This book introduces contemporary Buddhists from across Asia and from various walks of life. Eschewing traditional hagiographies, the editors have collected sixty-six profiles of individuals who would be excluded from most Buddhist histories and ethnographies. In addition to monks and nuns, readers will encounter artists, psychologists, social workers, part-time priests, healers, and librarians as well as charlatans, hucksters, profiteers, and rabble-rousers—all whose lives reflect changes in modern Buddhism even as they themselves shape the course of these changes.

The editors and contributors are fundamentally concerned with how individual Buddhists make meaning and display this understanding to others. Some practitioners profiled look to the past, lamenting the transformations Buddhism has undergone in recent times, while others embrace these. Some have adopted a “new asceticism,” while others are eager to explore different religious traditions as they think about their own ways of being Buddhist. Arranging the profiles according to these themes—looking backward, forward, inward, and outward—reveals the value of studying individual Buddhists and their idiosyncratic religious backgrounds and attitudes, thus highlighting the diversity of approaches to the practice and study of Buddhism in Asia today. Students and teachers will welcome sections on further readings and additional tables of contents that organize the profiles thematically, as well as by tradition (Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana), region, and country.

Contributions by: Ian G. Baird, Corey L. Bell, Stephen C. Berkwitz, Anya Bernstein, Kalzang Dorjee Bhutia, Jane Caple, Jack Meng-Tat Chia, Sienna Craig, William Elison, Christoph Emmrich, Grant Evans, Paul J. Farrelly, Jane M. Ferguson, Gareth Fisher, Daniel G. Friedrich, Florence Galmiche, Michele R. Gamburd, Holly Gayley, David N. Gellner, Tim Graf, Elizabeth Guthrie, Elizabeth J. Harris, Sandya Hewamanne, Holly High, Amy Holmes-Tagchungdarpa, Sarah H. Jacoby, Michael Jerryson, Irving Chan Johnson, Hiroko Kawanami, Daniel W. Kent, Susanne Ryuyin Kerekes, Hwansoo Ilmee Kim, Tongthida Krawengit, Judy Ledgerwood, Jun-Youb (JY) Lee, Jacques P. Leider, Chiara Letizia, Sarah LeVine, Charlene Makley, John Marston, Levi McLaughlin, David L. McMahan, Leigh Miller, John K. Nelson, Brian J. Nichols, Carina Pichler, Visisya Pinthongvijayakul, Justin R. Ritzinger, Roger Casas (Ruiz), Gregory A. Scott, Arthid Sheravanichkul, Nicolas Sihlé, Jessica Starling, Gitanjali Surendran, Nicola Tannenbaum, Antonio Terrone, Ashley Thompson, Stefania Travagnin, Jonathan S. Walters