The present book would not have been written without the help of many individuals and institutions, although I cannot mention them all. The project was envisaged almost twenty years ago when there was minimal interest in and awareness of Buddhist-Muslim engagement. Yahya Michot, Nile Green, Bettina Schmidt, Sondra Hausner, Vesna Wallace, Afifi al-Akiti, and Mahinda Deegalle provided me with useful advice on the project’s direction. Peggy Morgan and Sarah Shaw graced me with much-needed moral support and practical assistance.
In developing my research, I was blessed in meeting various other scholars who have graciously shared their insights with me: Brian Bocking, Lara Braitstein, Jose Cabezon, Peter Clarke, James Cox, Carole Cusack, Mitsuya Dake, James Fredericks, Dennis Hirota, Victor Sogen Hori, Seiji Hoshino, Soonil Huang, Yoshiyuki Inoue, Michael Jerryson, Shigeru Kamada, Leo Lefebure, Shoten Minegishi, Nobuo Misawa, Ryoko Nishii, Tetsuo Nishio, Shin Nomoto, Peter Phan, Michael Pye, Tariq Ramadan, Tosei Sano, Yoshitsugu Sawai, Junya Shinohe, Kazuko Shiojiri, Masaaki Yamanashi, Hiroko Yamazaki, Michio Yano, Shin’ichi Yoshinaga, and Yoichi Yuasa. I am particularly indebted to the inspiration I have received from Perry Schmidt-Leukel, Hidetake Yano, and Imtiyaz Yusuf.
Equally precious have been the many stimulating conversations I have had with Ananda Abeysekara, Daniel Ahn, Hatsuki Aishima, Iqbal Akhtar, Thomas Borchert, Younghae Chi, Dorge Dondrup, Giuliano Giustarini, Kabir Mansingh Heimsath, Yuka Kobayashi, Matthew Kosuta, Toru Kotaki, Kenji Kuroda, Laurent Mignon, Daisuke Murakami, Naoko Ohgama, Kiyokazu Okita, Chisako Omoso, Suzanne Owen, Karma Phuntsho, Elisabetta Porcu, Brainerd Prince, Claire Robison, Mattia Salvini, Makoto Sawai, Gregory Seton, Rafal Stepien, Paul Trafford, Atsuko Tsubakihara, and Jan Westerhoff.
This project has been supported by various institutions across the globe whose generosity allowed me to pursue and present my research internationally. The Henman Scholarship fund provided financial support toward tuition fees and travel expenses for three years as I pursued my postgraduate studies at Regent’s Park College, Oxford. The Numata Foundation extended an invitation to me to speak at the first-ever academic conference held on the theme of Buddhism and Islam, which took place in May 2009 at McGill University. The British Association for the Study of Religions offered me a student bursary to attend its annual conference, held at Bangor University, in September 2009. The Japanese Association for Religious Studies and the Faculty of Theology at
The project’s focus on contemporary developments in Buddhist-Muslim engagement made fieldwork with practicing Buddhists and Muslims of central importance to the research. Special thanks go to Naoko Kawada, Naoki Maeno, Taku Takazawa, Idris no Madjid, Yohei Matsuyama, Ven. Ryushin Azuma, Ven. Khammai Dhammasami, Ven. Sawai Chotiko, Ven. Seng Hurng, Ven. Weerasak Suwannawong, Boonmee Poungpet, Tavivat Puntarigvivat, and Yuande Shih for sharing their views and/or facilitating meetings with other informants. Wisitsak Visitsintop provided useful assistance with the interviews. I have also gained much food for thought through discussions with students at Mahidol University (Salaya) and Mahachulalongkorn Rajavidyalaya University (Wang Noi).
In preparing the manuscript for publication, I received assistance from Dale Eickelman and Nienke Brienen-Moolenaar of Brill. I thank them for their patience and commitment to making the process as smooth as possible. The invaluable feedback I received from two anonymous reviewers enabled me to adjust important details and make my writing more consistent. I also thank all the scholars of Buddhism, Islam, and religion in general, for being precious sources of inspiration. While their work has stimulated me to formulate mine, the errors contained in this book are solely mine.
On a more personal front, I offer my heartfelt thanks to Joan Swindells, Howard Womersley, Filza Ahmat, Kozue Hinakura, Masayo Urasaki, Latifa