Buddhist-Christian Belonging and the Reimagining of Buddhist Belonging: Natal, Convert, and Post-Buddhist Belonging

abstract:The possibilities and challenges of combining Christian and Buddhist belonging, both of the natal and the convert variety, have been discussed most often within the paradigm of dual or multiple religious belonging. In the first section of this article, I will critically discuss the usefulness of this paradigm, especially with regard to the appropriateness of the term "belonging," compared to other terms such as "identity" or "participation." In the second section, I will survey some of the approaches within Buddhist-Christian Studies that have been put forward to make sense of Buddhist-Christian dual belonging. Finally, I will discuss some recent trends in the development of Buddhism in the West that suggest that the category of convert Buddhist belonging, which has mostly been used to describe Western Buddhist practitioners, is being superseded for many members of the younger millennial generation by new and unknown forms of engaging with Buddhist practices that even call the Buddhist tradition into question. The notion of Buddhist belonging (or should we say, post-Buddhist belonging?) may be in need of further reimagining, beyond the categories of natal and convert.