Introduction

Introduction

What are the images that come to mind when one thinks of Asian spirituality? Meditation with legs crossed in a lotus position? Going to the serene and peaceful temples in Kyoto? Offering flowers at the shrines for gods and goddesses in India? Hearing the Dalai Lama speak? While these may be some of the favorite images, Asian spirituality encompasses much more.

Spirituality is hard to define in the Asian contexts. Some of the Asian traditions have a strong sense of the ultimate and believe that there is the spiritual realm and the other world. Others preach about nothingness, emptiness, and the self as an illusion. For a Buddhist, spirituality may mean seeking to live according to one's true nature. For her Confucian neighbor, it may signify a self-cultivation process in which one strives to live harmoniously with nature and other human beings. For many, it may simply mean following the rituals and practices that have been passed down for generations.

Christianity encountered a land of rich religious symbols, practices, and rituals when it arrived in Asia. From the early roots of ancient Christianity in India, which can be traced to St. Thomas, and the Nestorians in China, the small Christian communities struggled to interpret their faith and practices to people with diverse spiritual longings. Colonialism and Christian exclusivism set the Christian communities apart from the people, such that the Christian church has often been seen as a foreign religion. During the anti-colonial struggles and the post-independence period, Asian churches have sought to address changing Asian realities through the processes of inculturation and contextualization.

The successive waves of Asian immigrants brought their rich and colorful religious practices to North America. As tiny minorities living in a strange land, these religious and cultural practices provided an essential link to the homeland and a means to negotiate new identities. After the immigration law of 1965, which abolished the national origin of the quota system, the number of Asians living in the United States increased rapidly. The 2000 U.S. Census indicated that there were about 11.9 million people of Asian descent, making up about 4.2 percent of the total population. Asian immigrants no longer concentrate in the big cities such as New York or San Francisco, but can be found in many urban areas throughout the United States. The spread of the Asian people and the proliferation of their religious institutions have changed America's religious landscape, helping to make the United States the most religiously diverse country in the world. ¹

Asian American's religious life and spiritual practices have not received the kind of scholarly attention that they deserve. The contributions of Asian Americans in shaping America's national culture and religious life have often been left to the margins. In recent years, a new generation of Asian American scholars have produced exciting works that fill this gap of our knowledge. They have integrated race, ethnicity, and religion in their exciting attempts to investigate the lived experience, transnational connections, and generational difference in the religious life of Asian American communities. ² Their interdisciplinary collaborations chart a new course in ethnic and religious studies in the American context.

Asian American churches play important roles in providing communal support and spiritual sustenance for their members. Marginalized by the white society, church members find that the ethnic congregations provide them a space to practice their faith and exercise spiritual leadership. The churches become crucial sites for cultural passage from generation to generation, identity and gender formation, and linkage to spiritual resources from the homeland. ³ Some of these churches have consciously included Asian cultural elements in their liturgy, festivals, and communal celebrations.

In the wider society, a growing interest in Asian practices is evident in the decline of membership of mainline Christian denominations and the flourishing of New Age spirituality. Sociologist Robert Wuthnow notes that since the 1950s, there has been a shift from a spirituality of "dwelling...