"In the past twenty-five years the religious landscape of the United States has changed radically. There are Islamic centers and mosques, Hindu and Buddhist temples and meditation centers in virtually every major American city. The encounter between people of very different religious traditions takes place in the proximity of our own cities and neighborhoods."

In order to help students of religion become aware of the new religious diversity in the United States, Harvard University has been engaged in a three-year research project on the World Religions in America, begun in 1993, funded by the Lilly Endowment. The project has a particular focus on exploring how the communities and religious traditions of Asia and the Middle East have become woven into the religious fabric of the United States. The project goals include documentation and better understanding of American religious demography; study of specific religious communities; exploration of the ramifications and implications of America's new plurality through case studies of particular cities and towns to discover the response of Christian and Jewish communities to their new neighbors; and discernment of the emerging meanings of religious "pluralism," and consideration of the challenge and opportunities of a public commitment to pluralism in light of the new religious contours of America (The Pluralism Project Information Sheet).

In line with the goals and directions of the Pluralism Project, the Fall 1994 Senior Thesis Seminar for Religion students of the Claremont Colleges undertook as a class project an ethnographic study of the Mount Baldy Zen Center (MBZC). The goal of this study is to document the MBZC as fully as possible, within the limits of a group composed mainly of undergraduate students in coursework, making particular note of how Zen has adapted to the United States at this center. The study involved visits and phone calls to MBZC, interviews of participants both at the center and elsewhere, and reading documents about the center written by both participants and outsiders, as well as general research on Zen history, beliefs and practices.

In preparation for the study, some time was spent reading on techniques for interviewing and setting up questions to be used in interviews. The Pluralism Project suggestions for such studies were incorporated into the work. Specific areas identified as being of interest were the historical facts about MBZC, practical information about its basic day-to-day life and support, and information about participants, particularly the monks and nuns living at MBZC. For the interviews with the last group, questions were formulated to get information about each person's life history and religious background, including what specifically brought him or her to MBZC, and reactions of his or her family to participation in MBZC. Each person interviewed was also asked to describe such things as their personal duties, the daily schedule, and other information about MBZC, in order to get as many perspectives and as much information as possible. The information varied greatly, depending a great deal on the length and type of involvement of the person with MBZC. Outside of a small amount of information from a few written sources, everything contained in these pages has gleaned from discussions with the various participants at MBZC.

The Mount Baldy Zen Center is a small Rinzai Zen Buddhist monastery in the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California, just north of the city of Upland. Because of its location, about 30 minutes drive from the Claremont College campuses, it has attracted many visitors from the colleges, and was a natural choice for in-depth study. MBZC also sends monks to the colleges from time to time to lead meditation sessions for Claremont students. Several members of the class that did the study had contacts with other students who participate in MBZC activities at different levels. Two members of the class had each spent a semester in countries where Buddhism is a dominant religion, one of those being Japan, which is where MBZC has its roots. This background, along with the in-class studies of Buddhism by other students, was also an asset to the study.

When approached about being the subject of such a study, the monks and nun in residence in November 1994, when the study was initiated, responded in the affirmative, and even welcomed the attention. It should be noted that the roshi was not in residence when the bulk of the on-site visits were carried out. Although he used to give occasional interviews (see Capaldi 1982), we were never able to arrange to meet the Roshi. However, all the students of MBZC who were contacted added to the study with their warmth and openness. We owe them our gratitude for their help.