Budding Lotus in the West is a thought-provoking book from Vietnamese immigrant Nhi Yến Đỗ Trần, who was born into a Buddhist family then immigrated to the USA age 10. This book follows her journey, in a country where many fundamentalist Christians do not allow outside faiths, saying if they aren’t saved’, they may burn in hellfire etc. She explores the delicate balance between honouring ancient wisdom and addresses modern challenges – what would Buddha say about abortion, gun and LGBTQ rights? Or prejudice, discrimination and gender equality?
Nhi Yến Đỗ Trần immigrated from Việt Nam to the USA at the age of 10 through a Humanitarian Operation Program. Co-founder of a mindfulness community sharing compassion in Seattle, she is the niece of the founder of a Buddhist monastery.
This is a fairly topical book in recent times, due to the concerns over immigrants arriving by boat to England (the story is far more complicated than the media say). And another mystery is how former Home Secretary Suella Braverman (whose ‘dream’ is sending immigrants to a country with poor human rights record) is a practicing Buddhist? Loving kindness? The four noble truths?
In fact, Triratna Buddhism (similar to Kadampa Buddhism – the founder was not recognised by Tibetan Buddhism and monks are only allowed to read his books) is widely regarded as not ‘true Buddhism’, and not recognised by Buddhist scholars.
