Part IV: Modernity and the Many Canons—Globalization, Scholarship, and Digital Dharma
The encounter between traditional Buddhist texts and the modern world has created new possibilities and new challenges for preserving ancient wisdom. This section explores how colonialism, Western scholarship, and global migration have reshaped how Buddhist texts are understood, published, and practiced. From nineteenth-century orientalists who "rediscovered" forgotten manuscripts to contemporary digital projects that make ancient texts globally accessible, from immigrant communities adapting traditional practices to new environments to online platforms that democratize textual authority, Buddhism continues to evolve. These chapters ask not only how Buddhist texts reached the contemporary world, but how modern technology, global culture, and diaspora communities are creating new forms of Buddhist textual culture that the tradition's founders could never have imagined.