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Buddhism and Internationalism (Buddhism)

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May 4th, 2018
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  1. Introduction
  2. It might seem that Buddhism and internationalism is a new topic in Buddhist studies scholarship; however, Buddhism has always been an international religion. From Buddhism’s emergence in India it spread in one direction to Sri Lanka and then to Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. In another trajectory it crossed into Central Asia, China, Tibet, Mongolia, Korea, and Japan. These journeys took place within diverse political, economic, religious, philosophical, and linguistic environments, which conditioned the reception and manifestations of Buddhism in each region. Buddhism continues to be an international religion, spreading globally through people, objects, art, film, books, and ideas. During the modern period, when Buddhism began to be studied and became known beyond Asia, other populations became interested in the religion. Through travel by Asian teachers to non-Buddhist locations as well as by non-Buddhist travelers to Asian countries, Buddhism gained a presence in populations where it had previously been absent. In addition, the migration of Asian populations to Europe, North America, and South America has spread the visibility of Buddhist identities. This article deals with issues that include the manner in which Buddhism spread, the means by which it did so, the reasons for its appeal, the ways Buddhism has adjusted to its various cultures, and the manner in which it both transforms and is transformed by cultures. Internationalism, by definition, stands in contrast to nationalism. Internationalism focuses on relationships between nations rather than the interests of a particular nation. Thus, the subject of Buddhism and internationalism must treat the process by which the religion has become international. For the purposes of this article, works on Buddhism and internationalism are cited that deal with the movement of Buddhism from one location to another. This scholarship includes the history of Buddhism’s spread from India to other parts of Asia as well as work on the more recent migrations and institutional links of Asian Buddhists to non-Buddhist countries. Recently, scholars have begun to look at the context of travelers from non-Buddhist countries practicing in Asian Buddhist locations. Therefore Buddhism and internationalism includes travel, short or long term, that serves to spread Buddhism’s teachings and practices. In addition to travel, internationalism includes the ways Buddhists envision themselves as part of broader communities and how they attempt to practice their core values on a global scale. No overarching international hierarchy of Buddhists exists as each nation and sect follows its own internal procedures. However, through organizations and charismatic leaders, some prominent individual Buddhists and groups have emerged who are well known worldwide.
  3.  
  4. General Overviews
  5. Several useful introductions to Buddhism and internationalism are available. No textbook on the topic of Buddhism and internationalism exists, but some introductory works on Buddhism, most notably Mitchell 2002, discuss the tradition’s movement and transnational connections in significant detail. Obeyesekere 2003 is part of a general religious studies textbook that provides an overview of Buddhism as a global religion. Topics of missionary work in Learman 2005 and Walters 2005 and the spread of Buddhism in Braarvig 2012, Heirman and Bumbacher 2007, Abenayake and Tilakaratne 2011, and Zürcher 1962 provide excellent guides to the global scope of Buddhism.
  6.  
  7. Abenayake, Oliver, and Asanga Tilakaratne, eds. 2600 Years of Sambuddhatva: Global Journey of Awakening. Colombo: Ministry of Buddhasasana and Religious Affairs, Government of Sri Lanka, 2011.
  8.  
  9. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  10.  
  11. This edited volume surveys Buddhism in all the countries where it has spread. Scholars address disparate areas in Asia and the West.
  12.  
  13. Find this resource:
  14.  
  15.  
  16. Braarvig, Jens. “The Spread of Buddhism as Globalization of Knowledge.” In The Globalization of Knowledge in History. Edited by Jürgen Renn, 245–267. Berlin: Edition Open Access, 2012.
  17.  
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  19.  
  20. This chapter deals with the geographical spread of Buddhism and the ways the tradition maintained continuity of its knowledge and lineages. Braarvig discusses monastic institutions, texts, images of the Buddha, and narratives as some of the Buddhist modes of diffusion.
  21.  
  22. Find this resource:
  23.  
  24.  
  25. Heirman, Ann, and Stephan Peter Bumbacher. The Spread of Buddhism. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2007.
  26.  
  27. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  28.  
  29. This edited volume treats the early dissemination of Buddhism from India to China, Tibet, Mongolia, and the Middle East.
  30.  
  31. Find this resource:
  32.  
  33.  
  34. Learman, Linda, ed. Buddhist Missionaries in the Era of Globalization. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2005.
  35.  
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  37.  
  38. An important edited volume that discusses the spread of Buddhism through the efforts of missionaries. The introduction illustrates the significance of mission for the Buddhist religion and its spread outside of India. The rest of the chapters focus on missionary case studies mostly from the modern period in Sri Lanka, Nepal, North America, Brazil, and Taiwan.
  39.  
  40. Find this resource:
  41.  
  42.  
  43. McMahan, David L., ed. Buddhism in the Modern World. New York: Routledge, 2012.
  44.  
  45. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  46.  
  47. This edited volume concerns the modern experiences of Buddhism in Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, Japan, China, North America, and Europe.
  48.  
  49. Find this resource:
  50.  
  51.  
  52. Mitchell, Donald. Introducing the Buddhist Experience. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
  53.  
  54. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  55.  
  56. This introductory textbook on Buddhism takes a global approach to understanding the tradition. It focuses on the Indian, Tibetan, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese experiences of Buddhism. Modern forms of Buddhism in Asia and the West are also covered.
  57.  
  58. Find this resource:
  59.  
  60.  
  61. Obeyesekere, Gananath. “Buddhism.” In Global Religions. Edited by Mark Juergensmeyer, 63–77. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.
  62.  
  63. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  64.  
  65. Within this edited volume focusing on the transnational character of religions, Obeyesekere’s chapter on Buddhism concisely highlights the early dissemination of Buddhism. He then explores Buddhism’s contact with European scholars and practitioners, Buddhist diasporas, and meditation institutions outside of Asia.
  66.  
  67. Find this resource:
  68.  
  69.  
  70. Walters, Jonathan. “Missions: Buddhist Missions.” In Encyclopedia of Religion. Vol. 1. Edited by Lindsay Jones, 6077–6082. Detroit: Macmillan, 2005.
  71.  
  72. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  73.  
  74. In this encyclopedic entry, Walters explains the impetus for mission in Buddhism discussing the early spread of the faith and ending with modern Buddhist missions. This work also compares ideas of mission among Christians and Buddhists.
  75.  
  76. Find this resource:
  77.  
  78.  
