The choosing people: Constructing Jewish Buddhist identity in America

Evidence suggests that Jews comprise an overwhelmingly disproportionate number of American Buddhist converts. This study examines this phenomenon, exploring the identity construction and lived experiences of Jewish individuals who identify with Buddhism. Through in-depth, unstructured interviews with fifteen individuals, supplemented by textual sources, the study investigates the ways self-identified Jewish Buddhists characterize their own identities, examining the nature of both their Buddhist and Jewish identities, and the relationships between the two. Using a journey motif, the research explores the roles these identities play in their lives, how they came about, and how they continue to evolve. The Jewish individuals in this study moved from processes of Seeking Meaning to Finding Something that Resonates to Creating Their Own Paths of Meaning.Unstructured interviews and constructivist grounded theory are key tools for understanding Jewish identity as it is lived and constructed by individuals today. Identities are multiple, evolving, and variable. Individuals are the arbiters of meaning. They seek, choose, and follow paths and traditions based on personal meaning and relevance. They choose how to connect to being Jewish, which parts of Buddhist teachings fit with what they are seeking and what makes sense for them, and how the two traditions fit into their lives and identities. The analysis uses the literature from social scientific studies of Jewish identity as well as studies of lived religiosity and American Buddhism. This study follows the trend in the scholarship that calls for elimination of reified categories and distinct boundaries. It moves beyond a dichotomous conception of identity as either ascribed or achieved. The themes and theory from this research contribute to the body of literature on Jewish identity as well as the growing literature on lived religions. The research explores the creative capacities of lived religiosity and the dynamic nature of identity and identity construction in America today.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Calgary (Canada), 2009.School code: 0026