This panel illuminates how practitioners mobilize Buddhist pasts to imagine alternative futures across diasporic contexts. The first two papers trace the overlooked history of Chinese American Buddhist communities and their devotional practices. The first author highlights the role of small private Chinese temples in introducing Buddhism to the United States. The second presenter uncovers the gradual and relational engagement with Buddhism by contemporary adolescent second-generation Asian Americans of Chinese ancestry. The third and fourth papers show how feminist, trans, and nonbinary practitioners reimagine gender, embodiment, and belonging in Buddhist communities. The third presenter analyzes the history of veneration towards Guanyin in the United States to show how she has been embraced by feminist and transgender practitioners. The fourth author examines how trans and non-binary practitioners in the UK Triratna Buddhist Community negotiate the gender norms of both Triratna and UK law.
The temple built by the Sze Yap association in San Francisco in 1853 is frequently cited as the first Buddhist temple in the United States. This paper examines the uncritical application of the syncretic Three Teachings framework, a presumed blend of Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism, and its influence on the study of early Chinese Buddhism in the United States. By reexamining the institutional roles of district associations (huiguan), such as the Sze Yao association, and other mutual aid organizations, this paper highlights the underappreciated role of smaller, privates temples in introducing Buddhism to the United States. This paper attempts to shed light on the Chinese pioneers who enshrined the first Buddhist icons in privately-owned temples, including the temples of Li Xiyi and Li Putai in San Francisco, Wong Nim’s temple in San Bernadino, and the family complexes of the Wong clan, all of which enshrined images of the goddess Guanyin.
How do second-generation Asian American youth engage with Buddhism while growing up in temple communities? Drawing on ethnographic interviews with adolescents participating in youth programs at Hsi Lai Temple in Southern California, this paper examines how young participants understand their relationship to Buddhism through volunteering, peer relationships, temple activities, and shared ethical values. The findings show that participation in Buddhist youth programs does not necessarily produce clear religious identification. While some youth identify as Buddhist, others relate to Buddhism primarily as cultural heritage, ethical orientation, or community belonging. At the same time, temple leaders describe youth programs through the framework of Humanistic Buddhism as skillful means designed to attract youth through activities and relationships before introducing Buddhist teachings more deeply. The paper argues that Buddhist identity among second-generation Asian American adolescents of Chinese ancestry develops through gradual and relational engagement rather than through formal religious identification.
In this presentation, I analyze the history of the worship of Kuan-yin in the United States. I also look at how and why this figure has been embraced by many feminists and those who identify as transgender to evaluate potential futures centered around this bodhisattva.
In 2025, the UK Supreme Court ruled that "sex" in the 2010 Equality Act refers exclusively to biological sex. For the Triratna Buddhist Community, one of the UK's largest Buddhist movements, organized in significant part along a “single-sex” binary, this ruling has introduced a series of ethical, cultural and institutional dilemmas. This paper traces how a self-described modern Buddhist movement came to deeply encode gender into its workings. It considers the historical, cultural and idiosyncratic forces, including the legacy of its founder Sangharakshita, that shaped this framework, and the challenges that now confront Triratna. Particular attention is given to trans and non-binary practitioners already ordained or on the ordination training path, and most directly impacted. The paper argues that these developments accelerate generational, hermeneutic and organizational reckonings within a complex global community, and raise a number of analytical questions pertaining to concepts of modernity and tradition in the Buddhist world.