Mind Cure and Meditation at Greenacre and Beyond

New Thought, often seen as a purely American metaphysical movement, was in fact shaped by transnational exchanges with Asian religions. Leaders of New Thought encountered Buddhist meditation and Raja yoga through European Orientalist writings and the Theosophical Society, and later through direct contact with Asian missionaries. Key figures included D. T. Suzuki, who popularized Japanese Zen; Anagarika Dharmapāla, a Sri Lankan Buddhist and Theosophist; and Swami Vivekenanda, who founded the Vedanta Society in North America. These interactions were fostered at events like the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions and the Greenacre conferences in Maine, revealing the movement's global roots.

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Abstract

This chapter examines the practices of Buddhist meditation and Raja yoga in New Thought. Leaders of New Thought were first exposed to Buddhism and Vedanta philosophy through the publications of European Orientalists and the Theosophical Society and, later, though personal contacts with Asian Buddhist and Hindu missionaries. In addition to D. T. Suzuki, who helped to spark American interest in Japanese Zen, other important early missionaries were Anagarika Dharmapāla, a Sri Lankan Buddhist and Theosophist, and Swami Vivekenanda, an Indian monk of the Ramakrishna Order who launched the Vedanta Society in North America. New Thought leaders, Theosophists, and Asian missionaries met in person at the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions and continued to develop relationships for more than a decade, particularly at the Greenacre conferences in Eliot, Maine. This chapter reveals the transnational nature of New Thought, which is typically considered to be an American metaphysical religious movement.