  79. Zürcher, Erik. Buddhism: Its Origin and Spread in Words, Maps, and Pictures. New York: St. Martin’s, 1962.
  80.  
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  82.  
  83. Zürcher’s short volume concisely discusses Buddhism’s spread throughout Asia from India.
  84.  
  85. Find this resource:
  86.  
  87.  
  88. Journals
  89. The journals cited here focus on Buddhism in the modern period with many articles concerning Buddhism’s contemporary manifestations and adaptations to new cultures, audiences, and contexts.
  90.  
  91. Contemporary Buddhism. 2000–.
  92.  
  93. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  94.  
  95. Contemporary Buddhism is a cross-disciplinary journal that aims to be a leading voice about the current state of Buddhism. The journal provides various perspectives on developments in the Buddhist world, including its transnational nature.
  96.  
  97. Find this resource:
  98.  
  99.  
  100. Journal of Buddhist Ethics. 1994–.
  101.  
  102. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  103.  
  104. The Journal of Buddhist Ethics is an online journal devoted to understanding Buddhist ethical issues historically and today. Scholars evaluate ethical subjects such as medical ethics, human rights, ecology, cross-cultural ethics, and social and political philosophy from a Buddhist standpoint.
  105.  
  106. Find this resource:
  107.  
  108.  
  109. Journal of Global Buddhism. 2000–.
  110.  
  111. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  112.  
  113. The Journal of Global Buddhism is an online journal specifically addressing globalization and transnationalism in regard to Buddhism. Case studies, developments in contemporary Buddhism, and transnational studies are represented in this journal.
  114.  
  115. Find this resource:
  116.  
  117.  
  118. India as a Pilgrimage Center
  119. Even though Buddhism has traveled out of India, the subcontinent remains its heartland and a place of pilgrimage for Buddhists of all nations. Especially through Bodh Gaya, the place of the Buddha’s enlightenment, India remains in the imagination of Buddhists, and scholarship has focused on historical and modern developments. Huber 2008 is a monograph-length study of the ways India is imagined by Tibetan Buddhists, while Kieschnick and Shahar 2013 explores India in the Chinese imagination. Geary 2014 provides ethnographic details about the various national projects and pilgrimages within Bodh Gaya, while Trevithick 2006 looks historically at the making of Bodh Gaya as an international Buddhist pilgrimage destination. An edited volume, Geary, et al. 2012 includes essays from various disciplinary backgrounds that explore the meaning and importance of the site of the Buddha’s enlightenment.
  120.  
  121. Geary, David. “Destination Enlightenment: Branding Buddhism and Spiritual Tourism in Bodhgaya.” Anthropology Today 24.3 (2008): 11–14.
  122.  
  123. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8322.2008.00584.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  124.  
  125. This short article lays out complex issues pertaining to the future of the site of the Buddha’s enlightenment. Geary discusses recent development proposals, the UNESCO World Heritage site declaration, and spiritual tourism as factors that impact this important Buddhist pilgrimage location.
  126.  
  127. Find this resource:
  128.  
  129.  
  130. Geary, David. “Rebuilding the Navel of the Earth: Buddhist Pilgrimage and Transnational Religious Networks.” Modern Asian Studies 48.3 (2014): 645–692.
  131.  
  132. DOI: 10.1017/S0026749X12000881Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  133.  
  134. In this lengthy article Geary adds historical depth and detail to our knowledge of the establishment of Bodh Gaya as an international Buddhist pilgrimage site. Through a geographic approach Geary traces the establishment of temples in Bodh Gaya of various nations and Buddhist groups.
  135.  
  136. Find this resource:
  137.  
  138.  
  139. Geary, David, Matthew R. Sayers, and Abhishek Singh Amar, eds. Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives on a Contested Buddhist Site: The Bodh Gaya Jataka. New York: Routledge, 2012.
  140.  
  141. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  142.  
  143. This edited volume contains essays that deal with the multifaceted history and living practices at Bodh Gaya, the place of the Buddha’s enlightenment. The perspectives of the authors include archaeology, history, religion, anthropology, and tourism.
  144.  
  145. Find this resource:
  146.  
  147.  
  148. Huber, Toni. The Holy Land Reborn: Pilgrimage and the Tibetan Reinvention of Buddhist India. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008.
  149.  
  150. DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226356501.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  151.  
  152. Huber considers Tibetan travel and imaginations of India in this meticulously researched monograph. He argues that India holds a central place in the Tibetan practice of Buddhism.
  153.  
  154. Find this resource:
  155.  
  156.  
  157. Kieschnick, John, and Meir Shahar, eds. India in the Chinese Imagination: Myth, Religion and Thought. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013.
  158.  
  159. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  160.  
  161. Kieschnick and Shahar provide an overview of the ways India is embedded within Chinese religious and cultural ideas of the premodern era. Essays by leading scholars make this an important book to find case studies of how India is imagined in other Buddhist regions. Available as an e-book.
  162.  
  163. Find this resource:
  164.  
  165.  
  166. Trevithick, Alan. The Revival of Buddhist Pilgrimage at Bodh Gaya, 1811–1949. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2006.
  167.  
  168. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  169.  
  170. This history of over a century of interactions at Bodh Gaya is based on primary documents. Trevithick traces how Bodh Gaya became one of the most popular pilgrimage sites for Buddhists around the world.
  171.  
  172. Find this resource:
  173.  
  174.  
  175. Inter-Asian Connections
  176. The history of the spread of Buddhism from India to its status as a world religion is a long one. The subcategories below highlight the main routes through which Buddhism has traveled, including from India to Central and East Asia and from India to Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.
  177.  
  178. From India to Central and East Asia
  179. A major development within two civilizations with great histories, philosophies, and cultures occurred when Buddhism spread from one of these civilizations, India, to a very different one, China. Many scholars have considered the trajectory of acceptance, criticism, adaptation, and adoption of Buddhism in China. Chen 1973 and Zürcher 2007 offer influential accounts of this process, while Sharf 2002 attempts to correct earlier scholarship that reifies distinctions between Indian and Chinese Buddhism. Mollier 2009 and Sen 2003 investigate the localization of Buddhism in China in relation to historical and cultural circumstances. Scholarship concerning the reception and assimilation of Buddhism in Tibet is available in Kapstein 2000, which provides an overview of this process.
  180.  
  181. Chen, Kenneth. The Chinese Transformation of Buddhism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1973.
  182.  
  183. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  184.  
