These alumni are high achievers by any reasonable standard. Trent is publishing a book on Cambodian Buddhist chanting, Shari sits as vice-president for academic affairs at a Buddhist university, while David has undertaken novice precepts in pursuit of a lifelong monastic vocation. Not only are they committed practitioners, these individuals have fully immersed themselves—and their careers—in both Buddhism and Buddhist institutions. But I was even more intrigued by something else these young Buddhists had in common: each one of them has in the past served as a leader of the student-led Buddhist Community at Stanford.

A young Buddhist myself, I had gone to seek out the stories of other twenty- and thirty-somethings in the Buddhist community. I was surprised, however, to hear how many of them had been involved in Buddhist youth groups in high school, college and even after graduation. These are young adults I ran into at temples, in meditation centers or through other Buddhist friends—but there are also higher profile Buddhists who spent memorable time in Buddhist college groups. Lodro Rinzler founded Buddhist House at Wesleyan University before he was a director of the Shambhala Meditation Center of Boston, and Ravenna Michalsen established and nurtured the Yale Buddhist Society (now Indigo Blue) before her career as a Dharma musician took off.

At the college level, there are probably around thirty to forty Buddhist student groups across the United States, including the Buddhist Community at Stanford. These groups tend to be small and operate independently of one another. They are almost exclusively English-speaking, and are rarely recognized beyond their local Buddhist communities. The groups share a tendency to present a nondenominational or pan-Buddhist perspective, even when they already have established denominational affiliations. So given that there are so many who pass through these Buddhist student societies, I wondered why they seem to play such a humble role in the greater Buddhist community. After all, several of these students seem almost destined to be among the most influential leaders of tomorrow’s Buddhist community.

This column, Generation Buddhist, explores Buddhist youth institutions and how they shape and are shaped by the young adults who pass through them. College Buddhist groups are just one example of organizations founded, run and supported by Buddhist young adults. The Young Buddhist Association or Vietnamese Family of Buddhists are two of the largest youth groups in North America, spanning several generations and age groups—but what about the stories of the adults who grew up in these groups? How did the YBA affect multiple generations of Japanese American Buddhists? These groups provide a Buddhist social backdrop during a time when adolescents are actively shaping their identities. As the American Buddhist community grows, so will the size and number of these youth groups. It is through understanding how young Buddhists build their own communities, struggle with challenges and assert (or ignore) their Buddhist identity that we perhaps get an early glimpse of what tomorrow’s Buddhist community will look like.

This piece is the first in a forthcoming series that will explore the experiences of these young Buddhist practitioners.

Phu Ly
Phu Ly is the Reviews Editor and sits on the Editorial Board of Prapañca: a buddhist journal.

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