Theories of the Self, Race, and Essentialization in Buddhism: The United States and the Asian "Other", 1899-1957 PDF
Preview Theories of the Self, Race, and Essentialization in Buddhism: The United States and the Asian "Other", 1899-1957
Theories of the Self, Race, and Essentialization in Buddhism This book analyzes Buddhist discussions of the Aryan myth and scientific racism and the ways in which this conversation reshaped Buddhism in the United States, and globally. It traces the development of notions of Aryanism in Buddhism through Buddhist publications from 1899 to 1957, focusing on this so-called “yellow peril,” or historical racist views in the United States of an Asian “other.” During this time period in America, the Aryan myth was considered to be scientific fact, and Buddhists were able to capitalize on this idea through- out a global publishing network of books, magazines, and academic work, which helped to transform the presentation of Buddhism into the “Aryan religion.” Following narratives regarding colonialism and the develop- ment of the Aryan myth, Buddhists challenged these dominant tropes: they combined emic discussions about the “Aryan” myth and comparisons of Buddhism and science, in order to disprove colonial tropes of “Western” dominance, and suggest that Buddhism represented a superior tradition in world historical development. The author argues that this presentation of a Buddhist tradition of superiority helped to create space for Buddhism within the American religious landscape. The book will be of interest to academics working on Buddhism, race and religion, and American religious history. Ryan Anningson is Flora Jane Baker Postdoctoral Fellow at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Routledge Studies in Asian Religion and Philosophy 21 Indian Philosophy and Meditation Perspectives on Consciousness Rahul Banerjee and Amita Chatterjee 22 Why Traditional Chinese Philosophy Still Matters The Relevance of Ancient Wisdom for the Global Age Edited by Ming Dong Gu 23 The Goddess in Hindu-Tantric Traditions Devi as Corpse Anway Mukhopadhyay 24 Divinizing in South Asian Traditions Edited by Diana Dimitrova and Tatiana Oranskaia 25 Christianity in India The Anti-Colonial Turn Clara A. B. Joseph 26 Chinese Theology and Translation The Christianity of the Jesuit Figurists and their Christianized Yijing Sophie Ling-chia Wei 27 Christianity in Northeast India A Cultural History of Nagaland from 1947 Chongpongmeren Jamir 28 Theories of the Self, Race, and Essentialization in Buddhism The United States and the Asian “Other”, 1899–1957 Ryan Anningson For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge.com Theories of the Self, Race, and Essentialization in Buddhism The United States and the Asian “Other”, 1899–1957 Ryan Anningson First published 2021 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2021 Ryan Anningson The right of Ryan Anningson to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record has been requested for this book ISBN: 9780367622336 (hbk) ISBN: 9780367626402 (pbk) ISBN: 9781003110064 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by codeMantra Contents Author biography vii Glossary ix Acknowledgements xi Introduction 1 1 The search for Aryan statues 21 2 Racecraft in America 39 3 Academia and Aryan ideology 57 4 Bioracism across Asia 84 5 Aryan Buddhism as humanity’s foundation 104 6 The Shin Boom and Zen Aryanism 121 7 Metaphysical Buddhism and the religion of joy 138 8 Buddhism and the evolution of racecraft 154 9 An Aryan Buddhist utopia 167 Conclusion 183 Bibliography 197 Index 217 Author biography Ryan Anningson is Flora Jane Baker Postdoctoral Fellow at Queen’s Uni- versity in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Anningson completed a joint PhD in Religious Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Canada. He earned his MA from Wilfrid Lau- rier University in Religion & Culture and his BA from Acadia University (Nova Scotia, Canada) in Political Science. While at Wilfrid Laurier Uni- versity, he also served as a research assistant on the SSHRC-PDG Upper Indus Petroglyphs and Inscriptions of Northern Pakistan project to pre- serve the rock art of Pakistan. Included in this research were two work- shops, during which Anningson assisted in teaching methods of cultural heritage preservation and digital humanities to students in Pakistan. Anningson’s research interests focus on the intersection of race and culture with the doctrinal adaptations of religious traditions. His studies focus on the intense pressure racism exerts on religious adherents and the new philosophical interpretations which develop under this duress. Anningson focusses his research on the influences of racism, colonialism, and culture, and on religious traditions, especially in their North Amer- ican context. Glossary Sanskrit Dharmakāya – the “truth body” of the Buddha in the trikāya, or three b odies theory of Mahāyāna. This body is often regarded as the true nature of the Buddha (Lopez and Buswell, 2014, 246). In the work of Suzuki, and other Zen sources, the Dharmakāya is often presented as emptiness it- self, or the universe as it should be, undefiled by ignorance. Nirvāṇa – the soteriological goal of the Buddhist path, and the cutting off of desire through the three poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion. Early Buddhist thinkers debated notions of nirvāṇa regularly, but often agreed that it was beyond the conception of sentient beings mired in the rounds of rebirth known as saṃsāra (Lopez and Buswell, 2014, 589–590). Śākyamuni – an epithet for the historical Buddha, as sage of the Śākya clan. Śūnyatā – meaning emptiness, associated with the Madhyamika school in Mahāyāna. Nāgārjuna uses dialectical philosophy to argue that nothing has a priori existence, but is instead impermanent and conditioned upon the ignorant thinking of sentient beings (Lopez and Buswell, 2014, 872). Tathāgatagarbha – often referred to as the “buddha-nature,” but also trans- lated as the “womb of tathāgatas.” The capacity for enlightenment in all sentient beings, generally obscured by ignorance and other mental afflictions (Lopez and Buswell, 2014, 897–898). Upāya – as a shortened form of upāyakauśalya, meaning “skilful means,” or the ability of buddhas to teach everyone, according to their particu- lar abilities. According to this perfection, buddhas can thus change the doctrine in order to construct the optimal teachings for each student (Lopez and Buswell, 2014, 942–943). This was also regularly referenced by Europeans as proof that the Buddha “lied” to his followers (App, 2012, 178) Japanese Jiriki – “self power,” or the notion that an individual mediator can achieve nirvāṇa, which functions as the opposite of tariki, especially in the Jōdo schools. In Japanese history, jiriki is generally associated with the Zen lineage (Lopez and Buswell, 2014, 593).
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