The American Encounter with Buddhism, 1844-1912: Victorian Culture and the Limits of Dissent

Contents......Page 8
Foreword......Page 10
Preface to the Paperback Edition......Page 12
Notes......Page 20
Acknowledgments......Page 24
A Note on Foreign Terms......Page 28
Introduction......Page 30
Buddhism in the West......Page 33
New and Transplanted Religious Movements......Page 34
Victorian Culture in America......Page 35
Notes......Page 206
1. \"The Seeming Anomaly of Buddhist Negation\": The American Conversation about Buddhism, 1844-1877, and the Contours of Mid-Victorian Culture......Page 40
The American Conversation 1844-1857: Deemphasizing Distinctiveness......Page 41
European Scholars and Buddhist Distinctiveness......Page 45
Mid-Victorian Culture in America......Page 47
Mainline Protestants and Conservative Unitarians......Page 52
Liberal Unitarians and Religious Radicals......Page 56
Notes......Page 209
2. \"Shall We All Become Buddhists?\": The Conversation and the Converts, 1879-1912......Page 65
The Conversation about Buddhism, 1879-1912......Page 67
Asian-American Buddhists......Page 73
Euro-American Buddhist Adherents and Sympathizers......Page 78
Notes......Page 215
3. Esoterics, Rationalists, and Romantics: A Typology of Euro-American Buddhist Sympathizers and Adherents, 1875-1912......Page 87
The Esoteric Type......Page 89
The Rationalist Type......Page 99
The Romantic Type......Page 108
Notes......Page 223
4. \"Walking in Fairyland\": Buddhism\'s Appeal and Cultural Dissent......Page 117
Political, Economic, and Social Dissent......Page 119
Buddhism\'s Appeal and Cultural Dissent......Page 127
Buddhism and Tolerance......Page 137
Buddhism and Science......Page 142
Notes......Page 232
5. Strolling Down Main Street: Cultural Consent and the Accessibility of Buddhism......Page 150
Consent in Dissent: Science and Tolerance......Page 152
Influences, Parallels, and \"Protestant Spirit\"......Page 154
Appealing Founders and Noble Ethics......Page 158
Theism and Individualism: The Ambiguities of Dissent......Page 160
The \"God-Idea\" in Buddhism......Page 163
Anatman, Nirvana, and \"Immortality\"......Page 164
Self-Reliance and Buddhism......Page 169
Notes......Page 239
6. Optimism and Activism: Responses to Buddhism, Victorian Religious Culture, and the Limits of Dissent......Page 172
Optimism and Activism in Late-Victorian Culture......Page 173
Buddhism as Pessimistic and Passive: Scholars, Travelers, and Critics......Page 179
Buddhist Apologists\' Affirmations of Optimism and Activism......Page 185
The Limits of Cultural Dissent and the Limits of Buddhist Success......Page 192
Notes......Page 243
Postscript. Buddhism in America after 1912......Page 196
Notes......Page 246
Tables......Page 202
Select Bibliography......Page 248
A-B......Page 274
C......Page 275
D-G......Page 276
H-L......Page 277
M-O......Page 278
P-S......Page 279
T-V......Page 280
W-Z......Page 281