Returning to the research questions:

I. How are Western spiritual tourists viewed by emerging adults in Kathmandu? All informants answered that they felt spiritual tourism could only leave positive imprints in Kathmandu, but some could identify negative aspects when pressed further. They were also favourable to the practice of spiritual tourists.

Commoditisation of religion was an issue to some of the informants. They mostly did not express commoditisation as anything negative, but rather emphasised that it was contributing to the conserving of traditions which many young Nepalis had little interest in as of today. It had previously been confusing to the informants watching Westerners practice Asian religious practices, but they expressed that they had gotten used to seeing this after having been exposed to it over several years.

II. How extensive is the contact zone between emerging adults and spiritual tourists in Kathmandu?

The contact zone between the informants and Western spiritual tourists was found to not be very extensive. However, all informants had registered the presence of Western spiritual tourists in Kathmandu, and used terms as ‘meditators’ or ‘Buddhists’ when referring to these. This suggests that they had not just registered their presence, but they had also understood what the majority of them are there to accomplish. Some of the informants had extensive contact with these tourists, both in Kathmandu and abroad. From observations in Kathmandu, centres offering services to tourists are highly visible and promote their services through pamphlets that are placed in cafés and restaurants. Some Nepalis also attend courses in such centres.

Sites such as Pashupatinath, Swayambunath, and Boudhanath are important sites for encounters between young Nepalis and spiritual tourists. The money extracted from entrance fees Western tourists pay, helps maintain these sites, and make them attractive locations for young Nepalis to spend their free time.

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III. Can spiritual tourism have an impact on religious or spiritual trends among Nepali, emerging adults in Kathmandu?

Smith, Jensen Arnett, and Liechty all argue that emerging adults are in a stage of their lives where massive changes are bound to occur. Smith suggests six categories to describe ways in which emerging adults in the USA make decisions regarding their spiritual or religious lives. Two of these categories described the religious lives of six of my informants very accurately. Those conformed to the ‘Selective Adherents’ and the ‘Spiritually Open’.198 Adherents from both of these categories are very receptive to changes in their religious lives,199 and this may make them more susceptible to adapting their religious practices or beliefs to what is happening around them.

Spiritual tourists from Western countries typically bring with them, or seek out at arrival in Kathmandu, a ‘decontextualised religious practice’. This entails that practices which originated within certain Asian religious contexts have been decontextualised and utilised as partial elements, resonating with different cultures and discourses in the West.200 Spiritual tourism is providing a market in Kathmandu which had previously not been available in such a manner, where any lay person can join in meditation, yoga, or other practices. Not many Nepalis use these centres, but the informants who had not yet participated all claimed an interest in doing so. Kabita and Ankita were both practicing yoga and meditation daily. There seemed to be a tendency in Kathmandu where yoga and meditation are parts of a popular trend that does not only involve tourists, but locals as well.

All informants emphasised the importance of scriptural knowledge, which is also a typical trait amongst spiritual tourists. Moran found that young Tibetans in Kathmandu were increasingly more engaged with contemporary English-language Buddhist texts. Several informants expressed not only a positive attitude, but even seemed hopeful of an impact on Nepalis by spiritual tourism. Rin-che suggested that seeing Westerners dressed as Buddhist monks could both shock and inspire Nepalis to want to better practice their religion. There are currently signs of a Buddhist revival in Nepal, both according to the interviewed khenpo, and several other researchers. The presence of spiritual tourists seeking out Buddhist practices could further increase this trend.

198

Smith, Souls in Transition, 167. 199 _{Smith, Souls in Transition, 167.} 200

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Contact with foreigners who had asked questions about religion had made both Modan and Sujan more interested in this topic. Increased awareness about a subject may cause one to pay more attention to it. As such, spiritual tourism might influence emerging adults in Nepal to seek out such practices or ask questions regarding them. It may stimulate or encourage increased activity in centres offering religious or spiritual practices. The distance created between the culture of the emerging adults and that of their parents caused mainly by radical changes occurring in Kathmandu, which then could direct the emerging adults to feel alienated from both the old and the new culture. This could evoke feelings of nostalgia and a fear of a loss of tradition,201 and might cause emerging adults to seek their parents’ traditions, or discover new, available ones.