New Books Network
Buddhist Studies
East Asian Studies February 26, 2021

The Sea and the Sacred in Japan

Aspects of Maritime Religion

Fabio Rambelli

Hosted by Daigengna Duoer
In The Sea and the Sacred in Japan: Aspects of Maritime Religion (Bloomsbury 2018), Fabio Rambelli invites various fifteen scholars of Japanese religions to reflect on a well taken-for-granted fact: although the sea …

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SSEAC Stories February 25, 2021

A Thai Contemporary Artist on Identity, Power, and the Space In-Between

A Discussion with Phaptawan Suwannakudt

Phaptawan Suwannakudt

Hosted by Natali Pearson
As a Thai-Australian woman artist, Phaptawan Suwannakudt has long battled prejudice and discrimination relating to her gender. This disappointment with society’s dictates features at the heart of Phaptawan’s artistic practice …
East Asian Studies February 24, 2021

Buddhism after Mao

Negotiations, Continuities, and Reinventions

Zhe Ji, Gareth Fisher, André Laliberté

Hosted by Daigengna Duoer
With over 100 million followers, Buddhism in the People's Republic of China now fosters the largest community in the world of individuals who self-identify as Buddhists. Although Buddhism was harshly persecuted …
Japanese Studies January 29, 2021

Seeking Sakyamuni

South Asia in the Formation of Modern Japanese Buddhism

Richard M. Jaffe

Hosted by Samee Siddiqui
Though fascinated with the land of their tradition’s birth, virtually no Japanese Buddhists visited the Indian subcontinent before the nineteenth century. In the richly illustrated Seeking Śākyamuni: South Asia in the …
East Asian Studies December 22, 2020

Buddhist Tourism in Asia

Courtney Bruntz and Brooke Schedneck

Hosted by Daigengna Duoer
This edited volume is the first book-length study of Buddhist tourism in contemporary Asia in the English language. Featuring chapters from diverse contributors from religious studies, anthropology, and art history, Buddhist …
Buddhist Studies December 15, 2020

Chinese Esoteric Buddhism

Amoghavajra, the Ruling Elite, and the Emergence of a Tradition

Geoffrey C. Goble

Hosted by Luke Thompson
In his recent book, Chinese Esoteric Buddhism: Amoghavajra, the Ruling Elite, and the Emergence of a Tradition (Columbia University Press, 2019), Geoffrey Goble examines the emergence and early history of …
Spiritual Practice and Mindfulness December 14, 2020

Inward

Vipassana Meditation and the Embodiment of the Self

Michal Pagis

Hosted by Jack Petranker
There is a strong interest today in turning inward to explore the mind and body. Mindfulness meditation exemplifies this trend, and has become increasingly well-known and widely practiced. In Inward …
East Asian Studies December 9, 2020

Monks in Motion

Buddhism and Modernity Across the South China Sea

Jack Meng-Tat Chia

Hosted by Daigengna Duoer
Monks in Motion: Buddhism and Modernity Across the South China Sea (Oxford University Press 2020) is the first monograph in the English language to explore the transnationally connected history of …
Psychology November 10, 2020

To Heal a Wounded Heart

The Transformative Power of Buddhism and Psychotherapy in Action

Pilar Jennings

Hosted by Yakir Englander
Early on in her clinical practice, psychoanalyst Pilar Jennings was presented with a particularly difficult case: a six-year-old girl who, traumatized by loss, had stopped speaking. Challenged by the limitations …
British Studies November 6, 2020

Women in British Buddhism

Commitment, Connection, Community

Caroline Starkey

Hosted by Olivia Porter
Based on detailed ethnographic research, this book explores the varied experiences of women who have converted to Buddhism in contemporary Britain and analyses the implications of their experiences for understanding …
Buddhist Studies November 3, 2020

Shinra Myojin and Buddhist Networks of the East Asian 'Mediterranean'

Sujung Kim

Hosted by Trevor McManis
Shinra Myojin and Buddhist Networks of the East Asian “Mediterranean” (University of Hawaii Press, 2020) is a fascinating study of the transcultural underpinnings of Medieval East Asian Buddhist traditions with …
Southeast Asian Studies October 22, 2020

Lost Temples of the Jungle

A History of Mrauk-U with Dr. Bob Hudson

Thushara Dibley

Hosted by Thushara Dibley
Deep in the jungles of Myanmar lie the remains of an ancient kingdom, the 15th-century royal city of Mrauk-U. Located in the Bay of Bengal and separated from the rest …
East Asian Studies September 30, 2020

Faith and Reason in Continental and Japanese Philosophy

Reading Tanabe Hajime and William Desmond

Takeshi Morisato

Hosted by Roman Paşca
Faith and Reason in Continental and Japanese Philosophy: Reading Tanabe Hajime and William Desmond (Bloomsbury, 2019) by Takeshi Morisato is a book that brings together the work of two significant …
East Asian Studies September 30, 2020

Buddhist Magic

Divination, Healing, and Enchantment through the Ages

Sam van Schaik

Hosted by Olivia Porter
As far back as we can see in the historical record, Buddhist monks and nuns have offered services including healing, divination, rain making, aggressive magic, and love magic to local …
East Asian Studies September 24, 2020

Tibetan Buddhism among Han Chinese

Mediation and Superscription of the Tibetan Tradition in Contemporary Chinese Society

Joshua Esler

Hosted by Daigengna Duoer
While Tibetan Buddhism continues to face restrictions and challenges imposed by the state in contemporary China, it has in fact entered mainstream Chinese society with a growing middle-class and even …
Gender Studies September 22, 2020

Absent Mother God of the West

A Kali Lover's Journey into Christianity and Judaism

Neela Bhattacharya Saxena

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
In Absent Mother God of the West: A Kali Lover's Journey into Christianity and Judaism (Rowman, 2015) Neela Bhattacharya Saxena draws on her personal religious experiences and devotion to the …
Poetry September 14, 2020

The First Free Women

Poems of the Early Buddhist Nuns

Matty Weingast

Hosted by Yakir Englander
A radical and vivid rendering of poetry from the first Buddhist nuns that brings a new immediacy to their voices. The Therigatha ("Verses of the Elder Nuns") is the oldest …
East Asian Studies September 9, 2020

Readings of Dōgen's Treasury of the True Dharma Eye

Steven Heine

Hosted by Yakir Englander
The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye (Shōbōgenzō) is the masterwork of Dōgen (1200–1253), founder of the Sōtō Zen Buddhist sect in Kamakura-era Japan. It is one of the most …
Southeast Asian Studies August 31, 2020

The Irish Buddhist

The Forgotten Monk Who Faced Down the British Empire

Alicia Turner, Laurence Cox, and Brian Bocking

Hosted by Patrick Jory
Buddhism has always been a world religion, but its popularity in the West really dates only from the late nineteenth century, when much of the Buddhist world was subject to …
Literary Studies August 13, 2020

Many Buddhas, One Buddha

A Study and Translation of Avadānaśataka 1-40

Naomi Appleton

Hosted by Olivia Porter
Naomi Appleton's new book Many Buddhas, One Buddha: A Study and Translation of Avadānaśataka 1-40 (Equinox Publishing, 2020) introduces a significant section of the important early Indian Buddhist text known …