Buddhist Chaplains Becoming More Common in US

Christian¹ clergy² have long provided counseling or religious services in hospitals, prisons, and homes for the sick and ill in the United States. They are often called chaplains.

Now, Buddhist³ chaplains are leading an ever more diverse number of religious counselors⁴ that includes Muslims, Hindus, and others.

In Portland, Oregon, Skylar Freimann has a terminal heart condition and other illnesses. There to guide her along was Rev⁵. Jo Laurence, a Zen Buddhist who has years of practice and training to support end-of-life patients.

Rather than appealing to God or a Christian prayer, Laurence talked of Eastern spiritual traditions: "The body can weigh us down sometimes," she counseled. "Where is the divine or the sacred in your decline?"

Buddhists⁶ say they are well-positioned for the times. They appeal to people from different cultural and religious backgrounds - including people who identify as non-religious. A growing number of Americans - roughly one-third - are non-religious.

Buddhist study and training programs have been established or have grown in recent years. They include the Buddhist Ministry⁷ Initiative at Harvard Divinity School and the Buddhism⁸ track at Union Theological Seminary, among others.

Monica Sanford, an ordained⁹ Buddhist minister, is a school official with the Multireligious Ministry at Harvard Divinity School. She said, "The programs keep expanding, so it seems clear that there's a growing demand from students. And the students appear to be finding jobs after graduation."

In the past, Buddhist chaplains were often hired by hospitals and police departments to work with Asian immigrant communities. During World War II, they served Japanese American soldiers in the military. Today, however, they work with many different Americans.

In a first-of-its-kind report published this month, Sanford and another researcher identified 425 Buddhist chaplains in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The chaplains represented all major branches of Buddhism. However, the researchers say there are likely many more. More than 40 percent work in health care. Others serve in schools, prisons, or as self-employed counselors, the researchers found.

Leigh Miller¹⁰ is the director of academic and public programs at Maitripa College, a Tibetan Buddhist college in Portland. She has seen increased interest in its Master of Divinity program since its launch 10 years ago.

Hospitals and other institutions are interested in hiring Buddhist chaplains, Miller said, to increase staff diversity. Buddhist chaplains, she added, are also good at relating to others using inclusive, neutral language, while Christians¹¹ "fall back on God language, leading prayers or reading Bible scriptures¹²."

Meanwhile, training in mindfulness and meditation¹³, as well as beliefs regarding the nature of self, reality, and the impermanence of suffering, give Buddhists special tools to deal with pain and death.

Providence¹⁴ Health & Services is a Catholic nonprofit based in Washington state that runs hospitals in seven Western states. Mark Thomas, a chief mission officer in Oregon, said the hospital system employs 10 Buddhist chaplains not despite but because of its Catholic identity. The goal is to make sure patients get good spiritual care however it best suits them.

Thomas said many patients like or feel connected to Buddhism or Buddhist practices. He said practices like meditation have been valuable in helping¹⁵ patients deal with suffering.

Words in This Story

divine -- n. relating to or coming from God or a god

sacred -- adj. worthy¹⁶ of religious worship : very holy; highly valued and important : deserving great respect

ordain-v. to officially make (someone) a minister, priest, rabbi, etc.

graduation - n. the act of receiving a diploma or degree from a school, college, or university

mindfulness - n. the practice of being aware of something - thoughts, feelings, sensations, etc.

meditation - n. the act or process of spending time in quiet thought : the act or process of meditating¹⁷

impermanence -n. the state of not lasting¹⁸ forever :

practice - n. something that is done often or regularly

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 clergy   

n.[总称]牧师，神职人员

参考例句：

• I could heartily wish that more of our country clergy would follow this example.我衷心希望，我国有更多的牧师效法这个榜样。
• All the local clergy attended the ceremony.当地所有的牧师出席了仪式。

3 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

4 counselors   

n.顾问( counselor的名词复数 )；律师；（使馆等的）参赞；（协助学生解决问题的）指导老师

参考例句：

• Counselors began an inquiry into industrial needs. 顾问们开始调查工业方面的需要。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We have experienced counselors available day and night. ) 这里有经验的法律顾问全天候值班。） 来自超越目标英语 第4册

5 rev   

v.发动机旋转，加快速度

参考例句：

• It's his job to rev up the audience before the show starts.他要负责在表演开始前鼓动观众的热情。
• Don't rev the engine so hard.别让发动机转得太快。

6 Buddhists   

n.佛教徒( Buddhist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Jesuits in a phase of ascendancy, persecuted and insulted the Buddhists with great acrimony. 处于地位上升阶段的耶稣会修士迫害佛教徒，用尖刻的语言辱骂他们。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• The return of Saivite rule to central Java had brought no antagonism between Buddhists and Hindus. 湿婆教在中爪哇恢复统治后，并没有导致佛教徒与印度教徒之间的对立。 来自辞典例句

7 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

8 Buddhism   

n.佛教（教义）

参考例句：

• Buddhism was introduced into China about 67 AD.佛教是在公元67年左右传入中国的。
• Many people willingly converted to Buddhism.很多人情愿皈依佛教。

9 ordained   

v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定

参考例句：

• He was ordained in 1984. 他在一九八四年被任命为牧师。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was ordained priest. 他被任命为牧师。 来自辞典例句

10 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

11 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

12 scriptures   

经文，圣典( scripture的名词复数 )； 经典

参考例句：

• Here the apostle Peter affirms his belief that the Scriptures are 'inspired'. 使徒彼得在此表达了他相信《圣经》是通过默感写成的。
• You won't find this moral precept in the scriptures. 你在《圣经》中找不到这种道德规范。

13 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

14 providence   

n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝

参考例句：

• It is tempting Providence to go in that old boat.乘那艘旧船前往是冒大险。
• To act as you have done is to fly in the face of Providence.照你的所作所为那样去行事，是违背上帝的意志的。

15 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

16 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

17 meditating   

a.沉思的，冥想的

参考例句：

• They were meditating revenge. 他们在谋划进行报复。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics. 这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

18 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。