Buddhists in Bloomington have a lot of options for practicing their faith. The Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center offers weekly service, meditations and classes.
The variety of Buddhist centers shows how different practitioners can be. Some see it as a religion, while others see it as more of a philosophy.
"For me, I don't consider myself spiritual. I do consider myself religious," says Bruce Herr II, a Bloomington resident and practicing Buddhist. "And I consider myself religious in that I'm serious about practice."
Bruce grew up as a Christian, but was drawn to Buddhism as a young adult. He meditates and comes to every weekly service. His wife, on the other hand, is exactly the opposite.
"I really enjoy the talks and the lectures, but I don't connect with some of the more ritual aspects of it," says Dawn Miller, Bruce's wife.
Dawn considers herself more spiritual than religious. And that's what experts say has been driving Americans to Buddhism.
They are very drawn to the Buddhist ideas and philosophy of life, how they can attain happiness...in the life that they live in everyday life.
"There have been interesting moves made recently by people like the fourteenth Dalai Lama to try to talk about the ways in which what's really important is spirituality as opposed to a particular religious commitment," says Rick Nance, professor of South Asian Buddhism at Indiana University.
Jam Yang Lama is a resident monk at the Gaden KhachoeShing Monastery in Bloomington. He says they've been experiencing a large increase the number of participants.
"United States Buddhism offers a very realistic day-to-day life teachings, so people who are in the west are very smart and wise and very knowledgeable," Jam Yang Lama says. "So they are very drawn to the Buddhist ideas and the philosophy of life, how they can attain happiness and peace within this, in the life that they live in everyday life."
In North America, the number of Buddhists is expected to increase by nearly two and a half million by the year 2050, according to a Pew Research study.
But that gain will be more than offset by what's going on in the rest of the world. Globally Buddhism is expected to lose 3 million practitioners during that same time period.
The ideals of Buddhism seem to be particularly attractive to young people. The Pew study doesn't break down religion trends by age, but professor Nance says a lot of young adults want to consider faiths other than what they grew up with, and they are attracted to the flexibility Buddhism provides.
"And when you have someone with the status and stature of the Dalai Lama, a sort of eminent Buddhist, telling you, 'You don't' have to be a Buddhist. It doesn't matter whether you're a Buddhist, be a kind person, be a good person, be a spiritual person,' and then he'll of course tell you what that means," Nance says. "I think students feel comfortable with that and they don't feel necessarily like they have to buy into Buddhism to do the kinds of things that this eminent Buddhist recommends."
Despite the different ways they interpret Buddhism, Bruce and Dawn got married at the Sanshin Zen Community late last year.
We're all different, and everybody's going to find something that speaks to them.
"We tried to make it something that would fit for both of us, to be both spiritual and religious," Dawn says.
The ceremony included Buddhist vows for Bruce, and Dawn voiced her support for the vows.
The couple is comfortable with their own individual ideas of what Buddhism means to them.
"We're all different," Dawn says. "And everybody's going to find something that speaks to them."
