SOPHIA (2009) 48:93–94 DOI 10.1007/s11841-008-0080-5
Berkwitz, Stephen C., ED., Buddhism in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2006, 373 + xi pp., ISBN: 1-85109-782-1 hb; 1-85109-787-2, e-book N. Robert Glass
Published online: 24 September 2008 # Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2008
The ABC-CLIO Web site claims that the Religion in Contemporary Culture series examines ‘the interplay between major world religions and the local cultures in which they exist.’ The Web site lists three volumes in the series: Buddhism in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives, Islam in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives, and Modern Paganism in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives. As the series seems aimed at the college classroom, perhaps third- or fourth-year courses in religion, or an upper-level seminar in the theory of religion, it seems fair to make suitability for the classroom the central issue of the review. Berkwitz’s edited volume on Buddhist in World Cultures contains his own introductory chapter on the history of Buddhism, followed by chapters on Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, China and Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Tibet and Nepal, and the West. A generous reading of the text finds much to commend. Combining as it does recent scholarship from nine academics, all of whom seem to have done their doctoral work in the late 1990s, the text is a presentation of a particular present-day scholarship, slicing through cultural traditions with a specific set of questions and concerns. Berkwitz’s excellent opening chapter introduces the reader to contemporary issues in historiography and how they apply to the study of Buddhism. He offers a series of reflections on the differing impacts of modernity on the consciousness of Buddhist groups and on the minds of scholars who study these Buddhist groups. By the end of the chapter, one hopes the students would begin to wonder: Is there a Buddhism of any time, in any place, that is not an historical projection? Or, as Ashley Thompson puts it in a later chapter, perhaps ‘Buddhism... is always already an interpretation of Buddhism’ (140). Stuart Chandler opens his chapter on the complexities of Chinese Buddhism by contrasting Tibetan pilgrims in China with a wealthy Taiwanese Buddhist group in Los Angeles (Foguangshan) and outlines six overlapping dimensions to the Chinese Buddhist universe (170). He sums up the third dimension as ‘those Chinese who know little of the tradition and N. R. Glass (*) Global College, Long Island University, 9 Hanover Place, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA e-mail:
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rarely if ever engage in its practices, yet whose mind-set and habits continue to be influenced by it on a more or less conscious level’ (171). This enlarged definition of religion, along with Chandler’s six dimensions, will serve students well in formulating more sophisticated reflections on the relationship between religion and cultures. Many of the chapters contain introductions to the different scholars used to interpret Buddhism today. In her chapter on Cambodia, Ashley Thompson uses Freud to undermine the distinction between the traditional and the modern and point the way to a rethinking of modernity (141). In her chapter on Buddhism and the West, Ellen Goldberg introduces students to the work of Edward Said and presents Donald Lopez’s work in Buddhist studies (indeed, Lopez is referenced so frequently in the volume that he is almost a tenth contributor). Goldberg’s decision to exclude ethnic Asian traditions, and focus on the non-Asian “convert tradition” (286), however, is very disappointing. The annotated bibliography is a welcome addition and useful guide for students who wish to develop term papers or assignments. The 15-page glossary of terms is simple and brief enough to be easily used by students and can easily be supplemented by trips to the library or careful use of the Internet. I have one very serious concern about the structure of the text: Berkwitz’s editorial choice to organize the volume around restricted geographic areas rather than different cultural representations of specific Buddhist traditions (e.g., Buddhisms in Tibet, rather than Tibetan Buddhisms) is at odds with his attempt to produce a volume that reflects contemporary theoretical issues, and is a major flaw in the text. In an era increasingly dominated by transnational concerns and global migration, Berkwitz has chosen an area studies approach more appropriate to the scholarship of the last century. One wonders; how do the Tibetan Buddhisms in Tibet or Nepal different from Tibetan Buddhisms in New York or Minneapolis? How do Chinese Buddhisms of Taiwan differ from those of Bangkok or Toronto? But here is the surprise—this weakness in the text may actually add to its value in the classroom. One of the worst criticisms of a teacher is that he or she teaches straight from the text. Buddhism in World Cultures presents many wonderful opportunities for the instructor to rise above the text and demonstrate his or her advanced understanding of the issues. Further, a visit to a local Buddhist temple would provide the students with an opportunity to critique the text and to enter into the nettlesome issues of culture and tradition on their own. By presenting such a strong, but restricted, perspective of global Buddhism in Buddhism in World Cultures, Berkwitz allows the instructor ample room for his or her own contrast, criticism, and creativity in the classroom.