Buddhism and Transgression

A Cultural History of Disability in the Modern Age

“…Core Buddhist notions including No-Self, impermanence (anitya), and openness/emptiness have invited the comparison with recent and contemporary poststructuralist, postmodern, and Critical Theory thought (e.g. see Wang 2001;Park 2006Park , 2011Konik 2009;Boon et al 2015;Ng 2016;on Buddhism and Queer Theory, see Scherer 2016b). Identity and personhood, in Buddhist thought, can never be statically fixed and essentialized; both the most distressing experience and the most privileged embodiments contain the certainty of change and the opportunity for transformation.…”

Representing Tibetan Buddhism in Books on Spirituality: A Discourse-Historical Approach

“…In non-Buddhist regions of the world, books on spirituality serve as a common means to learn about the religion and therefore have a power in defining and shaping its image. Tibetan Buddhism, which has evolved as a cultural framework for Tibetans and other ethnic groups over many centuries with little outside contact, is attracting new converts among conflicting narratives (Konik 2009). The recent scholarly debates around Buddhism in the West stir up sometimes contradictory questions and concerns around representation, ownership, and cultural appropriation (Borup 2020).…”