Year: 2016
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This thesis concerns how the media, especially the Internet, influences Zen Buddhist practices and discourses in Norway.Various social networks, such as Facebook, make it possible to expand religious discourses and make them available all over the world.Not only are social networks on the Internet a means of communicating, but frequently, different sources related to Zen Buddhism are assuming media forms, being shared and commented on.By analyzing how the Rinzai Zen Center and the Norwegian Soto Zen Buddhist Order, two of the main Zen Buddhist communities in Norway apply media forms, I show how the Internet influences their practices and discourses.Most importantly, this is shown by how members from the two communities are relocating real-life discourses to the Internet, on Facebook.Furthermore, I have interviewed members from the two communities in order to give a more detailed account of how the members understand their own application of the Internet and other media forms.Zen Buddhists are spread throughout Norway, yet the majority of them are found in Oslo and Kristiansand.9 Rinzai Zen Center is located in Oslo, and is also a part of the Norwegian Association of Buddhists.10 Since there is no account of the exact number of members within each branch of Buddhism in Norway, I have chosen to use the number of members listed on the Facebook group and pages as an indication of the membership number, which is 78 members.11 They also have a public page which 193 subscribers.12 The members of RZC gather at small venue in Grønland, a district in the eastern part of Oslo.Due to the lack of other reliable sources, the information given on RZC's webpage will constitutes my main source on the history of RZC. 13 Since I am addressing the contemporary practice of this community, and the focus is on how the Internet is influencing their practices, I have chosen only to give a brief account and rather place an emphasis on the empirical part in this thesis.The center was initially established as Zen-Skolen 14 on the fourth of February in 1972.During the first years, the community consisted of meditation enthusiasts who discussed in what way they should establish a Norwegian form of Zen.In 1981, the community made connections with a Japanese Zen master named Joshu Sasaki Roshi, 15 who at that time was living in the United States and was associated with the Myoshin-ji school of Zen Buddhism.16 Joshu Sasaki Roshi stayed in Oslo in 1984 and 1986.The confrontation between traditional Japanese Zen and the Norwegian perception of Zen Buddhism resulted in a restructuring of the community and a changing of the name to Oslo Zazenkai.They decided to get in touch with Joshu Sasaki Roshi's disciple, the Austrian Zen master Genro Seiun, Osho.He visited Norway for the first time in 1988.Oslo Zazenkai constituted the foundation for traditional Rinzai Zen Buddhist 9 Defining who is or is not a Zen Buddhist is not a simple question, since some individuals may solely be interested in Zen Buddhist philosophy, literature or practice without being associated with a community, while still considering themselves as Zen Buddhists.In this thesis, however, individuals who are associated with RZC and NSZBO will constitute the main research subjects. 10The Norwegian Association of Buddhists (Buddhistforbundet) is an umbrella organization which tries to facilitate for its member groups to develop and execute its practice in a best suitable way within the regulations submitted by the association.They do also take care of and distribute the governmental guaranteed financial support given to every registered religious organization in Norway.Ref. http://buddhistforbundet.no/article/show/48/Om-Buddhistforbundet [read 10.
Author: Jonas Gabriel Berg
Language: English
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2613666096