Comments on “Modern Buddhism: Forged as anti-colonial weapon”

@ David
That was a fun tour – thank you!
As you wrote earlier, McMahan’s book “The Making of Buddhist Modernism” does a great job documenting much of this too and with lots of support.
I think, as I said concern your previous posts, people may react to the abstract notion of “Modern Buddism” as if it is a real thing and that you are accusing them of having or not having it, but I think that misses your point in this post:

–> Buddhism-on-the-ground in developing countries was altered to defend again colonialism.

Ways I could see people being defensive against this observation are that they may see your post as:

(1) Implying that Buddhism before colonization was all superstitious.Real Buddhism is superstitious, nonsuperstitious Buddism is a modern invention. These folks want to think that their rationalized version of Buddhism is what the “real Buddha” taught and the rest is purely superflous cultural accretions.

or

(2) Calling their Buddhism Modern

or

(3) Calling all the values brought by modernism as faddish

Instead, I see you illustrating how ideas and history mingle and evolved into the various forms of Buddhism of today. For people who think they know what-Buddhism-is or what-Buddhism-should-be, understanding this post on the evolution of ideas may shift their opinions a little.

Dear David,

I know embarrassingly little about Asian history of the 19th century. I just wonder to which extent your considerations also apply to Buddhism in the Himalayas. To my knowldege the most important development during that time in Tibet was perhaps the Rimé movement, but that does not quite seem to be based on the grounds that you are describing here. So when you speak about modern buddhism in Asia, what exactly are you referring to? Japan and South East Asia?

Thanks,
Florian

Dear David,

Thanks, that is pretty much all along the lines I had thought about it. I had seen the film about Gendun Chöpel quite a while ago, and had almost forgotten about it. Interesting story, though also quite saddening in many ways. Especially when it comes to the political prisoners in Lhasa and all that. There are also some quite illuminating stories in “The Mishap Lineage” by Trungpa Rinpoche, going right into the 20th century,

All the best,
Florian

Here’s another viewpoint regarding a Japanese “reformer”. Inoue Enryo sought to re-vision Buddhist practice in Japan. Also some interesting points regarding the category of religion, as to whether that is an intrinsic Occidental notion or if it is a broader conception.

http://godknowswhat.wordpress.com/2009/05/28/dr-monster-and-making-buddhism-a-religion/

While I’ve not yet located the original article being critiqued here it provides some interesting background for “Buddhism as export”. Not necessarily an anti-colonial weapon but more of a repackaging.

“Later in this blog series, I will cover the Protestant Reformation and rationalization of Buddhism in much more detail. I’ll also look at two case studies: Japan and Thailand. Those are the two most important sources for current Consensus Buddhism.”

These case studies were very insightful. What I wonder about though… what about the Tibetan connection? Tibetan Buddhism also seem to be a major component in the consensus of Consensus Buddhism. (Actually it’s the Dalai Lama who is the most engimatic superstar of Buddhism in the West, visible far beyond Buddhist confines.) Can you / will you elaborate on the cultural / historical background on that, how this spice got into the stew, and how tantra and other eccentricities of the Tibetan tradition was digested by the Baby Boomers?

(Now read #comment-163, that partly answers my question.)

One of the most successful Protestantizations was in Korea (and especially South Korea), which had suppressed Buddhism in favor of ritualistic Confucianism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Buddhism#Suppression_under_the_Joseon_Dynasty_.281392.E2.80.931910.29

Quote: “The Buddhisms was have now were created with....”

I had to read that koan four times before realizing it was a typo.

I believe you meant to say “The Buddhisms we have now were created with....”

Thanks for your engaging writing.

Throughout its history, Buddhism borrowed vocabulary of the interpretative communities it was introduced. For example, Thai Theravada Buddhism had been affected by Mon and Khmer worldviews before it was adopted in Ayutthaya as a mainstream faith. Entering the era of globalization, Buddhism was affected by the ongoing rationalism and other scientific discourses when those Buddhist communities in that part of the world started weaving various modern discourses and imaginations into their Buddhist texts. Having said that, Buddhist Laws of Nature, Eight Fold Noble Path, Triraksana, Paticasamupada are deemed as the core of its mainstream teachings while most cosmological accounts expressed in other Buddhist texts were added presumably in India and Lanka. This is part of my studies and personal observation since I read Thai and other subjects in relation to regional cultures and languages.

Buddhist worldview has been transcribed into varied ethno linguistic systems worldwide. However, its epistemology has never been watered down or totally altered, thanks to its strange or distinctive featuress. No matter how.. our human languages are limited in its semantic scope, thus failing to convey the true meanings and significances of most Buddhist thoughts and mental phenomena.

Dear David, I love reading your articles, especially your vivid figurative explanation but you seem to overemphasize the concept of colonialism and postcolonialism, especially the impact of rationalism, Christianity and science upon certain forms of Buddhism while at the same time little attention is paid to the questions like how Buddhist teachings survive into modern times how other textual evidence can reflect or document sociocultural interactions at local, regional, and global levels that functioned over the past millennia to shape the way we meditated, the way we argued, the way we talked about the Buddha, and the way we crafted Buddhist teachings. For me, a lot of Buddhist teachings are not in line with the evolving knowledge you refer to as science. However, this does not necessarily mean that the said science is superior or accurate. Few hundreds years ago, the status of science is quite ridiculous, using Michel Foucault’s approach.

“You cannot run a modern economy if everyone believes that the world is flat, hell is a cave a few miles under ground, Buddhist rituals cure diseases, and magic amulets sold by monks are the best protection against demons.”

It’s not clear that this is true; if you have ever worked a shit blue collar job, you have encountered multiple people with a medieval era enchanted worldview - prone to unhinged speculation re: conspiracies, UFOs, etc. Flat earthers even.

Even among elites it occasionally causes some minor scandal when it emerges that someone with weird beliefs has slipped through. The power of compartmentalization is great; it’s not clear that a young earth creationist couldn’t be a competent civil servant, judge, pilot, etc. In many parts of the non WEIRD world (including South Korea) you will find elite tier professionals who consult folk magicians and shamans.