Table of Contents
Prologue
I. Experimental Buddhism: Contexts and Trajectories
A. “Thus have I heard...”
B. New Perspectives on the Individual and Religion
C. Late Modernity, Globalization, and the Challenge to Religion
F. Experimental Buddhism: an Agency of Choice
II. The Japanese Version of Buddhism
A. An Executive Summary of Japanese Buddhism
B. The Parishioner System
C. Confrontation with Modernity, 1868-1912
D. Contemporary Buddhist Temples and Priests
E. Three Views from the Top: Senior Officials on their Denominations
III. Buddhist Activism for Social Welfare
A. The Social Roles of Buddhist Monks
B. Early Social Welfare and Merit-Making Activity in Japan
C. “Socially Engaged Buddhism” is Experimental Buddhism
D. From Late Modernity, New Directions (F. Environmentalism)
E. Suicide Prevention as Bodhisattva Practice
IV. Four Models of Experimental Buddhism
A. “Healing, Learning, and Enjoyment” in Osaka
B. “The Temple is a Place of Solutions”
C. “Everyone’s Temple”
D. Experimental Dharmas of Shelter, Sanctuary, and Saké
V. Alternatives and Innovations in “Buddhist” Religious Practice
A. Introduction
B. New Burials and Memorials
C. New Altars for Commemorating Ancestral Spirits
1. Reconfiguring the Meaning of Altars
2. Stressing Individualism and Experimentation
D. Pet Memorials
E. Performative Buddhism in the Public Sphere
1. Concerts at Temples (and other Venues)
2. World-Heritage Site Concerts
F. A Miscellany of Innovation: Experimental Buddhism in Play
VI. The Future of Japanese Buddhism
A. Opening Remarks
B. Chanteuse of the Dharma
C. Reforming Rinzai Zen
D. Some Parting Considerations
