page_title: Buddhism in the United States
section_title: Theravada
hierarchical_section_title: Buddhism in the United States / Theravada
caption_attribution_description: English: Insight Meditation Society's Retreat Center main building, in Barre, Massachusetts is visible in the backdrop amidst blossoming trees.
context_page_description: Buddhism, once thought of as a mysterious religion from the East, has now become very popular in the West, including the United States. As Buddhism does not require any formal "conversion", American Buddhists can easily incorporate dharma practice into their normal routines and traditions. The result is that American Buddhists come from every ethnicity, nationality and religious tradition. In 2012, U-T San Diego estimated U.S. practitioners at 1.2 million people, of whom 40% are living in Southern California. In terms of percentage, Hawaii has the most Buddhists at 8% of the population due to its large Asian American community.
  The term American Buddhism can be used to describe Buddhist groups within the U.S, which are largely made up of converts. This contrasts with many Buddhist groups in Asia, which are largely made up of people who were born into the faith.
context_section_description: Theravada is best known for Vipassana, roughly translated as "insight meditation", which is an ancient meditative practice described in the Pali Canon of the Theravada school of Buddhism and similar scriptures. Vipassana also refers to a distinct movement which was begun in the 20th century by reformers such as Mahāsi Sayādaw, a Burmese monk. Mahāsi Sayādaw was a Theravada bhikkhu and Vipassana is rooted in the Theravada teachings, but its goal is to simplify ritual and other peripheral activities in order to make meditative practice more effective and available both to monks and to laypeople.
caption: Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts.
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