  185. As its title indicates, this book discusses the ways that Indian Buddhism came into contact with the civilization of China, looking at both the Indianization of Chinese religion and the ways Buddhism adapted to become acceptable to Chinese cultural norms.
  186.  
  187. Find this resource:
  188.  
  189.  
  190. Kapstein, Matthew. The Tibetan Assimilation of Buddhism: Conversion, Contestation, and Memory. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
  191.  
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  193.  
  194. Kapstein explores the reception and acceptance of Buddhism in Tibet and the subsequent exchange of ideas and contestations in the 8th century.
  195.  
  196. Find this resource:
  197.  
  198.  
  199. Kapstein, Matthew, ed. Buddhism between Tibet and China. Somerville, MA: Wisdom, 2009.
  200.  
  201. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  202.  
  203. This collection of essays deals with the relationship between the Buddhist powers of Tibet and China. The authors find that Buddhism, as an international religion, played a role in the discourses and rhetoric of the nation-building projects of both. These essays cover historical and modern encounters between these two nations.
  204.  
  205. Find this resource:
  206.  
  207.  
  208. Mollier, Christine. Buddhism and Taoism Face to Face: Scripture, Ritual, and Iconographic Exchange in Medieval China. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2009.
  209.  
  210. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  211.  
  212. Mollier focuses on the textual relations between Buddhist and Taoist traditions in China in the medieval period. Therefore, this book deals with the continued localization of Buddhism in China and the mutual influence and refashioning of both religions. Available as an e-book.
  213.  
  214. Find this resource:
  215.  
  216.  
  217. Sen, Tansen. Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade: The Realignment of Sino-Indian Relations, 600–1400. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2003.
  218.  
  219. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  220.  
  221. Examining a historical period in Sino-Indian relations when Buddhism in China was thought to be in decline, Sen argues that, on the contrary, Buddhism continued to thrive during the Song Dynasty. This is an important book in which the author discusses the localization of Buddhism in China and, at the same time, the dialectic between China and India regarding Buddhism.
  222.  
  223. Find this resource:
  224.  
  225.  
  226. Sharf, Robert H. Coming to Terms with Chinese Buddhism: A Reading of the Treasure Store Treatise. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2002.
  227.  
  228. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  229.  
  230. Considering one Chinese treatise, the Treasure Store Treatise, Sharf discusses the Sinicization of Buddhism. Sharf argues that this treatise helps us to see that the distinctions between Chinese culture and Indian Buddhism are ambiguous. He challenges the master narrative that Chinese and Indian Buddhism are autonomous and discrete categories.
  231.  
  232. Find this resource:
  233.  
  234.  
  235. Zürcher, Erik. The Buddhist Conquest of China. 3d ed. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2007.
  236.  
  237. DOI: 10.1163/ej.9789004156043.i-472Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  238.  
  239. This book was originally published in 1959 but this third edition demonstrates the continued relevance of Zürcher’s work. This book remains influential and fundamental to understanding the early history of Chinese Buddhism. Available as an e-book.
  240.  
  241. Find this resource:
  242.  
  243.  
  244. From India to Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia
  245. Scholars focusing on texts, material culture, and monastic lineages have studied the historical trajectory of Sri Lanka to Southeast Asia. The works included in this section also deal with inter-Asian connections between Buddhists of the Theravada world in the premodern and modern periods. Swearer 2010 provides an overview of Buddhism in Southeast Asia, including transregional trends. Frasch 2013 discusses the links between Buddhist countries through focusing on councils in the historical and modern periods. Assavavirulhakarn 2010; Skilling, et al. 2012; and Coedès 1968 explore the early history of Theravada Buddhism in Southeast Asia. Focusing on Sri Lanka, Gombrich 2006 and Trainor 1997 explore the connections between India and Sri Lanka, while Blackburn 2010 pays attention to the modern period and connections between Theravada Buddhist countries.
  246.  
  247. Assavavirulhakarn, Prapod. The Ascendancy of Theravada Buddhism. Chiangmai, Thailand: Silkworm, 2010.
  248.  
  249. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  250.  
  251. Offering a more nuanced view of Indianization, this recent scholarship discusses the transference of Indian forms of Buddhism to Southeast Asia. The author focuses most especially on Thailand, his area of specialty.
  252.  
  253. Find this resource:
  254.  
  255.  
  256. Blackburn, Anne. Locations of Buddhism: Colonialism and Modernity in Sri Lanka. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010.
  257.  
  258. DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226055091.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  259.  
  260. Analyzing the colonial period in Sri Lanka, Blackburn follows the monk Hikkaduve Srimangala to argue that instead of a modern Buddhist rupture, there are continuities between premodern and modern Sri Lankan Buddhist contexts. Chapter 5 specifically traces Hikkaduve’s connections with Theravada Southeast Asia, especially the King of Siam in his attempt to revive the Lankan sangha.
  261.  
  262. Find this resource:
  263.  
  264.  
  265. Coedès, George. The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. Honolulu: East-West Center, 1968.
  266.  
  267. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  268.  
  269. This book discusses the history of Southeast Asia focusing on the influence of India and Buddhism in the region. This is an important early work that uses the term Indianization to describe the early influence of Indian civilization on the kingdoms of Southeast Asia.
  270.  
  271. Find this resource:
  272.  
  273.  
  274. Frasch, Tilman. “Buddhist Councils in a Time of Transition.” Contemporary Buddhism 14.1 (2013): 38–51.
  275.  
  276. DOI: 10.1080/14639947.2013.785245Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  277.  
  278. This article looks at the history of Buddhist councils as examples of Buddhist transnationalism and how they have served to adapt Buddhism to new environments.
  279.  
  280. Find this resource:
  281.  
  282.  
  283. Gombrich, Richard F. Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo. 2d ed. London: Routledge, 2006.
  284.  
  285. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  286.  
  287. In this early study of Buddhism in India and Sri Lanka, Gombrich focuses on the social and historical “accommodations” Buddhists made as the religion traveled. This argument and ideas have been nuanced in further scholarship, but this is a solid, detailed account of Buddhist social history. Originally published in 1988.
  288.  
  289. Find this resource:
  290.  
  291.  
  292. Skilling, Peter, Jason Carbine, and Claudio Cicuzza, eds. How Theravada Is Theravada? Exploring Buddhist Identities. Chiangmai, Thailand: Silkworm, 2012.
  293.  
  294. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  295.  
  296. This edited volume brings together historical insights into Buddhism in Southeast Asia and includes essays on Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Burma, and Thailand. Later essays pay particular attention to the ways Buddhism moved across this region.
