Why Do European Buddhists Meditate? The Practical Problem of Inventing Global Buddhism

Abstract Globalising “Buddhism” beyond its pre-colonial homelands was a complex practical challenge. Actors seeking to bring Buddhism new audiences in very different cultures met with failure far more often than success until recent decades. Modern-era Buddhist missionaries Europe had experiment, selecting elements of Asian that could theoretically be transmitted – ordinations, preaching, textual knowledge, rituals etc. and attempt institutionalise these as conversion mechanisms. This article uses the lens Irish British converts sympathisers Asia late C19th early C20th centuries explore European situation one fewer relationships between society religion those North America. It explores sources their various versions Buddhism; organising techniques repertoires “Buddhist” activity, how they defined relation politics, ethnicity colonialism. argues meditation (and “practice”) became central because it solved crucial organisational problem: what globalisers offer turn into Buddhists?