Donald K. Swearer is Distinguished Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies and Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions at the Harvard Divinity School. He is the author or editor of several books, including Becoming the Buddha: The Ritual of Image Consecration in Thailand.

Preface to the Second Edition
Acknowledgments

Introduction

PART I. THE POPULAR TRADITION

Ideal Action
Ritual Occasions, Merit, and the Appropriation of Power
Festivals
Rites of Passage

PART II. BUDDHISM AND THE STATE

Asoka, the Exemplary Buddhist Ruler
Kings and Cosmology
The Cosmological Scheme of the Three Worlds
The Buddha as Cosmocrator
Modern Nationalism and Buddhism

PART III. BUDDHISM AND MODERNIZATION

The Changing Role of the Monk
Reforming the Tradition
The Changing Role of the Laity
Women and Buddhism
Buddhism and the West
Postscript

Appendix 1 Sigalaka Sutta: Code of Lay Ethics
Appendix 2 Borobudur

Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index