Anagarika Dharmapala is one of the most galvanizing figures in Sri Lanka’s recent turbulent history. He is widely regarded as the nationalist hero who saved the Sinhala people from cultural collapse and whose “protestant” reformation of Buddhism drove monks toward increased political involvement and ethnic confrontation. Yet as tied to Sri Lankan nationalism as Dharmapala is in popular memory, he spent the vast majority of his life abroad, engaging other concerns. In Rescued from the Nation, Steven Kemper reevaluates this important figure in the light of an unprecedented number of his writings, ones that paint a picture not of a nationalist zealot but of a spiritual seeker earnest in his pursuit of salvation. Drawing on huge stores of source materials—nearly one hundred diaries and notebooks—Kemper reconfigures Dharmapala as a world-renouncer first and a political activist second. Following Dharmapala on his travels between East Asia, South Asia, Europe, and the United States, he traces his lifelong project of creating a unified Buddhist world, recovering the place of the Buddha’s Enlightenment, and imitating the Buddha’s life course. The result is a needed corrective to Dharmapala’s embattled legacy, one that resituates Sri Lanka’s political awakening within the religious one that was Dharmapala’s life project.

A stunning showcase of exceptional and rare works of Buddhist art, presented to the international community for the first time The practice of Buddhism in Myanmar (Burma) has resulted in the production of dazzling objects since the 5th century. This landmark publication presents the first overview of these magnificent works of art from major museums in Myanmar and collections in the United States, including sculptures, paintings, textiles, and religious implements created for temples and monasteries, or for personal devotion. Many of these pieces have never before been seen outside of Myanmar. Accompanied by brilliant color photography, essays by Sylvia Fraser-Lu, Donald M. Stadtner, and scholars from around the world synthesize the history of Myanmar from the ancient through colonial periods and discuss the critical links between religion, geography, governance, historiography, and artistic production. The authors examine the multiplicity of styles and techniques throughout the country, the ways Buddhist narratives have been conveyed through works of art, and the context in which the diverse objects were used. Certain to be the essential resource on the subject, Buddhist Art of Myanmar illuminates two millennia of rarely seen masterpieces.

"A clear, exhilarating exposition of the Buddhist way, well understood, well made, fun to read, and simple in the very best sense of the word—just as it should be!" —Peter Matthiessen, National Book Award Winner of In Paradise A fascinating volume that explains the origins, development and basic principles of the religion followed by nearly one-quarter of the people on earth.

This is the biography of a set of rare Buddhist statues from China. Their extraordinary adventures take them from the Buddhist temples of fifteenth-century Putuo – China’s most important pilgrimage island – to their seizure by a British soldier in the First Opium War in the early 1840s, and on to a starring role in the Great Exhibition of 1851. In the 1850s, they moved in and out of dealers’ and antiquarian collections, arriving in 1867 at Liverpool Museum. Here they were re-conceptualized as specimens of the ‘Mongolian race’ and, later, as examples of Oriental art. The statues escaped the bombing of the Museum during the Second World War and lived out their existence for the next sixty years, dismembered, corroding and neglected in the stores, their histories lost and origins unknown. As the curator of Asian collections at Liverpool Museum, the author became fascinated by these bronzes, and selected them for display in the Buddhism section of the World Cultures gallery. In 2005, quite by chance, the discovery of a lithograph of the figures on prominent display in the Great Exhibition enabled the remarkable lives of these statues to be reconstructed.

James Carter, accessing previously untapped sources, tells the story of Tanxu's life and gives first-person immediacy to one of the most turbulent periods in Chinese history.

Thai national artist Thawan Duchanee has spent his life creating art that deeply reflects Buddhist philosophy. He is internationally renowned, and his art is masterful both for its intricacy and for its subtle portrayal of Buddhism. Thawan expresses Buddhist wisdom with incredible versatility. His artworks depict the dangers of doubt, lust, fear, and lack of concentration, expose humankind’s pursuit of pleasure and escape from pain, and illustrate virtues exemplified in the previous lives of the Buddha. Using over one hundred images, the book succinctly examines these themes, often hidden deep within the art itself, and guides the reader through some of Thawan’s most interesting works. This is the first book to combine a focus on these works with an exploration of Thawan’s outstanding architectural and decorative achievements in Chiang Rai and Germany. Often told in his own words, this book offers insights into Thawan’s creative genius, explores his philosophy on the arts, examines his famous signature, and recounts his life story. It is fascinating reading for all those interested in Thai art and Buddhism. What others are saying “Larger-than-life Thai artist Thawan Duchanee is one of the foremost representatives of Thai and Asian art. His penchant for traditional Asian motifs and styles and his flamboyant personality have earned him popularity and renown as one of the leading lights of the international art scene.”—The Nation Highlights - The first book to examine Buddhist content in Thawan’s artworks - Features over one hundred illustrations - Explores Buddhist philosophy in relation to Thai modern art - Includes a biography of Thawan’s life - Compact overview of Thawan’s most well-loved and interesting work

No man has had a greater inflience on the spiritual development of his people than Siddartha Gautama. Born in India in the sixth century BC into a nation hungry for spiritual experience, he developed a religious and moral teaching that, to this day, brings comfort and peace to all who practise it. This comprehensive biography examines the social, religious and political conditions that gave rise to Buddhism as we now know it.

Anne Marie’s Da, a Glaswegian painter and decorator, has always been game for a laugh. So when he first tells his family that he’s taking up meditation at the Buddhist Centre in town, no one takes him seriously. But as Jimmy becomes more involved in his search for the spiritual his beliefs start to come into conflict with the needs of his wife, Liz, and cracks begin to form in their previously happy family. With grace, humour and humility Anne Donovan’s beloved debut tells the story of one man’s search for a higher power. But in his search for meaning, Jimmy might be about to lose the thing that matters most.