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. Instead of featuring religious virtuosi who embody the highest ideals of Buddhism, the authors introduce us to ‘every day’ Buddhists outside of Asia's major Buddhist institutions. The majority are laypersons such as social workers, artists, academics, activists, bloggers, curators, healers, etc. Monastics have a significant presence, though those selected are somehow marginalised or marked as unconventional.
One-third of these vignettes are set in Southeast Asia; however, a far greater proportion bears relevance to the region because of the trans-regional connections. Just as in the past, Buddhist persons, institutions, ideas, practices, styles, and material culture actively flow into and out from Southeast Asia. The multiplicity and subtle intricacies of this flow may be found in the details of many accounts. Southeast Asian monastic institutions are being reproduced in Nepal (Gellner, Levine, Letizia); Southeast Asian meditation practices are making their way to Sri Lanka (Kent); and Chinese Buddhism is entering Southeast Asia through various means of transmission (Kerekes, Travagnin, Sheravanichkul). Buddhist persons travel to and from Southeast Asia in the pursuit of education relevant to Buddhist projects (Galmiche, Surendran). In cases such as female monasticism, international networks can be a necessary condition for the existence of Buddhist communities (Pichler). The Internet consistently reappears not simply as a gateway for external influences, but as a space to commune with other Buddhists or as an instrument that Southeast Asian Buddhists deploy to address global audiences (Chia, Krawengit).
By focusing on individuals, these vignettes draw out valuable insights regarding how Buddhists operate and see themselves within these broader landscapes. We may have a tendency to presume that Buddhists produce Buddhism with and for their localities; however, these vignettes show us Buddhists who are oriented far beyond their immediate environs and cultures. Even when local audiences are targeted, the meaning and significance of the local can be critically shaped by trans-local dynamics. For example, Buddhists disseminating their schools of meditation throughout the world may see their locality as a global centre. Buddhists turning outward to revive a Buddhist community in decline may see themselves as pioneers on the periphery. In many cases, it is essential to look beyond Southeast Asia to understand Southeast Asian religion.
The editors group these vignettes into ‘four ways of looking’. The first, looking backwards, shows how Buddhism emerges through inspiration of an idyllic past, characterised as ‘inventing tradition’. In contrast, looking forward casts Buddhist activities in terms of newness such as the assimilation of new technologies (e.g., the Internet) and disciplinary practices (e.g., psychology, social work, economics). The third is looking inwards, which involves deploying Buddhist practices in innovative ways to cope with contemporary social problems like drug addiction. Lastly, looking outwards frames Buddhism according to the theme of globalism. This manner of organisation aims to invite comparison, potentially revealing broader trends among modern Buddhists from various geographies and traditions.
These four ways of looking correspond to a context that is presumed to underlie all of these vignettes, namely modernity. While the editors do not precisely define this context, the authors frequently allude to modernity as a period that is distinguished from the premodern by either unprecedented characteristics or an intensification of forces that yield transformative effects. Historians will notice that the practices associated with these four ways of looking are certainly not new. Buddhists have always been making traditions and pushing against them, turning inward and toward distant lands. The fact that these practices are not unique to contemporary modernity is not a weakness but a strength of this book. Recognition of similarities may help us imagine possible lives and practices of non-elite Buddhists in the past, a population largely absent in surviving historical records.
The thematic organisation of these vignettes indeed draws attention to parallels across these diverse geographies, cultures, and forms of Buddhism. Most conspicuous to the reviewer is the presence of modern institutions such as the state, international organisations, consumer market economy, medicine, or academia. Buddhism has been long involved with comparable institutions of other historic periods; however, their contemporary manifestations engender new interactions for Buddhists. Varying commitments to the secular affect Buddhists insofar as institutions of power can define, bound, and assign religion (i.e. Buddhism) to particular domains. For example, Buddhists often face state institutions that promote separation of the religious and the political. Such boundaries create conditions that guide Buddhist activities into or away from politics. Buddhist practices that trespass such boundaries may be deemed as inappropriate, inauthentically Buddhist, or even illegal (Baird, Bernstein, Jacoby, Leider, Makley, Sihlé, Thompson). As Buddhists clash or harmonise with such boundaries, Buddhism itself is in a constant, and even contested, state of definition. South and East Asia are helpful comparatives because of similar features among these modern institutions. These encounters with the secular are also relevant to Southeast Asians of other religious traditions.
This book is pitched as a teaching resource for comparing modern Buddhists from disparate places and sectarian affiliations. The reviewer contends that the collection is also of value to scholars of Southeast Asia. For those interested in religion, these vignettes offer glimpses into lives of non-elite Buddhists of the present and potentially the past. Concrete cases of trans-regional Buddhist connections capture how and with what significance Southeast Asian communities are enmeshed with sites around the globe, urging sensitivity to the global when studying the local. Also shown is how conditions of modern life, notably those made by modern institutions, create opportunities and limitations for religious persons. Scholars less interested in religion can observe how Southeast Asians navigate the challenges of modernity and live with modern institutions. Buddhist trans-regional networks also have important implications beyond religion, for flows of religious transmission seldom transmit religion alone.
