The White Buddhist

by Prothero, Stephen

• ISBN13: 9780253222763
• ISBN10: 0253222761
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-11-29
• Publisher: Indiana Univ Pr

Summary

Denounced by the New York Times as an "unmitigated rascal" while simultaneously being lauded as a reincarnation of Gautama Buddha himself, Henry Steel Olcott (1832--1907) was friend to Madame Blavatsky, co-founder of the Theosophical Society, and an indefatigable reformer and culture broker between East and West. Olcott helped bring about a new spiritual creation, "Protestant Buddhism," a creative creolization of American Protestantism, traditional Theravada Buddhism, and other influences. Stephen Prothero's portrait of Olcott is an engaging study of spiritual quest and cross-cultural encounters.

Author Biography

Stephen Prothero is Professor of Religion at Boston University. His books include Religious Literacy: what Every American Needs to Know-and Doesn't, which won a 2007 Quill Book Award; American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon; Asian Religions in America: A Documentary History (with Thomas A. Tweed); and Purified by Fire: A History of Cremation in America.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Preface to the Paperback Edition	p. xv
Introduction	p. 1
Universal Reformer	p. 14
From Spiritualism to Theosophy	p. 38
An Errand to Asia	p. 62
The Sinhalese Buddhist Revival	p. 85
A United Buddhist World	p. 116
The Indian Renaissance	p. 134
Things Fall Apart	p. 156
Conclusion	p. 173
Abbreviations	p. 183
Notes	p. 185
Selected Bibliography	p. 221
Index	p. 234
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.