1. Introduction: Buddhism and Modernity ; 2. The Spectrum of Tradition and Modernism ; 3. Buddhism and the Discourses of Modernity ; 4. Modernity and the Discourse of Scientific Buddhism ; 5 ; 6. A Brief History of Interdependence ; 7. Meditation and Modernity ; 8. Mindfulness, Literature, and the Affirmation of the World ; 9. From Modern to Postmodern?
David L. McMahan is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania. He is the author of Empty Vision: Metaphor and Visionary Imagery in Mahayana Buddhism and of articles on both Buddhism in South Asia and Buddhism and modernity.
"With David McMahan's The Making of Buddhist Modernism, the study
of modern Buddhism has reached a new level of maturity. This
sweeping and sophisticated analysis of the ways in which westerners
and Asians alike have constructed new forms of Buddhism under the
pressures of modernity is thoroughly disillusioning, in the best
sense of the word. McMahan shows that much of what has been written
and said about Buddhism in the modern era only can be
understood against the background of dominant western discourses.
Trenchant but fair, erudite yet lucid, this book should be required
reading for any serious student of Buddhism, and will be
appreciated as well by
those interested in intellectual history, cultural studies, or,
simply, the inquiry into modernity." --Roger R. Jackson, Stephen R.
Lewis, Jr. Professor of Religion and the Liberal Arts, Carleton
College
"David McMahan offers readers a theoretically sophisticated
analysis of the development of new modes of thought and discourse
in the Buddhist religion since the latter part of the nineteenth
century. Grounded in a sound understanding of premodern Buddhist
ideas, this work effectively unravels the complex ways in which
'Buddhism' has been adapted to fit the theoretical commitments and
tacit understandings of people living in the modern world."
--Stephen C.
Berkwitz, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Missouri State
University
"This is an exceptionally well-written and imaginative piece of
scholarship. David McMahan treats in great depth many different
facets of Buddhist modernism including art and creativity,
meditation and monastic ideals, and science. The writing is clear,
straightforward and to the point, and reflects an excellent
understanding of how Buddhism fits into the larger scheme of modern
religiosity and the development of modern society more generally."
--Steven Heine,
author of Zen Skin, Zen Marrow: Will the Real Zen Buddhism Please
Stand Up?
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