Buddhism in the West: Phases, Orders and the Creation of an Integrative Buddhism

Abstract

Following Heinz Bechert's proposal to distinguish Buddhist history by periods into a canonical, traditional and modern Buddhism, the paper focuses on the form and characteristics Buddhism has started to take in the incipient period of post-modernity. As one prominent feature of post-modern or global Buddhism, approaches are found particularly in the modern contexts of Western, industrialized societies. Part One of the paper sketches the chronological and geographical dissesmination of Buddhism in the West. Part Two focuses on two new Buddhist orders.