The Awakening of the West

In our own time Buddhism has been "claimed" by many in the West - theosophists, environmentalists, quantum-physicists and the "New Age" - as a confirmation of their world view. Yet for more than 2000 years the religious traditions of East and West developed in ignorance of one another. From the time of Alexander the Great, kings, emperors and popes realized the political power that could be gained through alliance - or through conquest. Sent as political and spiritual envoys, whether hordes in Crusades or lone adventurers such as Marco Polo, Christians made contact with the "infidels" only by enduring years of arduous travel, risking death by disease or shipwreck. The Buddhists they encountered, baffled by the "Christians" blinkered selfrighteousness, responded by offering access to their monasteries and libraries of sacred texts, with the result that information - and much misinformation gradually reached the West. Following the story of these pioneers and their encounters with the Kagyu, Nyingma, Geluk, Sakya and Zen traditions, this book shows how contact between East and West developed over the centuries, revealing how the 19th-century colonists' categorization of Asian culture colours our view today.