The Autoethnographic Genre and Buddhist Studies: Reflections of a Postcolonial ‘Western Buddhist’ Convert

Abstract

Is there a place for autoethnography in Buddhist Studies, particularly the emerging discourse described as Buddhist critical-constructive reflection? Predicated on a commitment to be always mindful of the colonial, Orientalist heritage of Buddhist Studies and the role of the subject in its own discourse, Buddhist critical-constructive reflection brings together the sacred and scholarly pursuits of the Buddhist practitioner-scholar to develop new interfaces between Buddhism, academia, and society. This article explores the possible contribution of autoethnography by sharing the autoethnographical reflections of the author, who despite growing up in Singapore where Buddhism forms a part of his ancestral, cultural heritage, only embraced it as a life-pursuit after discovering in Australia Western interpretations of Buddhist doctrine and practice.

Of Intellectual Hospitality: Buddhism and Deconstruction

“…But before I reconsider the relationship between Buddhism and deconstruction, it is I appropriate that I contextualise my own invested interest in intellectual hospitality by outlining some salient points about my reciprocal pursuits of Buddhism and poststructuralist-inflected cultural theory. I have elaborated on the specific challenges circumscribing this coterminous sacred-scholarly profession and the question it raises about the role of faith in academia elsewhere, exploring them in the context of cultural studies' general neglect of religion and with regard to the place of autoethnography in the postcolonial study of Buddhism (Ng 2012a(Ng , 2012b(Ng , 2011 (Gombrich 1993;Lopez 1995Lopez , 2002Lopez , 2008McMahan 2008;Sharf 1993Sharf , 1995Snodgrass 2003Snodgrass , 2007. For whether it be the Orientalist reification of a textualised Buddhism as a means to denigrate the perceived degeneracy of native Buddhist customs (Almond 1988: 95;Lopez 2008: 9), or the appropriation of Western scientific rationalism by the 'Protestant Buddhist' movement in Ceylon as a means to resist colonial rule and Christian missionisation (Gombrich 1993;Lopez 2008: 153-195; see also Prothero 1996), or the underlying Japanese chauvinism and nationalism of D.T.…”

Questioning the role of 'faith' in a micropolitics of the neoliberal university

“…My ongoing research cross-fertilises my sacred and scholarly pursuits as a postcolonial 'Western Buddhist' convert (Ng 2012a(Ng , 2012b. I describe myself thus because even though I grew up in Singapore where Buddhism was a part of my diasporic 'Chinese' ancestral heritage, I only took an interest in Buddhist teachings when I migrated to Australia some 12 years ago for university studies and discovered Western translations of Buddhism.…”