  297.  
  298. Find this resource:
  299.  
  300.  
  301. Swearer, Donald. The Buddhist World of Southeast Asia. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2010.
  302.  
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  304.  
  305. This is a seminal introductory work on Theravada Buddhism. Taking Theravada Buddhism as a whole, Swearer first discusses the popular tradition and Buddhist practices. He then compares and contrasts the experiences of Buddhism in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia historically and in the modern period. Available as an e-book.
  306.  
  307. Find this resource:
  308.  
  309.  
  310. Trainor, Kevin. Relics, Ritual, and Representation in Buddhism: Rematerializing the Sri Lankan Theravada Tradition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
  311.  
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  313.  
  314. Trainor’s book focuses on relics in India and Sri Lanka with a chapter dedicated to Buddhism’s establishment in Sri Lanka.
  315.  
  316. Find this resource:
  317.  
  318.  
  319. Buddhist International Organizations
  320. Leaders of Buddhist groups have sought to reach beyond their nation-state and create organizations that will appeal to a broad audience. These organizations are a major factor of Buddhism as an international religion and works have described their leaders and goals as well as their national and international appeal. Some of the largest international Buddhist organizations are based in Taiwan. Chandler 2004 provides an overview of the popular Foguangshan group, and Huang 2005 does so for the equally well-known Tzu Chi Foundation. Madsen 2007 discusses these groups and more in a review of Buddhism and politics in Taiwan. In Japan, Soka Gakkai is the most significant international Buddhist organization, and Metreaux 1996 provides information on this group’s history and controversies. Shambhala International is an important organization rooted in Tibetan Buddhism. Eldershaw 2010 discusses this movement as it exists in Canada, and Kay 2004 provides information about another Tibetan group, the New Kadampa Tradition, while Ribush 2012 discusses the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition. Sakyadhita International is an important international organization for Buddhist women’s issues. Fenn and Koppedrayer 2008 discusses this group in the context of its biannual conferences.
  321.  
  322. Chandler, Stuart. Establishing a Pure Land on Earth: The Foguangshan Buddhist Perspective on Modernization and Globalization. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2004.
  323.  
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  325.  
  326. Chandler has written one of the most authoritative books on Foguangshan, an important Buddhist international organization. He adeptly describes this movement and its founder, Master Xingyun, as well as the ways this organization has embraced modernization and globalization.
  327.  
  328. Find this resource:
  329.  
  330.  
  331. Eldershaw, Lynn P. “Shambala International: The Golden Sun of the Great East.” In Wild Geese: Buddhism in Canada. Edited by John Harding, Victor Sogen Hori, and Alexander Soucy, 236–269. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2010.
  332.  
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  334.  
  335. Although this article focuses on the international Buddhist organization called Shambhala as it exists in Canada, the chapter gives a good overview of Shambhala International in general. Eldershaw includes a biography of founder Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche as well as the main concerns of the organization today.
  336.  
  337. Find this resource:
  338.  
  339.  
  340. Fenn, Mavis L., and Kay Koppedrayer. “Sakyadhita: A Transnational Gathering Place for Buddhist Women.” Journal of Global Buddhism 9 (2008): 45–79.
  341.  
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  343.  
  344. Sakyadhita International is an organization that seeks to bring together women from around the Buddhist world. The authors discuss the main aims of this organization in an account of the three recent conferences held by Sakyadhita.
  345.  
  346. Find this resource:
  347.  
  348.  
  349. Huang, C. Julia. “The Compassion Relief Diaspora.” In Buddhist Missionaries in the Era of Globalization. Edited by Linda Learman, 185–209. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2005.
  350.  
  351. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  352.  
  353. The Tzu Chi (Compassionate Relief) Foundation, founded by Master Cheng Yen, is a Buddhist charitable organization that extends its reach throughout the world. In this chapter, Huang considers the ways this organization can attain its goals as a Taiwanese movement with global aspirations.
  354.  
  355. Find this resource:
  356.  
  357.  
  358. Kay, David N. Tibetan and Zen Buddhism in Britain: Transplantation, Development, and Adaptation. London: Routledge, 2004.
  359.  
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  361.  
  362. The first part of the book discusses the New Kadampa tradition, an international Buddhist organization that emerged out of the Tibetan tradition. Kay provides a straightforward, data-heavy account.
  363.  
  364. Find this resource:
  365.  
  366.  
  367. Madsen, Richard. Democracy’s Dharma: Religious Renaissance and Political Development in Taiwan. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007.
  368.  
  369. DOI: 10.1525/california/9780520252271.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  370.  
  371. This is a comprehensive study of the three largest international religious organizations in Taiwan. Three chapters cover Tzu Chi, Foguangshan, and Dharma Drum Mountain and their relationships with politics and the Taiwanese state.
  372.  
  373. Find this resource:
  374.  
  375.  
  376. Metreaux, Daniel. “The Soka Gakkai: Buddhism and the Creation of a Harmonious and Peaceful Society.” In Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia. Edited by Christopher Queen and Sallie B. King, 365–400. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1996.
  377.  
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  379.  
  380. Metreaux offers a look at Soka Gakkai’s success as an international movement while providing context to its emergence on the global stage. This is a dated but comprehensive overview of the history of this movement.
  381.  
  382. Find this resource:
  383.  
  384.  
  385. Ribush, Nicholas. “Bamboo through Concrete . . . Growing Tibetan Buddhism in the West: The Story of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (the FPMT).” In Inner Peace, Global Impact: Tibetan Buddhism, Leadership, and Work. Edited by Kathryn Goldman Schuyler, 163–182. Charlotte, NC: Information Age, 2012.
  386.  
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  388.  
  389. Ribush, a follower of FPMT and a key figure in its development, discusses this movement through some first-person reminiscences as well as conversations with FPMT teachers and members. In addition, this chapter offers a history of the movement and the life of the founder.
  390.  
  391. Find this resource:
  392.  
  393.  
  394. Buddhism Encounters in the Western World
  395. A significant number of works discuss Buddhism’s interaction with the Western world. These encounters include historical contact before and during the colonial period as well as more recent ways that Buddhists and Buddhism are adapting to Western contexts. This section includes theoretical and historical works on the encounter between Buddhism and the West, such as Batchelor 1994; Bhushan, et al. 2009; Clarke 1997; and Almond 1988. Case studies of Buddhism in the West that are particularly useful for examining the nature of Buddhism as an international religion include Prebish and Baumann 2002 and Harding, et al. 2014. Significant historical studies of North America’s encounter with Buddhism are Tweed 1992 and McMahan 2008.
