Table of Contents

List of Figures Acknowledgments Note on Sanskrit Diacritics Introduction: A Framework for Studying Buddhism and Waste, Trine Brox (University of Copenhagen, Denmark) 1. Generosity’s Limits: Buddhist Excess and Waste in Northeast Tibet, Jane Caple (University of Copenhagen, Denmark) 2. Modern Minimalism and the Magical Buddhist Art of Disposal, Hannah Gould (University of Melbourne, Australia) 3. The Afterlives of Butsudan: Ambivalence and the Disposal of Home Altars in the United States and Canada, Jeff Wilson (University of Waterloo, Canada) 4. The Great Heisei Doll Massacre: Disposal and the Production of Ignorance in Contemporary Japan, Fabio Gygi (SOAS, University of London, UK) 5. Reincarnating Sacred Objects: The Recycling of Generative Efficacy and the Question of Waste in Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhist Material Cultures, Amy Holmes-Tagchungdarpa (Occidental College, Los Angeles, USA) 6. Zombie Rubbish and Mummy Materiality: The Undead and the Fate of Mongolian Waste, Saskia Abrahms-Kavunenko (University of Copehagen, Denmark) 7. Something Rotten in Shangri-La: Green Buddhism, Brown Buddhism, and the Problem of Waste in Ladakh, India, Elizabeth Williams-Oerberg (University of Copenhagen, Denmark) List of Contributors Index

Promotional Information

The first book to examine and problematize Buddhist-related consumption and the waste that is consequently created, with case studies from North America and Asia.

About the Author

Trine Brox is Associate Professor of Modern Tibetan Studies at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Elizabeth Williams-Oerberg is Affiliate Researcher of Cross-cultural and Regional Studies at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Reviews

An original and timely volume that discusses the materiality of Buddhism from the point of view of waste and discarded objects. An excellent source of insight.
*Fabio Rambelli, Professor of Japanese Religions and Cultural History and ISF Endowed Chair in Shinto Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA*

This groundbreaking interdisciplinary book offers an important contribution to the study of Buddhism and materiality by looking at waste as excess, discard, and afterlife. Case studies from a broad range of ethnographies provide thought-provoking analysis and new insights. Highly recommended.
*Erica Baffelli, Professor of Japanese Studies, University of Manchester, UK*

This book represents a pioneering exploration of the intricate relationship between Buddhism and waste management across diverse cultural landscapes … Buddhism and Waste not only advances scholarly discourse but also has practical implications for environmental stewardship, consumers, and spiritual practitioners within the Buddhist community and beyond in the modern world.
*Religious Studies Review*