Buddhism gets a boost

ERIC SMITH | A new lectureship in Buddhist studies has been created at McGill with the help of a grant from a Japanese religious foundation. The grant, $1 million over 20 years, will create a permanent position that may be filled each year either by a McGill professor or by a visiting lecturer. It is endowed by the Numata Foundation, an organization founded by a Japanese industrialist to promote Buddhism worldwide. McGill is the third university in Canada and the 12th worldwide to be awarded a Numata sponsorship. Victor Hori is familiar with both the University and the Numata Foundation. For the last three years he has been teaching Asian religions at McGill. But prior to that he held the Numata lectureship, twice at the University of Toronto and once at Harvard. And next year, he will be McGill's first Numata appointee. He will continue to teach his popular introductory course on "Religions of East Asia," as well as more advanced courses and seminars on Asian religion and philosophy. Hori will also continue to lead a Buddhist meditation group that meets every morning. As Numata scholar, Hori says he hopes to reach out more to Montreal's Buddhist community. "The Faculty of Religious Studies needs to develop stronger ties with local community groups," he says. "I hope to strengthen our ties with local Buddhist groups in Montreal." Dean of Religious Studies Barry Levy says Hori is "a very popular instructor. His introductory course frequently has 250 people." There is an increasing interest in Buddhism, according to Levy, "partly because of an inherent interest in the teachings, partly because of exoticism. The religious world at large in the West is looking for contributions from non-Western religions." Hori agrees that interest in Buddhism is increasing in the West. And like Levy, he argues there are several factors that explain the trend. "First of all, over several decades, many ethnic Buddhist communities have developed in North America, creating a Buddhist presence in many local communities," says Hori. "To many Westerners, Buddhism seems on the surface to be a humane, peaceful and rational religion -- whether that surface impression is correct is another matter." Other factors, according to Hori, are an emphasis in Buddhism on concrete religious practices like meditation over intellectual learning and, of course, Hollywood, which has recently spawned several films dealing with Buddhism such as Kundun and Seven Years in Tibet. But according to Hori, spiritual concerns and questions are not the only reason students should take an interest in Asian religions. "Till now, people who have to do work abroad have realized it was necessary to learn about the culture of their foreign workplace," says Hori. "However, as business, education and government become more and more globalized, even people who do not travel abroad need to have an understanding of other cultures and other religions. Students need to understand the international world not because they are going there but because it is coming here."