New Books in Buddhist Studies

Marshall Poe
Podden: New Books in Buddhist Studies

Interviews with Scholars of Buddhism about their New Books Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/buddhist-studies

  1. −4 D

    The Body in Classical Hathayoga, with Ruth Westoby

    In this episode Dr Pierce Salguero sits down with Ruth Westoby a scholar, teacher, and practitioner of yoga. We discuss Ruth’s work on the body in early hatha yoga texts. We talk about the broad diversity of approaches to the material body in these sources, including their ideas about gender, the cultivation of powers, and approaches to liberation. Along the way, we touch on yogic sex, practices to stop menstruating, and the courageous work that modern practitioners have been doing to expose abuse by yoga gurus. If you want to hear more from experts on Buddhism, Asian medicine, and embodied spirituality then subscribe to Blue Beryl and don’t miss an episode! Resources mentioned in the episode: Preliminary published results from Ruth’s research Mallinson and Szántó, The Amṛtasiddhi and Amṛtasiddhimūla (2021). Jason Birch, The Amaraugha and Amaraughaprabodha of Gorakṣanātha(2023). Elena Valussi, “The Physiology of Transcendence for Women” (2009) BBP episode with Dominic Steavu Hatha Yoga Project Articles on guru abuse by Pattabhi Jois: Anneke Lucas, Karen Rain, Amanda Lucia Inform Project Video footage of Ruth doing historical āsanas Ruth’s website and email newsletter, Facebook page, Instagram Pierce Salguero is a transdisciplinary scholar of health humanities who is fascinated by historical and contemporary intersections between Buddhism, medicine, and crosscultural exchange. He has a Ph.D. in History of Medicine from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (2010), and teaches Asian history, medicine, and religion at Penn State University’s Abington College, located near Philadelphia. www.piercesalguero.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/buddhist-studies

    57 min
  2. 29 AUG.

    Alone in a World of Wounds with Zen Abbot Shodhin Geiman

    Shodhin Geiman is Sensei & Abbot at Chicago Zen Center and recently retired Senior Research Professor at Valparaiso University. He has written on aspects of the Dharma and on points of interface between Buddhist and Christian spirituality. His book, Alone in a World of Wounds: A Dharmic Response to the Ills of Sentient Beings (Cascade Books, 2022). Another, Obstacles to Stillness: Thoughts, Hindrances, and Self-Surrender in Evagrius and the Buddha (Fortress Press, 2023), came out in 2023. He is currently working on a book exploring the intrepid fearlessness of bodhisattvic aspiration. In this conversation we explore his views on Dharma and Activism and Engaged Buddhism as developed in his critical take on both, Alone in a World of Wounds. We discuss; 1. His two books on practice. 2. The concepts of deliverance of mind and non-adherence in the practicing life. 3. The unfashionable practices of patience and forbearance and why they matter. 4. Why mixing Buddhism and activism is not all it is cracked up to be. 5. The inherent problems with trying to serve two masters and the impact this has on dharma practice. 6. The Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizekis critique of the New left and activism and the call to stop and think before acting. 7. How the desire to fix the world runs in tandem with the desire to fix ourselves and how both are so deeply rooted in American Buddhism. 8. Kant and sublime objects. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/buddhist-studies

    1 tim 29 min
  3. 15 AUG.

    Justine Chambers, "Pursuing Morality: Buddhism and Everyday Ethics in Southeastern Myanmar" (NUS Press, 2024)

    What is the right way to live? This is an old question in Western moral philosophy, but in recent years anthropologists have turned their attention to this question in what has been called, a “moral turn”. In this original ethnographic study, Pursuing Morality: Buddhism and Everyday Ethics in Southeastern Myanmar (NUS Press, 2024), Justine Chambers examines the Plong (Pwo) Karen people’s conception of themselves as a moral people. In the decade between Myanmar’s opening up in 2011 and the military coup in 2021, the Plong Karen community near the Myanmar-Thailand border has experienced rapid political, economic, and social change. These changes are challenging that conception. Based on extensive fieldwork Chambers examines the sources of Plong morality, particularly Theravada Buddhism, and how moral considerations are being impacted: by increasing access to higher education; the powerful economic draw of Thailand; young women questioning older gender roles; the rise of Buddhist millenarian movements and Buddhist nationalism; and growing anti-Muslim sentiment shared by much of Myanmar’s Buddhist population. Justine Chambers is Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) in Copenhagen, Denmark. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/buddhist-studies

    48 min
  4. 11 AUG.

