Young Asian American Buddhists Reclaim the Narrative

When Mihiri Tillakaratne was young, a white scholar visited the Sri Lankan Buddhist temple she had grown up at. The Los Angeles temple was a vibrant hub for many Sri Lankan Americans scattered across Southern California, but the academic's fieldwork focused instead on the experiences of white converts -- which Tillakaratne would later realize was representative of how Buddhism is often portrayed in the U.S. "That was really frustrating," Tillakaratne said. "And I thought, 'OK, I can do better.'"