Western Buddhist travel narratives are autobiographical accounts of a journey to a Buddhist culture. Dozens of such narratives have since the 1970s describe treks in Tibet, periods of residence in a Zen monastery, pilgrimages to Buddhist sites and teachers, and other Asian odysseys. The best known of these works is Peter Matthiessen's The Snow Leopard; further reflections emerge from thirty writers including John Blofeld, Jan Van de Wetering, Thomas Merton, Oliver Statler, Robert Thurman, Gretel Ehrlich, and Bill Porter. The Buddhist concept of 'no-self' helps these authors interpret certain pivotal experiences of 'unselfing' and is also a catalyst that provokes and enables such events. The writers' spiritual memoirs describe how their journeys brought about a new understanding of Buddhist enlightenment and so transformed their lives. Showing how travel can elicit self-transformation, this book is a compelling exploration of the journeys and religious changes of both individuals and Buddhism itself.
Author(s): John D. Barbour
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 342
City: Cambridge
04.0_pp_iv_iv_Copyright_page
05.0_pp_v_vi_Dedication
06.0_pp_vii_vii_Contents
07.0_pp_viii_viii_Acknowledgments_and_Authors_Note
08.0_pp_1_23_A_Literary_Genre_and_Some_Questions_about_Self-Transformation
09.0_pp_24_42_The_Origins_of_the_Genre
10.0_pp_43_62_Peter_Matthiessens_The_Snow_Leopard_and_Nine-Headed_Dragon_River
11.0_pp_63_98_In_a_Zen_Monastery
12.0_pp_99_122_Thomas_Merton_and_Christian_and_Jewish_Pilgrims_in_Buddhist_Asia
13.0_pp_123_149_Walking_the_Dharma_on_Shikoku_and_in_India
14.0_pp_150_178_Trekking_and_Tracking_the_Self_in_Tibet
15.0_pp_179_206_Life-Changing_Travels_in_the_Tibetan_Diaspora
16.0_pp_207_242_Encounters_with_Theravada_Buddhism
17.0_pp_243_269_Searching_for_Chan_Buddhism_after_Mao
18.0_pp_270_313_Theories_of_No-Self_Stories_of_Unselfing_and_Transformation
19.0_pp_314_323_Bibliography
20.0_pp_324_333_Index