  396.  
  397. Almond, Philip. The British Discovery of Buddhism. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
  398.  
  399. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511598210Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  400.  
  401. Almond offers an overview of early British perspectives of Buddhism during the Victorian period. He reveals biases in early British scholarship and writing about Buddhism through examining its founder, doctrines, ethics, and practices.
  402.  
  403. Find this resource:
  404.  
  405.  
  406. Batchelor, Stephen. The Awakening of the West: The Encounter of Buddhism and Western Culture. Berkeley, CA: Parallax, 1994.
  407.  
  408. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  409.  
  410. Batchelor traces Western attitudes toward Buddhism from early encounters between Greek kings and Buddhist monks to the beginning of the 20th century. This book is largely descriptive and focuses on important Westerners in the dialogue between Buddhism and the West.
  411.  
  412. Find this resource:
  413.  
  414.  
  415. Bhushan, Nalini, Jay Garfield, and Abraham Zablocki, eds. TransBuddhism: Transmission, Translation and Transformation. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2009.
  416.  
  417. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  418.  
  419. This edited collection is divided into three sections that treat the transmission of Buddhism to the West, the transference of Buddhist terms to new languages or cultures, and the transformations of Buddhism as it encounters new cultures and becomes a global religion.
  420.  
  421. Find this resource:
  422.  
  423.  
  424. Clarke, J. J. Oriental Enlightenment: The Encounter between Asian and Western Thought. London: Routledge, 1997.
  425.  
  426. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  427.  
  428. This book takes into account Asian religions as a whole, including Hinduism, Confucianism, and Taoism. However, a good portion is dedicated to Buddhism and the dialogue between Western ideas and Buddhism (see, especially, chapter 5, “Buddhist Passions: The Nineteenth Century” [pp. 71–93]). Available as an e-book.
  429.  
  430. Find this resource:
  431.  
  432.  
  433. Harding, John S., Victor Sōgen Hori, and Alexander Soucy, eds. Flowers on the Rock: Global and Local Buddhisms in Canada. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2014.
  434.  
  435. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  436.  
  437. This edited volume concerning Buddhists in Canada emphasizes the interplay of global dynamics and offers local case studies in the international spread of Buddhism.
  438.  
  439. Find this resource:
  440.  
  441.  
  442. McMahan, David. The Making of Buddhist Modernism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
  443.  
  444. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  445.  
  446. McMahan looks broadly at Buddhism’s encounter with modernity in this monograph. He investigates this encounter both spatially, as he looks at Western and Asian Buddhist contexts, and temporally, as he pays attention to Buddhism prior to the encounter that laid the grounwork for how Buddhism was received in the West and the result of the encounter today.
  447.  
  448. Find this resource:
  449.  
  450.  
  451. Prebish, Charles S., and Martin Baumann, eds. Westward Dharma: Buddhism beyond Asia. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002.
  452.  
  453. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  454.  
  455. This collection of essays concerns issues of Buddhists in modern North America. The first two chapters discuss issues of studying North American Buddhists and the rest focus on case studies of Taiwanese, Japanese, and Korean Buddhist experiences in North America.
  456.  
  457. Find this resource:
  458.  
  459.  
  460. Seager, Richard Hughes. The World’s Parliament of Religions: The East/West Encounter, Chicago, 1893. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2009.
  461.  
  462. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  463.  
  464. A major event in understanding Buddhism’s dialogue with the West was the World’s Parliament of Religions that took place in 1893. Seager details the messages of the Asian delegates to this event as well as the agendas of the Christian organizers. Originally published in 1994.
  465.  
  466. Find this resource:
  467.  
  468.  
  469. Tweed, Thomas A. The American Encounter with Buddhism, 1844–1912: Victorian Culture and the Limits of Dissent. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1992.
  470.  
  471. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  472.  
  473. This is an important book in studies of early American Buddhism. Tweed argues that various motivations were at play in the early appeal of Buddhism.
  474.  
  475. Find this resource:
  476.  
  477.  
  478. Buddhism Spreads to Non-Buddhist Countries
  479. Not only individual teachers and ideas, but also of course Buddhists themselves help to spread Buddhism in non-Buddhist contexts. Both lay and ordained Buddhists have created the paths through which the religion has come to be available in most major cities throughout the world. Instead of focusing on the place where Buddhism becomes localized, the works cited are concerned with groups and people who are doing the work of rooting their tradition outside of its national and regional contexts. The topics below have been divided geographically, considering works on East Asian, Tibetan, and Southeast Asian Buddhism’s spread in the modern period.
  480.  
  481. East Asian Buddhism Abroad
  482. Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans have migrated outside of East Asia, bringing their Buddhism with them to other parts of Asia as well as South America, North America, Europe, and the Pacific. These books provide representative samples of studies of the movement of these groups, with Japan being the most significant for scholars. A historical look at the ways Japanese Buddhism was presented to the West is provided in Snodgrass 2003. Soka Gakkai is again important in this regard and the edited volume Machacek and Wilson 2000 provides details on the ways this movement has spread outside of Japan. Nakamaki 2003 and Rocha 2006 also discuss Japanese Zen in Brazil. Spuler 2003 focuses on one Japanese Buddhist group in Australia and Wilson 2009 is concerned with the transformation of a Japanese ritual in America.
  483.  
  484. Machacek, David, and Bryan Wilson, eds. Global Citizens: The Soka Gakkai Buddhist Movement in the World. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
  485.  
  486. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  487.  
  488. This book looks at the truly international character of this organization along with its origins and modern appearance in Japan.
  489.  
  490. Find this resource:
  491.  
  492.  
  493. Nakamaki, Hirochika. Japanese Religions at Home and Abroad: Anthropological Perspectives. London: Routledge, 2003.
  494.  
  495. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  496.  
  497. The second half of this book treats Japanese religions abroad in discussing Japanese Buddhism in the Americas, most notably Brazil.
  498.  
  499. Find this resource:
  500.  
  501.  
  502. Rocha, Cristina. Zen in Brazil: The Quest for Cosmopolitan Modernity. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2006.
  503.  
  504. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  505.  
  506. Rocha addresses the ways the majority Roman Catholic nation of Brazil has come to localize Buddhism through the adoption of elites, media, and popular culture. She demonstrates the ways Zen has become a marker of modernity in Brazil.
