Devotees of Buddhism


Marion Dapsance

19,90 €
“An edifying book that sums up his long years of behind-the-scenes investigation of Buddhism in France. Meticulously, the researcher unravels the myths that “tired and spiritually deprived” Westerners have projected on this religion. Marianne The temple is crowded. “It could be here” says the master in English. “You don't have to do any more prostrations, or you have to open the windows. A tall, skinny steward discreetly remarks that it's pouring rain, and that perhaps it's not quite appropriate. The master then grabs him by the hair and shakes him back and forth. “Who are you to judge? I am your master, you are my slave. Ah, maybe that's not very politically correct with you Westerners, okay, but in Tibet it's like that, you have to submit completely. You should never stand up to a great master. The anthropologist Marion Dapsance carries out the first field survey on Buddhism in the West, at the heart of a diverted religion that leaves you speechless: sectarian organization, sexual excesses, financial pyramids, hierarchical humiliations...
The author

Doctor in anthropology of religions from the École Pratique des Hautes Etudes (Paris), Marion Dapsance is currently in residence at Columbia University in New York where she teaches on modern Buddhism.

304 pages | ISBN: 9782315007158

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