Commodifying Zen: Middle-Class Identity Formation and Spatial Practices at the Rochester Zen Center, 1966-1979

Yi Yang

doi:10.71222/4y2sjz27

Authors

Yi Yang School of Graduate Studies, Lingnan University, Hong Kong, China Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.71222/4y2sjz27

Keywords:

Zen center history, middle-class, spatial practices, cultural capitalization, spiritual capitalism

Abstract

This paper examines how the Rochester Zen Center (RZC), during its formative period from 1966 to 1979, functioned as an instrument of middle-class identity formation through specific spatial practices and the commodification of culture. Employing a methodology that combines historical sociology and spatial analysis, this study investigates the Center's strategic establishment within affluent neighborhoods such as Park Avenue, its financial foundations supported by techno-capitalists like Xerox inventor Chester Carlson, as well as its transnational exchanges with Japanese Zen institutions. The findings indicate that the RZC systematically repurposed traditional Zen practices, transforming them into "efficiency tools" tailored for enhancing productivity and personal well-being, a phenomenon called "spiritual capitalism." This process ultimately led to the reduction of contemplative practice to a symbol that legitimized class privilege, thereby decoupling it from its original ethical frameworks rooted in communal interdependence and genuine spiritual liberation.

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