An unparalleled portrait, Donald K. Swearer's Buddhist World of Southeast Asia has been a key source for all those interested in the Theravada homelands since the work's publication in 1995. Expanded and updated, the second edition offers this wide ranging account for readers at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Swearer shows Theravada Buddhism in Southeast Asia to be a dynamic, complex system of thought and practice embedded in the cultures, societies, and histories of Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), Laos, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka. The work focuses on three distinct yet interrelated aspects of this milieu. The first is the popular tradition of life models personified in myths and legends, rites of passage, festival celebrations, and ritual occasions. The second deals with Buddhism and the state, illustrating how King Asoka serves as the paradigmatic Buddhist monarch, discussing the relationship of cosmology and kingship, and detailing the rise of charismatic Buddhist political leaders in the postcolonial period. The third is the modern transformation of Buddhism: the changing roles of monks and laity, modern reform movements, the role of women, and Buddhism in the West.

The Buddhist World joins a series of books on the world’s great religions and cultures, offering a lively and up-to-date survey of Buddhist studies for students and scholars alike. It explores regional varieties of Buddhism and core topics including buddha-nature, ritual, and pilgrimage. In addition to historical and geo-political views of Buddhism, the volume features thematic chapters on philosophical concepts such as ethics, as well as social constructs and categories such as community and family. The book also addresses lived Buddhism in its many forms, examining the ways in which modernity is reshaping traditional structures, ancient doctrines, and cosmological beliefs.

The study of historical Buddhism in premodern and early modern Southeast Asia stands at an exciting and transformative juncture. Interdisciplinary scholarship is marked by a commitment to the careful examination of local and vernacular expressions of Buddhist culture as well as to reconsiderations of long-standing questions concerning the diffusion of and relationships among varied texts, forms of representation, and religious identities, ideas, and practices. The twelve essays in this collection, written by leading scholars in Buddhist Studies and Southeast Asian history, epigraphy, and archaeology, comprise the latest research in the field to deal with the dynamics of mainland and (pen)insular Buddhism between the sixth and nineteenth centuries C.E. Drawing on new manuscript sources, inscriptions, and archaeological data, they investigate the intellectual, ritual, institutional, sociopolitical, aesthetic, and literary diversity of local Buddhisms, and explore their connected histories and contributions to the production of intraregional and transregional Buddhist geographies.

A wide-ranging, readable account of the Theravada Buddhist thought and practice in the Southeast Asian societies of Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), Laos, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka.

Buddhism is a religion practiced by an estimated 495 million in the world, as of the 2010s, representing 9% to 10% of the world's total population. China is the country with the largest population of Buddhists, approximately 244 million or 18.2% of its total population. They are mostly followers of Chinese schools of Mahayana, making this the largest body of Buddhist traditions. Mahayana, also practiced in broader East Asia, is followed by over half of world Buddhists. The second largest body of Buddhist schools is Theravada, mostly followed in Southeast Asia. The third and smallest body of schools, Vajrayana, is followed mostly in Tibet, the Himalayan region, Mongolia and parts of Russia, but has been disseminated throughout the world. Buddhism was almost entirely unknown in western countries until the 19th century. European diplomats and scholars who travelled and lived in Asia collected Buddhist texts to have them translated into English, German and French. Awareness of Buddhism arrived in the United States around the 1840's when the first Chinese immigrants settled in the western part of the country. Still, in general Buddhism remained poorly understood in the west until the 1960's when the first Buddhist teachers started arriving and quickly found thousands of followers. However curious westerners without serious study tended to view Buddhism as more of a mystic movement, rather than an encompassing spirituality involving meditation. Buddhism gained more popularity across Western culture by the end of the 20th century, when celebrities and other well-known people like Steve Jobs, Richard Gere or Phil Jackson openly talked about the positive influence Buddhism has had on their lives. The author of this book has joined the debate and examines the issues bringing fresh insights on the subject. In this book the author seeks to prove that the consciousness of the individual and individuality, which at the empirical level involves the rise of private property, family and the state, finds its most sophisticated and rational expression in early Buddhism.

This is the third book in the "Sharing Jesus in the Buddhist World" series, written by evangelical mission "reflective practitioners" who are committed to developing more effective ways to win the Buddhist peoples to the Lord Jesus Christ. The opening chapter describes "The Changing Demographic Context of Global Buddhism"; the next six describe some of the best models of mission approaches for reaching Buddhists; and the last four depict some past and present "people movements" or "church planting movements."

This is the fourth and latest volume in the Buddhist World series which includes Sharing Jesus in the Buddhist World, Sharing Jesus Holistically with the Buddhist World, and Sharing Jesus Effectively in the Buddhist World. Compiled from papers presented at the annual SEANET Missiological Forum in Thailand, Communicating Christ in the Buddhist World delivers fresh insights from mission theologians and practitioners. The first four chapters reflect on the theological framework by which Christians can fulfill the biblical mandate to evangelize and transform peoples. The next five chapters consider the significant sociological issues that have arisen in the Christian encounter with Buddhist peoples. The final three suggest some strategic ways forward for effective evangelism in the Buddhist world. May this book challenge the international Christian community to find better ways of relating to and approaching people of other faiths!

In the past 20 years, Christians around the world have launched initiatives to reach Muslims, Communists, Hindus and other major unreached people groups but the Buddhist world has largely been overlooked. Hundreds of millions of Buddhists continue to live and die without any exposure to the Gospel. In Peoples of the Buddhist World, researcher and author Paul Hattaway graphically presents prayer profiles of more than 200 Buddhist people groups around the world, beautifully illustrated with color pictures throughout. In addition, experts have contributed articles on various aspects of Buddhism, helping the reader to learn, pray and work until that day when "the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and he will reign for ever and ever" (Rev. 11:15).--From publisher's description.

This book contains the works of a group of Evangelical mission "reflective practitioners," who are committed to developing ways to evangelize the Buddhist peoples of the world. As various forms of Buddhism gain popularity, this network tries to disclose creative approaches to reach them with the gospel communicated in culturally sensitive ways and with transformational impact. The five major dimensions of a holistic witness among Buddhist peoples discussed in this book are: experiential dialogue, intellectual dialogue, biblical exposition, cultural sensitivity, and economic development. We invite readers to gain access to the first volume, Sharing Jesus in the Buddhist World, which consists of nine papers that provide the framework and some concrete models of cultural-sensitive "contextualized" witness to peoples of Buddhist faith. It will serve as a rich resource for those concerned with the issues raised in this book.

This book on Christian missions to the Buddhist world not only provides understanding of many Buddhist cultures, but provides culturally relevant ideas on sharing Jesus with Buddhists around the world. It lives up to the editors' goal "to provide the global church with knowledge and understanding of the Buddhist world and how to reach it for Christ."