Across the 1970s and 1980s, Western converts build Buddhism's permanent institutions in the West: meditation centers of the Insight movement, Zen centers in the lineages carried by immigrant teachers and Western disciples, and Tibetan centers founded by refugee lamas, joined by a publishing culture that carries the texts.
Tagged: Buddhist Mahayana Secular Buddhism Zen
The Event
- Date
- 1970s–1980s (approximate)
- Era
- Modern; Standard periodization of Buddhist history
- Location
- United States and Europe; today United States and Europe
- Traditions
- Buddhism
- Streams
- Secular Buddhism, Mahayana, Zen
- Key figures
- Jack Kornfield, Shunryu Suzuki, Chogyam Trungpa
Primary Sources
- The records of the Western centers
Secondary Sources
- Lopez, The Story of Buddhism: A Concise Guide to Its History and Teachings (HarperOne, 2001)
- Snelling, The Buddhist Handbook (Inner Traditions, 1998)
Provenance: HIST-0437; confidence 0.85; accessed 2026-10-27.
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