Buddhism Unbundled

Abstract

The Buddhist Geeks project is an online Buddhist media platform launched in 2007 by two self-identified millennials who wanted to combine their passion for Buddhism with their “geeky skills.” It quickly gained a wide audience for its pioneering explorations into the convergence of Buddhism, technology, and global culture. Through an analysis of the Buddhist Geeks project and a consideration of its replacement, Meditate.io., this chapter explores the impact of technology and digital culture on American convert Buddhism. It draws on discourse analysis, formal interviews with some of the main players of the Buddhist Geeks project, informal interaction with multiple Buddhist Geeks participants, and participant observation at three annual Buddhist Geeks conferences from 2012 to 2015.

Buddhist Studies in the United States: New Turns and Future Directions

“…Within majority white “convert” communities, People of Color have engaged in multiple initiatives to overcome racism and white supremacy (Gleig 2019; Gajaweera 2021). White practitioners have often rejected these attempts as political intrusions into a supposedly apolitical tradition (Gleig and Artinger 2021).…”

Seeking the Neural Correlates of Awakening

“…The universalist tendency to seek unification or abstract the 'true essence' of Dharma, evident in emerging Western Buddhism, is problematic in that it bespeaks a belief that our scientific knowledge and rationalist outlook will help us to 'shear' the Dharma of its traditionalist baggage, magical thinking, and cultural foibles. Such an attitude is distinctly modernist, failing to identify our own positionality within culture or to acknowledge that a similar process of acculturation is underway for us, instead situating ourselves above or beyond cultural contingency (Gleig, 2019). A reasonable counter would simply situate the emerging Western Buddhism as equally relative and parochial in outlook to any preceding set of beliefs, and just as valid and useful in application.…”

How Do Mindfulness Offerings Support Inner–Outer Sustainability Progress? A Sustainability Assessment of Online Mindfulness Interventions

“…While definitions of mindfulness vary, they converge around practices infused with techniques to enhance capacities for awareness, non-judgement, emotional regulation, and, depending on the context, compassion [31,32]. In the West, mindfulness broadly refers to popular psychospiritual and wellness practices with varying degrees of Buddhist association [33,34].…”