MARIO RITTER: The Dalai Lama may be the world’s best-known Buddhist. He enjoys wide respect among Americans. He has some well-known followers, including actor Richard Gere.

There are Tibetan Buddhist centers around the United States. This one near Redding, California, is a teaching and spiritual center. Kusala Bhikshu says his center in Los Angeles brings together several Buddhist schools. He studied under a teacher from Sri Lanka. His center is in a Korean-American neighborhood, and was opened by a monk from Vietnam.

He says Buddhist teachings differ a little from one tradition to the next. At the Hsi Lai Temple, the central teaching is the same: a respect for the tradition, a desire to change because of the American experience, and a search for unity among people of all beliefs.

MIAO HSI: “Every being is connected. It’s like we are connected to this world. So I think we should be working towards harmonizing with one another. Harmony and peace would be something that we should all work towards.”

Buddhists say there is a bridge that links the many forms of American Buddhism. It is the American-born children who share a Buddhist faith and American culture.

MARIO RITTER: It is easy to think that many traditional ways of life have disappeared into the past. But tradition is very much alive for this Catholic religious community in the eastern United States. This group, based on faith and giving, is gaining youth and renewal.