Steven Heine is Professor of Religious Studies and Director of Asian Studies at Florida International University. Among his many publications are Dogen and the Koan Tradition (1994), Japan in Traditional and Postmodern Perspectives (1995), The Zen Poetry of Dogen (1997), Shifting Shape, Shaping Text (1999), The Koan: Texts and Contexts in Zen Buddhism (OUP, 2000), and Opening a Mountain: Koans of the Zen Masters (OUP, 2002). Dr. Heine was recently awarded the Kauffman Professorship in Entrepreneurship Studies at the Florida International University Business School. Charles S. Prebish is Professor of Religious Studies at the Pennsylvania State University. He is the author or editor of many books, including Historical Dictionary of Buddhism (1993), A Survey of Vinaya Literature (1994), Luminous Passage: The Practice and Study of Buddhism in America (1999), and Westward Dharma: Buddhism Beyond Asia (2002). He is a founding co-editor of the online Journal of Buddhist Ethics.
Many developments in Buddhist history， such as the infusion of esoteric rituals, the rise of devotionalism and lay movements, and the assimilation of warrior practices, reflect the impact of widespread social changes on traditional religious structures. At the same time， Buddhism has been able to maintain its doctrinal purity to a remarkable degree. This volume explores how the traditional Buddhist communities of Asia have responded to the challenges of modernity， such as science and technology， colonialism， and globalisation. Nine essays, all commissioned expressly for this volume， consider how the encounter with modernity has impacted the disciplinary， textual， ritual， devotional， practical， and socio-political traditions of Buddhist though throughout Asia. The result is the most comprehensive overview of Asian Buddhism available today. 佛教史上諸如融入密教儀式. 奉獻主義興起. 在家居士運動. 吸收武士道精神等事件，在在反映社會變遷之廣泛對傳統宗教結構造成衝擊，而在此同時，佛教教義卻仍維持相當程度的純淨. 本書所蒐集的十篇論文，即在全面探討亞洲佛教僧團身處現代社會如何回應科技文明. 殖民主義. 全球化等所帶來的挑戰，及其對傳統佛教在戒律. 經典. 儀軌. 信仰. 修持及社會政治等方面造成的影響.