    Yoga, Disability, and Animism, with Theo Wildcroft

    In this episode, Dr Pierce Salguero sits down with Dr Theodora Wildcroft, a researcher, anthropologist, and long-time teacher of what she calls “post-lineage yoga.” We discuss Theo's ethnographic research on yoga in the UK, focusing on its connections with animism, paganism, and other somatic practices. We also dive into Theo’s personal approach to yoga as a liberatory practice that allows diverse bodies and minds to thrive. Along the way, we touch on disability, neuro-divergence, cultural appropriation, and the inescapable influence of colonialism for contemporary yogis. Remember, if you want to hear from more experts on Buddhism, Asian medicine, and embodied spirituality, subscribe to Blue Beryl for monthly episodes. Please enjoy! Resources mentioned in this episode: Theodora Wildcroft, Post Lineage Yoga: From Guru to #MeToo (2020) Theo Wildcroft & Harriet Mcatee, The Yoga Teacher's Survival Guide: Social Justice, Science, Politics, and Power (2024) Barbora Sojkova & Theodora Wildcroft, Yoga Studies in 5 Minutes (2025) Theo’s website: https://theowildcroft.com Pierce Salguero is a transdisciplinary scholar of health humanities who is fascinated by historical and contemporary intersections between Buddhism, medicine, and crosscultural exchange. He has a Ph.D. in History of Medicine from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (2010), and teaches Asian history, medicine, and religion at Penn State University’s Abington College, located near Philadelphia. www.piercesalguero.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/buddhist-studies

    1 tim 5 min
  5. 1 AUG.

    D. E. Osto, "Paranormal States: Psychic Abilities in Buddhist Convert Communities" (Columbia UP, 2024)

    A number of converts to Buddhism report paranormal experiences. Their accounts describe psychic abilities like clairvoyance and precognition, out-of-body experiences, near-death experiences, and encounters with other beings such as ghosts and deities, and they often interpret these events through a specifically Buddhist lens. Paranormal States: Psychic Abilities in Buddhist Convert Communities (Columbia UP, 2024) is a groundbreaking exploration of these phenomena and their implications for both humanistic and scientific study of the paranormal. D. E. Osto examines accounts of paranormal phenomena experienced by convert Buddhists from around the world collected through an online survey and interviews, placing them in the context of Indian Buddhist sources and recent scientific research. They focus in detail on the life stories of two interviewees and the important role the paranormal has played in their lives. These contemporary first-person narratives demonstrate the continued importance of the psychic and paranormal within the Buddhist tradition, and they can be interpreted as a living Buddhist folklore. Osto considers the limitations of both traditional religious views and Western scientific studies of the paranormal and proposes instead a new Buddhist phenomenological approach. Ultimately, Paranormal States contends, these deeply mysterious and extraordinary experiences exceed current understandings--and they can help bridge the gap between religious and scientific worldviews. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/buddhist-studies

    55 min
  6. 20 JULI

    Stephanie Balkwill, "The Women Who Ruled China: Buddhism, Multiculturalism, and Governance in the Sixth Century" (U California Press, 2024)

    In the late fifth century, a girl whose name has been forgotten by history was born at the edge of the Chinese empire. By the time of her death, she had transformed herself into Empress Dowager Ling, one of the most powerful politicians of her age and one of the first of many Buddhist women to wield incredible influence in dynastic East Asia. In this book, Stephanie Balkwill documents the Empress Dowager’s rise to power and life on the throne against the broader world of imperial China under the rule of the Northern Wei dynasty, a foreign people from Inner Asia who built their capital deep in the Chinese heartland. Building on largely untapped Buddhist materials, Balkwill shows that the life and rule of the Empress Dowager is a larger story of the reinvention of religious, ethnic, and gender norms in a rapidly changing multicultural society. The Women Who Ruled China: Buddhism, Multiculturalism, and Governance in the Sixth Century (U California Press, 2024) recovers the voices of those left out of the mainstream historical record, painting a compelling portrait of medieval Chinese society reinventing itself under the Empress Dowager’s leadership. A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/buddhist-studies

    1 tim 7 min

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Interviews with Scholars of Buddhism about their New Books Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/buddhist-studies

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