The DOI matches its Crossref record.
Three Boys on a Great Vehicle: ‘Mahayana Buddhism’ and a Trans-National Network
Abstract
From 1915–1916 there was in Kyoto a trans-national group of Buddhists named the Mahayana Association, which published an English Buddhist periodical, Mahayanist. Two members of the Mahayana Association, William Montgomery McGovern and M. T. Kirby, were among the earliest cases of Westerners ordained in the tradition of Mahayana Buddhism in Japan. Kirby explored the temples of Jōdo Shinshū and the monastic life of Rinzai Zen and Theravada Buddhism in search of salvation. McGovern, on the other hand, had been searching for an alternative to Christianity, which he found unscientific and dissatisfying. He finally found Jōdo Shinshū, which he held to be the essence of Mahayana Buddhism. His understanding of Buddhism was influenced by D. T. Suzuki's version of Mahayana Buddhism. Utsuki Nishu, who helped McGovern and Kirby run the Association, joined the Theosophical Society (Adyar, India) while he was studying at Hollywood High School in Los Angeles and later helped Beatrice Suzuki run the Mahayana Lodge of the Theosophical Society. Drawing on forgotten documents discovered only recently in a Japanese temple, this paper offers a progress report on research into these documents and explores a significant but hitherto unknown side of the history of modern Japanese Buddhism.
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In the citing paper
“Any account of Pfoundes, McGovern, Utsuki or M. T. Kirby, for example, relies almost half and half on English and Japanese sources, often hard to interpret even for a native speaker (Bocking 2013; Yoshinaga 2013).”
From A Buddhist crossroads: pioneer European Buddhists and globalizing Asian networks 1860–1960 (2013) · cites this paper as Yoshinaga 2013
In the citing paper
“These sources have always been available somewhere (see Yoshinaga 2013 for a remarkable Japanese example), but the technologies that allow for broader and more rapid searches let us build unprecedented connections and value multiple types of evidence in order to write new histories of Buddhism.”
From A Buddhist crossroads: pioneer European Buddhists and globalizing Asian networks 1860–1960 (2013) · cites this paper as Yoshinaga 2013
In the citing paper
“Japanese Buddhists, struggling to stay abreast of galloping modernity in Japan, sought to reform Buddhism within while simultaneously launching a 'Buddhist mission' to the West (Bocking 2013; Yoshinaga 2013)”
From A Buddhist crossroads: pioneer European Buddhists and globalizing Asian networks 1860–1960 (2013) · cites this paper as Yoshinaga 2013
Citations
Cites
No references could be resolved yet.
Research works printed but not linked: 18
- Algeo Adele S., 2005, Theosophical History, 11, 3
- Ama Michihiro, 2010, Issei Buddhism in America, 65
- Heian Gakuen, 1986, Heian Gakuen Hyakunen no Ayumi
- Hisamatsu S., 1971, Suzuki Daisetsu—Hito to Shiso
- Hoshino Seiji, 2009, Japanese Religions, 34, 133
- Hunter L., 1971, Buddhism in Hawaii: Its Impact on a Yankee Community, 10.1515/9780824885328 · DOI
- Jisōji Tetsugai, 1969, Tenro Rekihen
- Kirby M. T., 1927, Young East, 125
- Mcgovern Janet B., 1922, Among the Headhunters of Formosa
- Mcgovern W. M., 1915, Mahayanist, 1, 2
- Mcgovern W. M., 1922, An Introduction to Mahayana Buddhism, with Especial Reference to Chinese and Japanese Phase
- Nishikawa Takeshi, 1977, Kōdō Ōmoto-kyō Jiken Ni Kansuru Kenkyū, reprint
- Peirce Lori, 2010, Issei Buddhism in America, 87
- Ross Joseph E., 1989, Krotona of Old Hollywood, 1
- Snodgrass J., 2003, Presenting Japanese Buddhism to the West: Orientalism, Occidentalism, and the Columbian Exposition
- Suzuki Beatrice, 1919, The Open Court, 1919
- Suzuki D. T., 1907, Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism
- Suzuki Daisetsu, 2003, Suzuki Daisetsu Zenshu, 36
Cited by
Sorted by citations
A Buddhist crossroads: pioneer European Buddhists and globalizing Asian networks 1860–1960
Turner, A., Cox, L., & Bocking, B. (2013) · Contemporary Buddhism · doi:10.1080/14639947.2013.785244 · Cited by 5
Religion, Ki, and Aikido: From Pre-war Japan to the Post-war United States
Stein, J. B. (2024) · Vienna journal of East Asian studies · doi:10.30965/25217038-12345004 · Cited by 2
Metadata
- Authors
- Yoshinaga, S.
- Corresponding author
- Yoshinaga, Shin'ichi
- Venue
- Contemporary Buddhism
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2013-05
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 52-65
- ISSN
- 1463-9947 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-7953
- OpenAlex
- W2089990124
- Cited by
- 5
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2024: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2013: 2
- FWCI
- 14.30
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Contemporary Buddhism (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Indian and Buddhist Studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Study and Philosophy of Religion
- Keywords
- D. T. Suzuki, Shin Buddhism, Rinzai Zen, Theravada Buddhism, Theosophical Society, Mahayana Buddhism, modern Japanese Buddhism, Kyoto
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- CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Three Boys on a Great Vehicle: ‘Mahayana Buddhism’ and a Trans-National Network. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1080/14639947.2013.785249
- The paper
- Yoshinaga, S. (2013). Three Boys on a Great Vehicle: ‘Mahayana Buddhism’ and a Trans-National Network. Contemporary Buddhism. https://doi.org/10.1080/14639947.2013.785249
