Buddhism in the Global Eye: Beyond East and West

by John S. Harding (Editor), Victor Sogen Hori (Editor), Alexander Soucy (Editor)

Overview

Buddhism in the Global Eye focuses on the importance of a global context and transnational connections for understanding Buddhist modernizing movements. It also explores how Asian agency has been central to the development of modern Buddhism, and provides theoretical reflections that seek to overcome misleading East-West binaries.

Using case studies from China, Japan, Vietnam, India, Tibet, Canada, and the USA, the book introduces new research that reveals the permeable nature of certain categories, such as "modern", "global", and "contemporary" Buddhism. In the book, contributors recognize the multiple nodes of intra-Asian and global influence. For example, monks travelled among Asian countries creating networks of information and influence, mutually stimulating each other's modernization movements. The studies demonstrate that in modernization movements, Asian reformers mobilized all available cultural resources both to adapt local forms of Buddhism to a new global context and to shape new foreign concepts to local Asian forms.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350140639
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	03/05/2020
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

John S. Harding is Associate Professor in East Asian Religions at the University of Lethbridge, Canada.

Victor Sogen Hori was formerly Associate Professor in Japanese Religion in the School of Religious Studies at McGill University, Canada. He is also a former Buddhist monk.

Alexander Soucy is Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Saint Mary's University, Canada.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Spelling Conventions
Contributor biographies
Introduction
Part One: World Religions
1. Buddhism and the Secular Conception of Religion, Victor Sogen Hori, (McGill University, Canada)
2. Mapping Buddhism beyond East and West, John Harding (University of Lethbridge, Canada)
3. Buddhism and Global Secularisms, David McMahan (Franklin and Marshall College, USA)
4. Women and Vietnamese Buddhist Practice in the Shadow of Secularism, Alexander Soucy (Saint Mary's University, Canada)
Part Two: Global Flows
5. Socialism, Russia, and India's Revolutionary Dharma, Douglas Ober (University of British Columbia, Canada)
6. D.T. Suzuki and the Chinese Search for Buddhist Modernism, Jingjing Li (Leiden University, Netherlands)
7. Recent Emergence of Theravada Meditation Communities in Contemporary China, Ngar-sze Lau (Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong)
Part Three: Asian Agencies
8. Shin Buddhism in Choshu and Early Meiji Notions of Religion-State Relations, Mick Deneckere (University of Ghent, Belgium)
9. Nanjo Bunyu's Sanskritization of Buddhist Studies in Modern Japan, Paride Stortini (University of Chicago, USA)
10. An Alternative to the 'Westernization' Paradigm and Buddhist Global Imaginaires, Lina Verchery (Harvard University, USA)
11. Glocalization in Buddhist Food Ventures on a Small Canadian Island, Jason Ellsworth (Dalhousie University, Canada)
Appendix
Glossary
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

"Buddhism in the Global Eye problematizes the dated categories of "East" and "West," geographical and cultural binaries that have been central to many descriptions of Buddhism. In dismantling them, this book succeeds admirably. This book will serve to enhance our understanding of Buddhism as an Asian phenomenon for years to come." --Paul Fuller, Lecturer in Buddhist Studies at the University of Cardiff, UK

"This is an important collection of projects that plumb the global flows of Buddhism during the modern age, with many exciting newer voices that haven't appeared much in previous publications. The richness of these projects will make it a crucial go-to book for people working in this area." --Jeff Wilson, Professor of Religious Studies and East Asian Studies, Renison University College, University of Waterloo, Canada

From the Publisher