Teaching Buddhism in the West: From the Wheel to the Web

At a time when the popularity of Buddhism is at a peak in the west, both inside and outside the university setting, scholars and students alike are searching for guidance: How should Buddhism, a religion which is ultimately 'foreign' to western experience, be taught? This book fills this lacuna, by providing a series of thematically arranged articles written by contemporary scholars of Buddhism throughout North America. Some of the major themes covered are the history of teaching Buddhism in Europe and North America, the problem of representations of Buddhism in undergraduate teaching representations of Buddhism in undergraduate teaching, the problem of crossing cultural and historical divides, the place of the body and mind in the Buddhist classroom, alternative pedagogical methods in teaching Buddhism and the use of the Internet as a resource, and metaphor for teaching Buddhism.