As Asia ascends to centrality in the global economy, understanding the underpinnings of Asian culture becomes increasingly important. Buddhism, one of the largest and oldest of the major world religions, informs much of modern Asian life. This book details the contemporary features of the religion in the Asian areas where it predominates and in North America.
Collecting the work of leading authorities on Buddhism in different societies around the world, this book details the state of the religion in Asian countries where it is a major cultural influence and in North America. The religion has changed to meet the challenges of modernity; its practitioners have incorporated those innovations and this work examines those changes in-depth.
A comprehensive overview of historical Buddhist practice grounds the reader for the entire nine chapters, each of which is organized by geographical area and follows the path Buddhism took as it spread across Asia and into North America. Each chapter presents field research and critical reflection on what constitutes modern Buddhism in one of nine countries or regions. Histories of Buddhism are common; this is the only source for in-depth information on modern Buddhism.
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