  507.  
  508. Find this resource:
  509.  
  510.  
  511. Snodgrass, Judith. Presenting Japanese Buddhism to the West: Orientalism, Occidentalism, and the Columbian Exposition. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2003.
  512.  
  513. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  514.  
  515. In the setting of the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893, this book focuses on the ways Japanese delegates molded their presentation of Buddhism to fit Western preconceptions of the religion.
  516.  
  517. Find this resource:
  518.  
  519.  
  520. Spuler, Michelle. Developments in Australian Buddhism: Facets of the Diamond. London: Routledge, 2003.
  521.  
  522. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  523.  
  524. Focusing on the Diamond Sangha Zen Buddhist group in Australia, Spuler offers insight into the adaptation of Buddhism in this non-Buddhist context. This book provides information on Buddhism in Australia and also addresses methodological issues of studying convert and ethnic Buddhist groups.
  525.  
  526. Find this resource:
  527.  
  528.  
  529. Wilson, Jeff. Mourning the Unborn Dead: A Buddhist Ritual Comes to America. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
  530.  
  531. DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195371932.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  532.  
  533. This book concerns the localization of the post-pregnancy loss ritual, or mizuko kuyo, as it has been transferred to the American context. Wilson demonstrates how a ritual is transformed from a Japanese context to a more psychological one in American Zen communities.
  534.  
  535. Find this resource:
  536.  
  537.  
  538. Tibetan Buddhism Abroad
  539. Tibetans in India trace their history to the 1960s. Most of the scholarship here concerns the connections of monks and high-ranking teachers with Western students and teachings abroad. Lopez 1998 and Mullen 2001 focus on the ideas of Tibetan Buddhism and how they are transformed in Western contexts. Cozort 2003 investigates the role of Western teachers in the localization of Tibetan Buddhism outside of Tibet and India. Yu 2012 writes about Tibetan Buddhism’s movement to China, and Obadia 2001 looks at localization efforts in France. Zablocki 2005 attempts to understand the broader phenomenon of Tibetan Buddhism’s interactions with globalization, while Paine 2004 focuses on figures that facilitated the transformation of the tradition. Scherer 2009 provides a case study of the Diamond Way, a particular group within Tibetan Buddhism.
  540.  
  541. Cozort, Daniel. “The Making of the Western Lama.” In Buddhism in the Modern World: Adaptations of an Ancient Tradition. Edited by Steven Heine and Charles S. Prebish, 221–248. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
  542.  
  543. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  544.  
  545. This chapter discusses the encounter between Tibetan teachers and Western practitioners. Cozort argues that because of a cultural divide, Western teachers are being trained to teach their cultural peers in two organization, the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition and the New Kadampa Tradition.
  546.  
  547. Find this resource:
  548.  
  549.  
  550. Lopez, Donald, Jr. Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998.
  551.  
  552. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  553.  
  554. Lopez considers the Western ideas and images of Tibet through various illuminating moments of the encounter between the two cultures. He reveals the ways that these ideas have misinterpreted and co-opted Tibetan Buddhism.
  555.  
  556. Find this resource:
  557.  
  558.  
  559. Mullen, Eve. The American Occupation of Tibetan Buddhism: Tibetans and Their American Hosts in New York City. Münster, Germany: Waxmann, 2001.
  560.  
  561. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  562.  
  563. Mullen focuses on Tibetan Buddhist norms and how these are transformed in the American context. Te idea and image of Tibet in America is the central concern of this book. Broader treatment of religious studies theory is found in the introduction and the conclusion.
  564.  
  565. Find this resource:
  566.  
  567.  
  568. Obadia, Lionel. “Tibetan Buddhism in France: A Missionary Religion?” Journal of Global Buddhism 2 (2001): 92–122.
  569.  
  570. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  571.  
  572. Using Tibetan Buddhism in France as a case study, Obadia focuses on the question of Buddhism as a missionary religion. He finds that the hypothesis of Buddhism as a missionary religion allows scholars to move beyond case studies and offers an explanation of Buddhism’s worldwide diffusion.
  573.  
  574. Find this resource:
  575.  
  576.  
  577. Paine, Jeffrey. Re-enchantment: Tibetan Buddhism Comes to the West. London: Norton, 2004.
  578.  
  579. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  580.  
  581. In this readable work, Paine describes the avenues that, and the individuals who, paved the way for Tibetan Buddhism to reach Western audiences. Paine chronicles the lives and journeys of Tibetan lamas in exile and Western travelers who became early students and interlocutors in the transmission.
  582.  
  583. Find this resource:
  584.  
  585.  
  586. Scherer, Burkhard. “Interpreting the Diamond Way: Contemporary Convert Buddhism in Transition.” Journal of Global Buddhism 10 (2009): 17–48.
  587.  
  588. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  589.  
  590. This article discusses the ways Tibetan Buddhism has moved to the West through the case study of the Diamond Way. This is a lay movement led by a Danish lay teacher that focuses on the Westernization of their practices.
  591.  
  592. Find this resource:
  593.  
  594.  
  595. Yu, Dan Smyer. The Spread of Tibetan Buddhism in China: Charisma, Money, Enlightenment. London: Routledge, 2012.
  596.  
  597. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  598.  
  599. Yu’s aptly titled book discusses the ways Tibetan Buddhists and Han Chinese converts are revitalizing their tradition in contemporary China. His major concerns are the use of media and commerce, charismatic space and teachers, and the role of cyberspace.
  600.  
  601. Find this resource:
  602.  
  603.  
  604. Zablocki, Abraham M. “The Global Mandala: The Transnational Transformation of Tibetan Buddhism.” PhD diss., Cornell University, 2005.
  605.  
  606. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  607.  
  608. This dissertation takes into account the global expansion of Tibetan Buddhism in the late 20th century. Focusing on both Tibetan refugees and non-Tibetan practitioners, and their encounters, Zablocki discusses the historical and modern transformations of transnational Tibetan Buddhism.
  609.  
  610. Find this resource:
  611.  
  612.  
