By Jennifer K. Covino Special Correspondent May 5, 2001, The Stamford Advocate, CT (USA)

When Fairfield University invited a group of Tibetan monks to perform monastic dances at the campus in January, the 750-seat show sold out in days - thanks, no doubt, to the popularity of high-profile Buddhists such as the Beastie Boys, Richard Gere and Uma Thurman.

Audience members may have also seen the Brad Pitt movie "Seven Years in Tibet," heard of the benefit concerts at Tibet House in New York City, or read about the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan leader awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

"In this country, Tibetan Buddhism is all the rage now," said Ronald Davidson, an associate professor of religious studies at Fairfield University. "We call it 'Tibet chic.' "

But cultural pop icons aren't the only elements of Buddhism that are drawing Americans. For many, the Buddhist ideals of compassion, wisdom and kinship with nature offer an appealing escape from a stress-filled, wealth-obsessed culture.

"I think that as a culture, we now recognize that no matter how much material wealth we have, we may still have some level of suffering, discomfort or disease in our lives," said Karen Porterfield, a Norwalk resident and 18-year practicing Buddhist. "Buddhism directly addresses that discomfort."

The Buddha was an Indian prince born more than 2,500 years ago, who taught that suffering was the result of human desire. The way to treat suffering and disease, he said, was to eliminate desire by following "right thoughts and right actions."

This could be done by following the Eightfold Path, an ethical code that called for kindness to all living things - no lying, cheating or stealing - as well as meditation and discipline.

The Buddha urged his followers to find a middle path to enlightenment: letting go of selfish attachments but not engaging in severe self-denial. His teachings are called the Dharma.

From a Buddhist viewpoint, our unenlightened lives are out of balance, like a lump of clay thrown on a potter's wheel. "We haven't awoken to the truth of existence, that everything is constantly changing, that there is nothing permanent to grasp at in this world," Davidson said. "The things we grasp at really don't have the value we assign to them, and our seeking out satisfaction is the root of the problem."

Buddhism is the world's fourth-largest religion. It is practiced widely in India, Thailand, China, Japan and Tibet, as well as Singapore, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Vietnam, among other countries.

It was brought to California in the mid-19th century by Chinese men prospecting for gold or working on the transcontinental railroad.

Today, there are about 800,000 practicing Caucasian Buddhists in this country, with the greatest numbers living in California, Hawaii and New York City, according to Davidson. In the 1950s and 1960s, Beat Generation writers like Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg popularized a Chinese variation of Buddhism known as Zen.

While there seem to be a fair number of practicing Buddhists living in Westchester County, N.Y., there are few in Fairfield County, according to Davidson, who said New England towns such as Darien, Greenwich and Stamford are still strongly rooted in Judeo-Christian faiths.

As a state, Connecticut is perhaps more reticent to embrace alternative religions than any other in the nation, Davidson said.

Buddhism differs from Christianity and Judaism in that there is no one supreme being and no obligatory services and rituals to attend. People can adopt Buddhism as a path to salvation without abandoning their other beliefs, said Angela Mortensen of Pine Hill Zendo, a Buddhist temple in Katonah, N.Y.

Among those who join meditation sessions at Pine Hill are a Methodist, an Orthodox Jew and a Catholic nun. "We don't view this as worship, but it can be another way of feeling closer to God," said Mortensen, whose husband, Denko John Mortensen, is the monastery's abbot.

Buddhism has two major strands. The Theravada is a more literal interpretation of the Buddha's teachings and is focused on the attainment of wisdom and personal Nirvana. The Mahayana, which includes Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, values compassion.

"The substance of the Buddha's message is that anger and aggression towards anyone is completely fruitless, while the opposite - finding compassion - allows you to communicate with one another and enriches everyone's life," said Molly Peckham, a New Canaan resident who practices Tibetan Buddhism.

"Nothing should be killed, not even the tiniest gnat," she said. "That's because of the belief in reincarnation. Each insect could be working its way to becoming a human being, and then becoming enlightened and becoming a Buddhist."

Two years ago, on sabbatical from her teaching job at New Canaan Country School, Peckham volunteered at the Tibetan Children's Village School in Dharamsala, India. The town was established by the prime minister of India as a safe haven for Tibetan refugees. She stayed 10 months, returned again and hopes to go back soon.

"It feels comfortable to me and natural," said Peckham, whose interest in Buddhism was sealed when she met the Dalai Lama in 1991. "I don't feel out of place."

When she's at her New Canaan home, Peckham meditates before a shrine containing candles, incense and pictures of the Dalai Lama and other teachers.

When she travels to India, "I am struck by the differences, by how little people have and how happily they live," Peckham said. "It makes me so aware of how much excess we have here and how important we think it is, when in fact it gets in the way of developing this other part of us, which is our spirituality."

Peckham and Porterfield both said that practicing Buddhism has made their lives more balanced. And Porterfield said she is more patient and more inclined to see the good in others.

Her beliefs have taken her to India, Asia and Nepal, to solitary retreats in Vermont and to the Shambhala Center of New Haven, where she meditates with other Buddhists.

Porterfield first learned about Buddhist traditions during a college study abroad program in India. Afterwards, she enrolled at the Shambhala Center in Boulder, Colo., which was founded by the Buddhist teacher and author, Chogyam Trungpa.

"When I took meditation instruction, I began to understand from the inside what my teachers were talking about," Porterfield said. "I discovered this was a path with a lot of integrity and richness to it and a lot of concern for the well-being of other people."

Buddhism may seem mysterious or exotic to some people, but for Porterfield it felt just right.

"I traveled to the other side of the world," she said, "and that's where I found my home."