Buddhism in the United States: Implications for Managers of Buddhist Values in the Workplace

Buddhism Americana is in full development. While it is structured on established Buddhist training practices and ancient Buddhist values, there is a Western-based interpretation of this ancient philosophy in development that is worth recognizing. This paper discusses the recent evolution of Buddhism in the United States with special reference to the contemporary workplace. The paper examines a number of implications of this evolution for managers in today's workplaces, which should be considered of particular significance since these implications fit in well with the contemporary trends of greater awareness, environmental sustainability, and increased social responsibility. Introduction This paper presents a literature review that was built on input provided by eight Buddhist scholars, all adhering to Tibetan Buddhism, yet representing two distinctly different cultures: four were from American origin, and four from Tibetan origin. The scholars were intende wed about the applicability of Buddhist practices in today's workplace. They all agreed that Buddhists will perform well in the workplace, but may do better in non-profit than in for-profit settings. Yet, an even more interesting insight surfaced as a result of the literature that was reviewed to support the scholars' statements: the evolution of Buddhism in the Western world, simply to be referred to in this paper as Buddhism Americana. For readers' orientation, I will first present a general overview of Buddhism, including a concise history, and then proceed with a brief review of Tibetan and American Buddhism. General Overview on Buddhism Buddhism, in this article, will be approached predominantly as a philosophy and not as a religion. This is not a unique perspective as will be illustrated through citations from multiple authors, and as the below-posted statement demonstrates: When we study Buddhism, we are studying ourselves, the nature of our own minds. Instead of focusing on a supreme being, Buddhism emphasizes more practical matter, such as how to lead our lives, how to integrate our minds, and how to keep our everyday lives peaceful and healthy. In other words, Buddhism always accentuates experiential knowledge-wisdom, rather than some dogmatic view. (Lama Yeshe, 1998, p. 5) Lama Yeshe (1998) points out that many Buddhist scholars don't see Buddhism as a religion in the conventional sense. He explains that, from many lamas' points of view, Buddhist teachings are often related to philosophy, science, or psychology. Johansen and Kopalakrishna (2006) concur with Lama Yeshe and many other Buddhist Lama's perspectives. They content that Buddhism presents a specific worldview and way of living that leads to personal understanding, happiness, and development. They describe Buddhism as a moral, ethical, value-based, scientific, educational system, that serves the purpose of enabling its obsen^ers to see things in their true nature, which will, in turn, help them get rid of suffering and attain happiness for themselves and others. Johansen and Kopalakrishna underscore that, although Buddhism allows for supernatural beings, it is non-theocratic. The Buddha is not worshipped as a god but revered as an enlightened teacher. Buddhism: Some Basic Concepts Currently, the two main Buddhist streams, as referred to by a majority of sources, are Theravada, also known as the teaching of the elders, predominantly centered in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, and Mahayana or great vehicle, mainly practiced in Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan. One of the most important differences between these two schools is, that Theravada teaches that only a precious few will ever attain enlightenment, while Mahayana teaches that enlightenment can be obtained by everyone, and that there are Buddha's all around us. These everyday Buddha's from the Mahayana teachings are called Bodhisattva's (enlightened beings). They focus on giving, morality, patience, vigor, meditation, and wisdom, and are compassionate. …