Figures of Buddhist Modernity in Asia - by Jeffrey Samuels & Justin Thomas McDaniel & Mark Michael Rowe (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

This book introduces contemporary Buddhists from across Asia and from various walks of life. Eschewing traditional hagiographies, the editors have collected sixty-six profiles of individuals who would be excluded from most Buddhist histories and ethnographies. In addition to monks and nuns, readers will encounter artists, psychologists, social workers, part-time priests, healers, and librarians as well as charlatans, hucksters, profiteers, and rabble-rousers--all whose lives reflect changes in modern Buddhism even as they themselves shape the course of these changes.

The editors and contributors are fundamentally concerned with how individual Buddhists make meaning and display this understanding to others. Some practitioners profiled look to the past, lamenting the transformations Buddhism has undergone in recent times, while others embrace these. Some have adopted a "new asceticism," while others are eager to explore different religious traditions as they think about their own ways of being Buddhist. Arranging the profiles according to these themes--looking backward, forward, inward, and outward--reveals the value of studying individual Buddhists and their idiosyncratic religious backgrounds and attitudes, thus highlighting the diversity of approaches to the practice and study of Buddhism in Asia today. Students and teachers will welcome sections on further readings and additional tables of contents that organize the profiles thematically, as well as by tradition (Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana), region, and country.

Review Quotes

Figures of Buddhist modernity in Asia is an impressive achievement of scholarly collaboration. Sixty-three specialists of contemporary Buddhism assemble an expansive collection of vignettes that illustrate how Buddhists inhabit a modern world.-- "Journal of Southeast Asian Studies"

Figures of Buddhist Modernity in Asia . . . offers a wealth of information about modern Buddhism and succeeds marvelously in depicting an entertaining "cacophony of voices" expressing what Buddhism can involve and what being a Buddhist can entail. . . . In sum, the book is a resounding success in showing, through the prism of individual lives, the diversity and complexity of modern Buddhism. It depicts a broad range of figures from most of the major traditions, regions, and countries of Buddhist Asia. The profiles are informative, entertaining, and generally strike a good balance between sympathetic portrayal and critical distance.-- "Journal of Global Buddhism"

Figures of Buddhist Modernity in Asia is a collection of profiles of individuals who combine religious tradition with contemporary life. They range from, in the words of the editors, "Buddhist Web masters in Taiwan, members of international Buddhist women's organizations in Vietnam, internationally known singing nuns in Nepal, Buddhist air-traffic controllers in Burma" to "alcoholic translators of Confucian texts in Laos...charlatans, hucksters, profiteers and rabble-rousers."-- "Taipei Times"

This delightfully gritty volume contains biographical sketches of sixty-six contemporary Buddhists from East, Southeast, and South Asia. . . . The ethnographically rich vignettes make vividly clear how Buddhist ordination has moved from place to place throughout history and how Buddhist practice is adapting to changing times while relying on traditions and assets from the past. Deliberately crafted to emphasize polyphonic lived experiences rather than formal Buddhist doctrine, this book provides an exciting, forward-looking counterpoint to scholarly works on the history of Buddhist thought.--Michele Ruth Gamburd, Portland State University "Asian Ethnology, Vol. 77 (2018)"

About the Author

Jeffrey Samuels (Editor)
Jeffrey Samuels is professor of religious studies at Western Kentucky University.

Justin Thomas McDaniel (Editor)
Justin Thomas McDaniel is professor and chair of religious studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

Mark Michael Rowe (Editor)
Mark Michael Rowe is associate professor in the Department of Religious Studies, McMaster University.