Becoming A Zen Practitioner*

This paper is concerned with the processes of conversion-commitment to a new religious forro and how it is actually accomplished by the individual. Physiological consequences of meditative practices are seen as neglected by sociologists and as important for shedding light on how one becomes in this case a Zen practitioner. Becker's analysis of the learning involved in becoming a marijuana user is applied to the case of the person beginning Zen meditation anda striking similarity is found. Some observations on the differences between the processes of conversion-commitment in Zen meditation and other cases found in the literature are made. One of the major concerns of sociologists with the new religions is understanding who joins them and how or why they come to do it. What are the actual processes or condi-tions involved in converting to a new religious form and increasing one's commitment to it? One influential model for thinking along these lines is Lofland and Stark (1965) which treats conversion and commitment asa process of becoming deviant. Lofland (1966) used this in his study of the early Unification Church. Other groups that use a similarly skepti-cal approach to new religions are those who are interested in the potentially dangerous and coercive aspects of cult-like groups. While there is a growing literature using a coerciv