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JANET McLELLAN, Many Petals of the Lotus, Five Asian Buddhist Communities in Toronto. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 264 p.
Many Petals of the Lotus is an apt title for a book that examines Japanese, Tibetan, Vietnamese, Cambodian and Chinese Buddhist communities, some of whom settled in Canada before the turn of the century, others of more recent origin. Written in a captivating way for a general audience, this book is based on research by a competent ethnographer, who employed participant observation, among other research methods, over several years. In this work McLellan incorporates a sociological and historical analysis as she examines the Canadian social dynamics which these newcomers faced, the role religion played in their resettlement and integration, and the changes their religious and social communities subsequently underwent. The author also considers the impact of increasing religious diversity on Canadian attitudes and public policy. For want of space, only three of these communities will be discussed very briefly.
The Japanese Buddhist community, one of the oldest, first arrived in Canada in the late 1880s. Today, it is distinguished by five generational groups, including new immigrants. The largest Japanese Buddhist community in Toronto is the Jodo Shinshfi, whose temple was established in the 1940s. Smaller Japanese Buddhist sects include Tenrikyo, Nichiren Shoshfi, Seichi-no-ie and Konkokyo.
Before World War II, the Jodo Shinshu temples in Canada were community institutions, providing important cultural and ethnic identity for Japanese immigrants and their Canadian-born children. From an early period, the community adopted terms, practices, organizational forms and cultural programs from Protestant Christianity to modernize and present Jodo Shinshu to the West. Canada, a predominately Christian society which equated Christianity with civilization, viewed Japanese immigrants as ripe for conversion. By 1920 religion became a divisive issue within the Japanese-Canadian community, the younger generation viewing Christianity as progressive and Buddhism as conservative.
Today, the...