From the Editor

David N. Tool, Ph.D.

This Journal is the publication of the American Buddhist Congress (ABC) and the successor to the Dhamma Voice previously published by the ABC. This new format is but a small reflection of other more significant changes in the mission emphasis and leadership of the ABC as we seek to build on the legacy of the great pioneering work done by Venerable Dr. Havanpola Ratanasara, Founder of the ABC and Executive President, Emeritus. Dr. Ratanasara also founded the Sangha Council of Southern California and was a co-founder of the Inter-Religious Dialogue and the Buddhist-Catholic Dialogue. It was Dr. Ratanasara who set the stage for more openness and reform and for the "Americanization" of Buddhism.

The Journal will serve to help further one of the goals of the ABC which is to promote the development of an American Buddhism reflective of the cultural and historic ideals of what is best in American society while maintaining strict allegiance to the Tripitaka, but with an effort to be free of some of the negative cultural attachments accrued to it as it spread throughout Asia - i.e. the secondary status of women, rampant hyperbole, etc. We seek to develop a Buddhism which is completely accessible to Americans linguistically as well as in terms of the broad egalitarianism of the Buddha's teaching without regard for race, gender, ethnicity, country of origin, sexual orientation, or even religion.

There are already a number of excellent periodicals on Buddhist philosophy and thought and we do not seek to "compete" with them; we encourage you to subscribe to them and to study them. The Journal of the ABC, rather, seeks to help build a practical, functioning Buddhist infrastructure in the U.S. by: promoting the foundation of a Buddhist seminary, establishing an effective accreditation criteria and process for Dhamma Teachers, encouraging and publicizing more standard liturgies in English, promoting the composition of music for Buddhist religious and festival occasions; providing practical assistance in the form of advice for grant proposal writing, temple property procurement, principles of temple management, and more.

We intend to propose a number of innovations relating to many aspects of the practice of Buddhism while at the same time paying full respect and allegiance to the matchless teaching of the Buddha recorded in the Tripitaka. We hope to encourage serious discussion and to work towards consensus on matters of Buddhist practice for Americans in such areas as liturgy; the status, qualifications and accreditation of Dhamma Teachers; an American style robe for monks and appropriate wear for Dhamma Teachers; the role of music in Buddhist services in the form of hymns, instrumental music, choruses and even oratorios, etc. We also want to work for the establishment of an accredited Buddhist Seminary; and we hope to expand assistance in grant proposal writing for Buddhist community service projects; to establish a Buddhist Speakers Bureau; and help to develop training programs in temple management and legal issues. We hope to better identify and promote sponsorship of worthy Buddhist projects and programs. We also hope to help develop unified, or at least, representative, consistent, and doctrinally sound Buddhist stands on social issues of importance in American society; and more.

If you have special interests and expertise in any of the above topics, we would very much like to hear from you. This means if you are a musician, lawyer, someone skilled in grantsmanship, a clothes designer, etc., etc., and would like to share your talents and special abilities or knowledge, please contact us.

We strongly encourage feedback for what we will propose or suggest. Feedback in the form of e-mail, FAX, and posted letters are preferred so that we may more carefully study what you have to say regarding any comment or article we publish in this Journal.

We do not shy away from controversy as long as it helps us progress towards a broad consensus among Buddhists as to what the American practice of Buddhism can be. If there are other topics you would like to take up for discussion, we heartily invite you to write to us so that we may add it into the mix.

In each issue we will endeavor to have a guest article by some well-known Buddhist or other person qualified to speak on a particular subject of interest to our readers in the area of moving toward an American Buddhism.

We will also include an article by other monks or lay people who will help present and clarify Buddhist fundamentals and their application to our daily lives.

We also encourage our readers to inform us of events of interest to Buddhists that we may help to publicize and for which we may help to find support. We invite unsolicited articles on topics in which our readers may have proven expertise and we may, from time to time, call for articles of specific topics or issues for which we would like to have maximum input from our readers.

In all cases when sending in articles, please provide us documentation of your credentials, when appropriate, and, when quoting, please provide appropriate citations for quoted material from others. Articles become the property of the American Buddhist Congress and we reserve the right to make minor editorial adjustments or typographic corrections. We may choose not to use an article or to hold it for a later edition. If the article is not published in full, we waive any right to it. We also reserve the right to simply extract quotes in appropriate context for articles in which we wish to present a range of opinions. In most cases, a full copy of the article may be made available to readers who provide stamped, self-addressed envelopes. If at all possible, articles should be in Microsoft Word format or a compatible program and sent either via e-mail or computer disk to the address indicated in the most recent issue of the Journal.

Address: David N. Tool, Ph. D. Editor, Journal of the American Buddhist Congress... 3835R E. Thousand Oaks Blvd, Suite 450 West Lake Village, CA 91362 (e-mail: dtool@bcf.usc.edu) Telephone: 877-728-3341

The American Buddhist Congress is a non-profit religious organization registered with the State of California. Tax Identification number: 95-411 -2512. All contributions are tax exempt.