About this ebook
The history of Buddhism has been characterized by an ongoing tension between attempts to preserve traditional ideals and modes of practice and the need to adapt to changing cultural conditions. Many developments in Buddhist history, such as the infusion of esoteric rituals, the rise of devotionalism and lay movements, and the assimilation of warrior practices, reflect the impact of widespread social changes on traditional religious structures. At the same time, Buddhism has been able to maintain its doctrinal purity to a remarkable degree. This volume explores how traditional Buddhist communities have responded to the challenges of modernity, such as science and technology, colonialism, and globalization. Editors Steven Heine and Charles S. Prebish have commissioned ten essays by leading scholars, each examining a particular traditional Buddhist school in its cultural context. The essays consider how the encounter with modernity has impacted the disciplinary, textual, ritual, devotional, practical, and socio-political traditions of Buddhist thought throughout Asia. Taken together, these essays reveal the diversity and vitality of contemporary Buddhism and offer a wide-ranging look at the way Buddhism interacts with the modern world.
About the author
Steven Heine is Professor of Religious Studies and Director of Asian Studies at Florida International University. Among his many publications are Dogen and the Koan Tradition (1994), Japan in Traditional and Postmodern Perspectives (1995), The Zen Poetry of Dogen (1997), Shifting Shape, Shaping Text (1999), The Koan: Texts and Contexts in Zen Buddhism (OUP, 2000), and Opening a Mountain: Koans of the Zen Masters (OUP, 2002). Dr. Heine was recently awarded the Kauffman Professorship in Entrepreneurship Studies at the Florida International University Business School. Charles S. Prebish is Professor of Religious Studies at the Pennsylvania State University. He is the author or editor of many books, including Historical Dictionary of Buddhism (1993), A Survey of Vinaya Literature (1994), Luminous Passage: The Practice and Study of Buddhism in America (1999), and Westward Dharma: Buddhism Beyond Asia (2002). He is a founding co-editor of the online Journal of Buddhist Ethics.
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