[Buddha-l] "Western Self, Asian Other"

[Katherine Masis]

Richard Hayes wrote:
“I wonder whether any academics recognize a similar dynamic over overcompensation in themselves.”
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That could explain it, then.  I was under the impression that Lopez was (is) a scholar, but not a practitioner.  On page 4 of the Introduction to *Buddhism and Science*, he states:
 
“The authors of most books and articles about Buddhism and Science generally fall into one of several categories. Some are Asian Buddhist monks … with some knowledge of Western science; some are Buddhist monks, or former Buddhist monks, of European
or North American parentage, with some previous education … or professional training in science; some are Asian scientists from Buddhist cultures who regard themselves as
Buddhists; some are European or American scientists with at least a passing interest in Buddhism, an interest that may extend to practicing meditation and identifying themselves as Buddhists. I have none of these qualifications. I write as a historian of Buddhist thought and practice, with an interest in the processes by which what we today call “Buddhism” has emerged in modernity.”
 
In *Buddhism: The American Experience*, Charles Prebish says that about 25% of scholar-practitioners in academia admit to being practitioners, and that likely another 25% percent of scholars are in the closet about their practice.  I wonder about Western scholar-practitioners teaching in academia in historically Buddhist countries in Asia—do they feel the same pressure to be quiet about their practice or can they loosen up about it?  
 
Katherine Masis