The British Discovery of Buddhism

197 Pages·1988·4.75 MB·English

by  Philip C. Almond

The British discovery of Buddhism

The British discovery
of Buddhism
Philip C. Almond
Reader in Studies in Religion
University of Queensland, Australia
The right of the
University of Cambridge
to print and sell
all manner of books
was granted by
Henry VIII in 1534.
The University has printed
and published continuously
since 1584.
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge
New York New Rochelle Melbourne Sydney
Published by the Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge
The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1RP
32 East 57th Street, New York, NY 10022, USA
10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia
© Cambridge University Press 1988
First published 1988
British Library cataloguing in publication data
Almond, Philip C.
The British discovery of Buddhism.
1. Buddhism - Great Britain - History
- 19th century 2. Great Britain -
Religion - 19th century
I. Title
294.3'0941 BQ709.G7
Library of Congress cataloguing in publication data
Almond, Philip C.
The British discovery of Buddhism / Philip C. Almond.
p. cm.
Bibliography.
ISBN 0 521 35503 6
1. Buddhism - Study and teaching - Great Britain - History - 19th
century. 2. Great Britain - Religion - 19th century I. Title
BQ162.G7A45 1988
294.3'0941 - dc 19 87-35506 CIP
ISBN 0 521 35503 6
Transferred to digital printing 2003
WS
To Monmana

Contents
Preface page ix
Introduction 1
1 The discovery of Buddhism 7
2 Buddhism and the 'Oriental mind' 33
3 The Buddha - from myth to history 54
4 The Victorians and Buddhist doctrine 80
5 Victorian precepts and Buddhist practice 111
6 'The heathen in his blindness'? 132
Conclusion 139
Notes 142
Bibliography 166
Index 181
vn

Preface
The student of religion has been well served by a number of volumes
devoted to the history of Christian thought in the nineteenth century.
But very few studies have been devoted to the nineteenth-century
interpretations of non-Christian religions, or to the role that these
played in the shaping of Victorian culture. This volume is intended
partly to fill that gap by examining the creation and interpretation of
Buddhism in Great Britain during this period. It is to be hoped that
the examination of the way in which Victorian thinkers made sense of
the East, and of the means by which Victorian Christians came to
terms with an alien tradition both complementary to and opposite to
their own, will cast some new light on a period which was seminal for
the development of contemporary Western religious pluralism.
To a large extent, I have allowed the interpreters of Buddhism to
speak for themselves. At one level, this is a means to show forth the
subtle and complex connexions between the network of texts which
comprise Victorian discourse about Buddhism. But at another level,
a deeper one, it is intended to evoke in the reader not only a cognitive
apprehension but a sense of, and a feeling for, those aspects of the
discourse that are uniquely Victorian. My intention has been to
supply as much detail as space allowed to enable the reader personally
to encounter Victorian Buddhism.
I should like to express my thanks to a number of people: to Pro-
fessor Charles Long for a number of stimulating conversations; and
to my colleagues Dr Richard Hutch and Mr Rod Bucknell who read
earlier drafts of this study and made many helpful suggestions. I am
grateful too to Mrs Roni Hawkins for typing the manuscript.
P.C.A., Brisbane, April 1987
IX