A Buddhist history of the West : studies in lack

257 Pages·2002·0.941 MB·English

by  David R. Loy

A Buddhist History of the West

A B H
UDDHIST ISTORY
W
OF THE EST
S L
TUDIES IN ACK
David R. Loy
state university of new york press
Published by
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS,
ALBANY
© 2002 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
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State University of New York Press
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Production, Laurie Searl
Marketing, Fran Keneston
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Loy, David R., 1947–
A Buddhist history of the West : studies in lack / David R. Loy.
p. cm. — (SUNY series in religious studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7914-5259-X (alk. paper) — (ISBN 0-7914-5260-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Civilization, Western—Psychological aspects. 2. Civilization, Western—Philosophy.
3. Civilization, Western—Classical influences. 4. Philosophy, Buddhist. 5.
Buddhism—Doctrines. 6. Self (Philosophy) 7. Identity (Psychology) 8.
Self-consciousness. I. Title. II. Series.
CB245.R68 2002
909'.09821—dc21 2001049415
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction: Toward a Buddhist Perspective 1
One The Lack of Freedom 17
Two The Lack of Progress 41
Three The Renaissance of Lack 65
Four The Lack of Modernity 87
Five The Lack of Civil Society 125
Six Preparing for Something That Never Happens 171
Seven The Religion of the Market 197
Afterword: The Future of Lack 211
Notes 217
Bibliography 223
Index 229
v

Acknowledgments
Earlier drafts of some of these chapters have been published previously.
Permission from the following journals and publishers to reprint this
material is gratefully acknowledged.
“Freedom: A Buddhist Critique” (a shortened version) in Justice
and Democracy: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, ed. Ron Bontekoe and Maria
Stepaniants. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1997. The full ver-
sion was published under the same title in International Studies in Phi-
losophy 32, no. 2 (2000).
“The Spiritual Origins of the West: A Lack Perspective,” in Inter-
national Philosophical Quarterly 40, no. 2 (June 2000).
“Trying to Become Real: A Buddhist Critique of Some Secular
Heresies,”International Philosophical Quarterly 32, no. 4 (December 1992).
Chapter 5: “Trying to Become Real,” in David Loy, Lack and
Transcendence: The Problem of Death and Life in Psychotherapy, Existential-
ism, and Buddhism (Atlantic Highlands, N.J.: Humanities Press, 1996;
Amherst, N.Y.: Humanity Books, 1999).
“Preparing for Something that Never Happens: The Means/Ends
Problem in Modern Culture,” International Studies in Philosophy 26, 4
(1994). Also published in Varieties of Ethical Reflection Michael Barnhart,
ed. (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2001).
“The Religion of the Market,” in Journal of the American Academy
of Religion 65, no. 2 (Summer 1997). Also published in Visions of a New
Earth: Religious Perspectives on Population, Consumption and Ecology, ed.
Harold C. Coward and Dan Maguire. Albany, N.Y.: State University of
New York Press, 1999).
Among the many people who have helped along the way, special
thanks to Fred Dallmayr, Ruben Habito, Gary Snyder, and Eugene
vii
Webb, along with a deep bow to Jon Watts and other members of the
Think Sangha. I am also grateful to Harold Coward (editor, SUNY series
in Religious Studies), Nancy Ellegate (editor, SUNY Press) and Laurie
Searl (editor, SUNY Press) for their assistance and encouragement.
Last but certainly not least: thank you, Linda.
To all those working toward a
better understanding of our lack