddhism is common in China, Vietnam, Korea and Japan. It includes Zen and Pure Land.
- Tibetan Buddhism, often called Vajrayana, comes from Tibet and the Himalayas.
American temples often serve one community and one language. A Thai temple in Phoenix may feel very different from a Korean temple in Los Angeles.
Meditation varies
Many Americans assume all Buddhists meditate for hours. Practice varies a lot. In many Asian American temples, practice centers on chanting, offerings, honoring ancestors and supporting monks and nuns. In many convert communities, sitting meditation is the main event. Plenty of people do some of both.
Buddhist by family, Buddhist by choice
Pew found 48% of American Buddhist adults were not raised Buddhist. They chose it. Meanwhile, many people raised Buddhist no longer call themselves Buddhist. And plenty of Asian Americans feel close to Buddhism for family or cultural reasons without calling it their religion.
So if a neighbor says, “I’m sort of Buddhist,” believe them. That’s a real answer.
Try it on
When you picture a Buddhist, whose face comes to mind? Did you see your neighbor, or an ad?