The Irish Buddhist : the forgotten monk who faced down the British empire
Alicia Marie Turner (Author), Laurence Cox (Author), Brian Bocking (Author)
""The Irish Buddhist tells the story of a poor Irishman who worked his way across America as a migrant worker, became one of the very first Western Buddhist monks, and traveled the length and breadth of Asia, from Burma and present-day Thailand to China and Japan, and from India and Sri Lanka to Singapore and Australia. Defying racial boundaries, he scandalized the colonial establishment of the 1900s. As a Buddhist monk, he energetically challenged the values and power of the British empire. U Dhammaloka was a radical celebrity who rallied Buddhists across Asia, set up schools, and argued down Christian missionaries - often using western atheist arguments. He was tried for sedition, tracked by police and intelligence services, and died at least twice. His early years and final days are shrouded in mystery despite his adept use of mass media. His story illuminates the forgotten margins and interstices of imperial power, the complexities of class, ethnicity and religious belonging in colonial Asia, and the fluidity of identity in the high Victorian period. Too often, the story of the pan-Asian Buddhist revival movement and Buddhism's remaking as a world religion has been told "from above," highlighting scholarly writers, middle-class reformers and ecclesiastical hierarchies. By contrast, Dhammaloka's adventures "from below" highlight the changing and contested meanings of Buddhism in colonial Asia. They offer a window into the worlds of ethnic minorities and diasporas, transnational networks, poor whites, and social movements, all developing different visions of Buddhist and post-imperial modernities. ""-- Provided by publisher
Biographies
xiv, 320 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm
9780190073084, 019007308X
1125276804
AcknowledgmentsDedicationList of IllustrationsIntroduction: A Courtroom in RangoonChapter 1: Dhammaloka Before Dhammaloka: Before 1900Chapter 2: The Irish Buddhist Wins Burmese Hearts: 1900-1902 Chapter 3: Trampling on Our Religion: 1901 Chapter 4: Tokyo. An Irish Burmese Monk in Imperial Japan: 1902-3 Chapter 5: Multiplying Buddhist Missions. Singapore, Bangkok, Penang: 1903-1905 Chapter 6: Interlude: Who was the First Western Buddhist Monk? Chapter 7: The Vagabond Journalist's Account: 1905 Chapter 8: A Print Revolution: 1907-1908 Chapter 9: A Controversial Tour of Ceylon: 1909 Chapter 10: Dhammaloka's Last Years and a Mysterious Death: 1909-1912 Epitaph The Irish Buddhist - timeline Glossary Bibliography
Text in English