  613. Theravada Buddhism Abroad
  614. Scholarship on Theravada Buddhism abroad deals with the ways the various Theravada Buddhist communities maintain connections to their nation-states and national identities. Bell 2001, Cadge 2004, and Cadge and Sangdhanoo 2005 relate the ways Thai Buddhist communities have built temple communities within the United States and Britain. Cate 2003 focuses uniquely on Thai Buddhist art within England and the possibilities of transnational merit-making. Van Esterik 1992 provides information on the Lao experience in North America, while Cheah 2011 treats the Burmese immigrant experience, incorporating the topic of race. Numrich 1996 is a classic study that considers both Sinhalese and Thai Buddhist communities in America. LeVine and Gellner 2005 is a unique work in that it discusses the spread of Theravada Buddhism in Nepal rather than a Western country. Braun 2013 considers the roots of the popularity of lay meditation abroad through the figure of Burmese monk Ledi Sayadaw.
  615.  
  616. Bell, Sandra. “Being Creative with Tradition: Rooting Theravada Buddhism in Britain.” Journal of Global Buddhism 1 (2001): 1–15.
  617.  
  618. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  619.  
  620. Bell examines the nature of the Buddhist tradition and change in a Theravada Buddhist context in Britain. She includes ethnographic fieldwork from mostly the Thai forest tradition and argues that the interactions between Theravada Buddhism and Western culture include mutual influence and modifications.
  621.  
  622. Find this resource:
  623.  
  624.  
  625. Braun, Erik. The Birth of Insight: Meditation, Modern Buddhism, and the Burmese Monk Ledi Sayadaw. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013.
  626.  
  627. DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226000947.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  628.  
  629. In this book Braun answers how and why vipassanā meditation became so popular and widespread. Through his historical look at the Burmese monk Ledi Sayadaw (b. 1846–d. 1923), Braun argues that we can locate the foundation of this significant religious trend. Braun uses Ledi Sayadaw as a lens with which to capture this roots of the mass lay vipassanā meditation movement.
  630.  
  631. Find this resource:
  632.  
  633.  
  634. Cadge, Wendy. Heartwood: The First Generation of Theravada Buddhism in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004.
  635.  
  636. DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226089010.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  637.  
  638. Cadge investigates two Theravada Buddhist communities in America, one a meditation center and the other a Thai Buddhist community. Through ethnographic data she reveals the similarities of these two communities within the context of American Buddhism.
  639.  
  640. Find this resource:
  641.  
  642.  
  643. Cadge, Wendy, and Sidhorn Sangdhanoo. “Thai Buddhism in America: An Historical and Contemporary Overview.” Contemporary Buddhism 6.1 (2005): 7–35.
  644.  
  645. DOI: 10.1080/14639940500129421Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  646.  
  647. This important article provides a history of Thai Buddhism in America using comprehensive interviews. Cadge and Sangdhanoo use this information to discuss the ways Thai Buddhism adapts to America.
  648.  
  649. Find this resource:
  650.  
  651.  
  652. Cate, Sandra. Making Merit, Making Art: A Thai Temple in Wimbledon. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2003.
  653.  
  654. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  655.  
  656. Instead of examining the spread of Buddhism through the lens of communities and their interactions and assimilation abroad, this book takes as its focus Buddhist art. Discussing transnational merit-making, Cate traces the history of the temple murals in a Thai Buddhist temple in Wimbledon, England.
  657.  
  658. Find this resource:
  659.  
  660.  
  661. Cheah, Joseph. Race and Religion in American Buddhism: White Supremacy and Immigrant Adaptation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
  662.  
  663. DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199756285.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  664.  
  665. Through ethnographic data from a Burmese temple in California, this book is unique in its focus on race and American Buddhism. Cheah is critical of the undercurrent of white supremacy and latent Orientalism in which American Buddhism is rearticulated.
  666.  
  667. Find this resource:
  668.  
  669.  
  670. LeVine, Sarah, and David N. Gellner. Rebuilding Buddhism: The Theravada Movement in Twentieth-Century Nepal. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2005.
  671.  
  672. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  673.  
  674. This book discusses the movement from one Buddhist environment to another, namely, Burmese and Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhism as it has been adopted by Mahayana Buddhists in Nepal. Comparing the way these two Buddhisms are enacted illuminates the reasons why Theravada Buddhism can be appealing. LeVine and Gellner’s work is important for understanding an interesting development in transnational Buddhism.
  675.  
  676. Find this resource:
  677.  
  678.  
  679. Numrich, Paul David. Old Wisdom in the New World: Americanization in Two Immigrant Theravada Buddhist Temples. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1996.
  680.  
  681. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  682.  
  683. This is one of the earliest monograph-length ethnographic studies of Buddhism in America. Comparing two Theravada communities, Numrich identifies one of the important ideas in American Buddhist studies, that of “parallel congregations.” This term describes the ways Asian immigrants and converts pursue Buddhism in different ways in the same spaces.
  684.  
  685. Find this resource:
  686.  
  687.  
  688. van Esterik, Penny. Taking Refuge: Lao Buddhists in North America. Tempe: Program for Southeast Asian Studies, Arizona State University, 1992.
  689.  
  690. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  691.  
  692. Van Esterik gives an ethnographic account of the ways Lao Buddhist refugees re-create their religious traditions in Toronto, Canada.
  693.  
  694. Find this resource:
  695.  
  696.  
  697. Travel to Buddhist Countries
  698. Travelers from non-Buddhist countries also journey to Buddhist countries to learn about Buddhism. Scholarly works such as Moran 2004, Schedneck 2011 and Schedneck 2013 depict the motivations of, and ideas about, Buddhism of these travelers. Historical travel to Buddhist countries is considered in Harris 2006 and Prothero 1996 in the context of modern Sri Lanka. Bocking, et al. 2014 looks at early Buddhist transnational networks. Nyanaponika Thera was one of the earliest Western monks and Bhikkhu Nyanatusita and Hecker 2008 constitutes his biography.
  699.  
  700. Bhikkhu Nyanatusita, and Hellmuth Hecker. The Life of Nyanatiloka Thera: The Biography of a Western Buddhist Pioneer. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society, 2008.
  701.  
  702. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  703.  
  704. Nyanatiloka Thera is an important figure and interlocutor between Western and Theravada Buddhism as the first European monk. Ordained in 1903, he was also a scholar and translator of Pali. The core of this book is a translation of an autobiographical account Nyanatiloka wrote when he was forty-eight and the rest of his life is written as a biography.
  705.  
  706. Find this resource:
  707.  
  708.  
  709. Bocking, Brian, Phibul Choompolpaisal, Laurence Cox, and Alicia M. Turner, eds. Buddhist Crossroads: Pioneer Western Buddhists and Asian Networks, 1860–1960. New York: Routledge, 2014.
