This book explores the practices in a Zen Buddhist temple located in Northwest Ohio against the backdrop of globalization. Drawing on the previous studies on Buddhist modernization and westernization, it provides a better understanding of the westernization of Buddhism and its adapted practices and rituals in the host culture. Using rhetorical criticism methodology, the author approaches this temple as an embodiment of Buddhist rhetoric with both discursive and non-discursive expressions within the discourses of modernity. By analyzing the rhetorical practices at the temple through abbots' teaching videos, the temple website, members' dharma names, and the materiality of the temple space and artifacts, the author discovers how Buddhist rhetoric functions to constitute and negotiate the religious identities of the community members through its various rituals and activities. At the same time, the author examines how the temple's space and settings facilitate the collective the formationand preservation of the Buddhist identity. Through a nuanced discussion of Buddhist rhetoric, this book illuminates a new rhetorical methodology to understand religious identity construction. Furthermore, it offers deeper insights into the future development of modern Buddhism, which are also applicable to Buddhist practitioners and other major world religions.

Autorentext
Fan Zhang is an instructor at Xi'an International Studies University. Her areas of work interest include intercultural communication, critical rhetoric, religious communication, gaming, media and technology.  She obtained her Ph.D. from Bowling Green State University, and her work has been published in the International Journal of Interactive Communication Systems and Technologies (2015). Her paper Remaking Ancient Virtues for the Virtual World: A Case Study of the Voice of Longquan was among the finalists in the National Communication Association's International and Intercultural Communication Division (IICD) Honors Graduate Student Seminar in 2014. 

Inhalt
CHAPTER I. BUDDHISM AND RHETORIC: FROM AN INTERCULTURAL PERSPECTIVEBuddhism in an Era of GlobalizationBuddhism in the West Buddhism and Technology Defining Buddhist Rhetoric The H temple and Its Unique Buddhist Rhetoric  CHAPTER II.  A BRIEF HISTORY OF MODERN ZEN BUDDHISM IN THE UNITED STATESBrief History of Modern Zen Buddhism in the West Modernization of Buddhism on A Global Scale The Introduction of Buddhism to Ohio and the L city Temple Setting and Activities Temple Operation and Communication Articulating Buddhist Rhetoric in the H temple: on the Intersection of Culture, Communication, and Rhetoric Viewing the H temple as both Intercultural and Rhetorical Competing Ideologies in the H temple: When East meets West Observing the H temple as a Practitioner and Cultural CriticCHAPTER III.  THE TEMPLE'S PARADOX: MAINTAINING CULTURAL TRADITIONS IN THE DISCOURSE OF MODERNIZATION AND DEMOCRATIZATIONThe Uniqueness of the Family Temple as An Ideograph The Married Abbot and Spousal Transmission: Pragmatism of American BuddhismThe Role of abbot N: More than Just a Temple Wife and as IdeographsSunday Morning Dharma School: A Buddhist Moral EducationFrom Dharma Teaching to Moral EducationSangha: This is Where We BelongCommunity Building through MembershipSeeing through the Ideographs: A Democratic American Buddhism ...CHAPTER IV.  CONSTRUCTING BUDDHIST IDENTITY AT THE H TEMPLE Technology at the H temple and Identity ConstructionChallenges from the CyberspaceA Buddhist Identity via TechnologyDealing with the Secret Buddhist Identity: Being Rational and Trusting YourselfThe Secret Buddhist IdentityMix-and-Match Buddhism for Individual NeedsThe Power of Naming: Rituals, Members, and ObjectsExperiencing Dharma Names in a Foreign DiscourseWhen Names Are Transplanted: An Orientalist ApproachTemple as the Sacred Space in Constructing IdentitySacred Gaze in the Sacred Space New Dimensions and Meanings of the Buddhist Identity  CHAPTER V.  THE BUDDHIST RHETORIC OF THE H TEMPLE: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE AN AMERICAN BUDDHIST? Rethinking the Buddhist ExperienceBuddhist Rhetoric Revisited: through the Lens of ModernismLooking ForwardA Postmodern BuddhismREFERENCES