via Jennifer Harris,

Hi! Working toward my PhD in community psychology, I’m conducting a survey (one version in English, the other Tibetan) of the perceptions of monasticism within Buddhism. With its spread to the West, Buddhist practitioners in the United States tend mostly to be lay and there are very few monasteries. This study therefore examines the role and relevancy of the monastic tradition within the Western Buddhist cultural community.  I will also be posting an exact replica of the survey in the Tibetan language so that I can cross-examine two distinct cultural communities’ perceptions about monasticism.

The first version of the survey, which is for Westerners, is available here. Help Jennifer out!