  710.  
  711. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  712.  
  713. This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal Contemporary Buddhism (Contemporary Buddhism 14.1 [2013]). This research investigates the previously uncovered networks of global Buddhism between Asian Buddhists and early Western converts.
  714.  
  715. Find this resource:
  716.  
  717.  
  718. Harris, Elizabeth J. Theravada Buddhism and the British Encounter: Religious, Missionary, and Colonial Experience in Nineteenth-Century Sri Lanka. New York: Routledge, 2006.
  719.  
  720. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  721.  
  722. Harris details the accounts and perceptions of Buddhism of British travelers, missionaries, scholars, and sympathizers. This book focuses on British attitudes; however, in the later part of the book some of the views of Buddhists move to the forefront.
  723.  
  724. Find this resource:
  725.  
  726.  
  727. Moran, Peter. Buddhism Observed: Travelers, Exiles and Tibetan Dharma in Kathmandu. London: Routledge, 2004.
  728.  
  729. DOI: 10.4324/9780203379448Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  730.  
  731. This excellent ethnography of Buddhist travelers to Nepal offers insight into commodification, difference, and otherness of Tibetan Buddhists from the perspective of Western and Asian travelers. This book is an important study for noting the interactions between different kinds of, and ideas about, Buddhism.
  732.  
  733. Find this resource:
  734.  
  735.  
  736. Prothero, Stephen. The White Buddhist: The Asian Odyssey of Henry Steel Olcott. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1996.
  737.  
  738. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  739.  
  740. Prothero investigates the interactions between Sri Lankan Buddhists and the Theosophy Society, led by Henry Steel Olcott and Madame Blavatsky in the late 19th century. This encounter marks one of the first long-term interactions between Asian Buddhists and interested Westerners, and this book is an important foundational text in examining this dialogue.
  741.  
  742. Find this resource:
  743.  
  744.  
  745. Schedneck, Brooke. “Constructions of Buddhism: Autobiographical Moments of Western Monks’ Experiences of Thai Monastic Life.” Contemporary Buddhism 12.2 (2011): 327–346.
  746.  
  747. DOI: 10.1080/14639947.2011.610639Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  748.  
  749. Schedneck explores the autobiographical writings of Western monks living in Thailand in light of scholarship on modern and Western Buddhism in an effort to understand their constructions of Buddhism.
  750.  
  751. Find this resource:
  752.  
  753.  
  754. Schedneck, Brooke. “Tourism, Nature, Healing, and Dissent: The Plurality of International Meditators in Thailand.” Rian Thai: International Journal of Thai Studies 6 (2013): 1–24.
  755.  
  756. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  757.  
  758. This article discusses the experiences of international meditators in Thailand. It highlights the diversity of travelers who meditate in Thailand, from those who chance upon a retreat to those who are interested in ordination.
  759.  
  760. Find this resource:
  761.  
  762.  
  763. Memoirs of Travelers to Buddhist Countries
  764. Buddhists and non-Buddhists have recorded their experiences in Buddhist countries in both the premodern and the modern periods. These memoirs capture the perspective of the narrator as well as the Buddhist practices and beliefs in a particular time period and location.
  765.  
  766. Premodern
  767. In the premodern period Chinese travelers, such as Xuanzang and Faxian, traveled to Burma, Sri Lanka, and Thailand to collect texts and renew their ordination lineages. Their experiences are recorded in Legge 1886 and Yu 2012.
  768.  
  769. Legge, James. A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms: Being an Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-Hsien of Travels in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399–414) in Search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline. Oxford: Clarendon, 1886.
  770.  
  771. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  772.  
  773. This volume is a translation of the travels of Chinese monk Fa-Hsien to India and Sri Lanka to bring Buddhist texts back to China in the 5th century CE.
  774.  
  775. Find this resource:
  776.  
  777.  
  778. Yu, Anthony C., trans. The Journey to the West. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012.
  779.  
  780. DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226971438.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  781.  
  782. This translation of a Chinese novel written in the 16th century tells the story of the fourteen-year pilgrimage of the monk Xuanzang to find Buddhist scriptures.
  783.  
  784. Find this resource:
  785.  
  786.  
  787. Modern
  788. Many Westerners travel to Buddhist countries to experience a meditation retreat, and some of them write in detail about their experiences. Byles 1962 is authored by one of the first individuals. She writes about her experiences learning about Buddhism and meditation in Myanmar (then Burma). The author of Shattock 1970 also traveled to Myanmar (then Burma) for a meditation retreat. Hamilton-Merrit 1986 treats the author’s meditation experiences in Thailand, while Lerner 1977 is a record of the author’s travels to India, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar (then Burma).
  789.  
  790. Byles, Marie. Journey into Burmese Silence. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1962.
  791.  
  792. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  793.  
  794. A memoir about an Australian woman’s travels within Burma and her experience at two different retreat centers. Byles discusses her meditation experiences as well as her observations of Burmese Buddhism during this time.
  795.  
  796. Find this resource:
  797.  
  798.  
  799. Hamilton-Merrit, Jane. A Meditator’s Diary: A Western Woman’s Unique Experiences in Thailand Monasteries. London: Unwin, 1986.
  800.  
  801. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  802.  
  803. Hamilton-Merrit was one of the first foreign women to meditate in Thailand. She found a location that accepted her as a student in Bangkok and she participated in a longer retreat in Chiangmai, Thailand. Her observations and experiences depict a curious attitude about Buddhism and an idealization of its monastic figures.
  804.  
  805. Find this resource:
  806.  
  807.  
  808. Lerner, Eric. Journey of Insight Meditation: A Personal Experience of the Buddha’s Way. New York: Schocken, 1977.
  809.  
  810. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  811.  
  812. A confused man in his mid-twenties, Lerner decides to try meditation in India through the Goenka method. After this he practices in Burma and in Sri Lanka. He describes his mental experiences in meditation rather than Buddhism in these countries.
  813.  
  814. Find this resource:
  815.  
  816.  
  817. Shattock, E. H. An Experiment in Mindfulness: An English Admiral’s Experiences in a Buddhist Monastery. New York: Samuel Weiser, 1970.
  818.  
  819. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  820.  
  821. This is an account of an English admiral’s experiences in the Mahasi Thathana Yeiktha in Yangon. He is one of the first Westerners to visit here and he describes his short experience along with teachings from Mahasi Sayadaw. Originally published in 1958.
  822.  
  823. Find this resource:
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