Making Buddhist History

Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University have been the site of important developments in the history of Buddhism in the United States and beyond. And the story continues to unfold…

1913-1916

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar began his studies at Columbia University in 1913. In 1915 he obtains a Masters degree, and eventually graduates with a doctorate in 1927, having studied with some of the great figures of interwar American thought including Edwin Seligman, James Shotwell, Harvey Robinson, and John Dewey. In 1956 he converted to Buddhism, along with over 300,000 of his followers. His particular approach to Buddhism was informed in part by his intellectual formation at Columbia and his time living in New York.
1952-1957

D.T. Suzuki taught Buddhist philosophy at Columbia from 1952 to 1957. He has been credited with playing a very significant role in the popularization of Zen and more generally of Buddhism in the United States.
1963-1964

Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh earns a joint Master of Arts in Religion from Union and Columbia University in 1963. Just a few years later, he famously formed a friendship with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and was instrumental in encouraging King to speak out against the war.

2013

Union Theological Seminary hosts a ground-breaking Conference of Engaged Buddhists and Liberation Theologians, with an impressive line up of thinkers and activists across traditions, lineages and geographies.
2015

President Serene Jones invites Rev. Kosen Greg Snyder, Osho to join the Union faculty. He develops the Buddhist and Interreligious Engagement concentration, with the first students graduating in 2018.
2018

A Gathering of leading Buddhist teachers of Black African descent was convened at Union, which included a public conversation about BuddhaDharma, the state of the world, and what it means to be a Black Buddhist in America today.
2018

Over 250 Buddhists from different sanghas spent a full day listening to talks and and working in small groups to generate a shared vision for political engagement grounded in the BuddhaDharma. This day of “Buddhist Action: Morals, Vision, and Justice” eventually gave birth to the Buddhist Action Coalition.
2022

Dr. Rima Vesely-Flad ’02 joins the Union Theological Seminary community as its first ever Visiting Professor of Buddhism and Black Studies. Dr. Vesely-Flad is the author of the seminal work Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition: The Practice of Stillness in the Movement for Liberation (NYU Press, 2022), and an alumna of Union.

2013

Conference of Engaged Buddhists and Liberation Theologians

In 2013 Union hosted a ground-breaking Conference of Engaged Buddhists and Liberation Theologians , with an impressive line up of thinkers and activists across traditions, lineages and geographies. Participants included A.T. Ariyaratne, Bernie Glassman, Rita M. Gross, Sulak Sivaraksa, Jan Willis, James H. Cone, Ivone Gebara, Melanie Harris, Paul F. Knitter, Rosemary Radford Ruether, Cornel West, and many more.

This conference sparked the inspiration for an article on “The No-Self of Identity Politics” by Katie Loncke from the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, and an account by Paul Knitter on the challenge of this inter-religious encounter.

Zen master and former Catholic priest Ruben L. F. Habito (center)

Dr. Rita M. Gross and Dr. Rosemary Radford Ruether.

The late Dr. Rita Gross, author of Buddhism after Patriarchy.

Dr. Melanie Harris, Dr. Paul Knitter, and Dr. Jan Willis.

2018

Buddhist Action: Morals, Vision, and Justice & Creation of the Buddhist Action Coalition

In 2018 another important event took place, this time organized by local Buddhist activists, teachers and community leaders: the “Buddhist Action: Morals, Vision, and Justice” gathering. Over 250 Buddhists from different sanghas spent a full day listening to talks and and working in small groups to generate a shared vision for political engagement grounded in the BuddhaDharma.

This gathering ultimately gave rise to the Buddhist Action Coalition of New York, whose mission is “to organize and inspire compassionate Buddhist initiatives in advancing social, economic, and environmental justice for the benefit of all beings, undertaken through advocacy and nonviolent direct action.”

2018

Gathering of Buddhist teachers of Black African descent

That same year, a Gathering of leading Buddhist teachers of Black African descent was convened at Union, which included a public conversation about BuddhaDharma, the state of the world, and what it means to be a Black Buddhist in America today. Several subsequent projects, including books and other conferences, came to be as a result of this Gathering.

There is a transcription of some of the conversation and public-facing component of the gathering was filmed and can be viewed here.