Inspired by the richness of discussion and insight in each chapter, even non-experts of comparative religions or non-fans of these pop-cultural icons will find interesting the insights provided into various streams of traditional religious practices and identities from exotically-othered parts of Asia which have historically played a role in shaping popular representations of Tibetan Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, various strands of Hinduism—particularly Tantra—and how these continue to be borrowed, appropriated, misrepresented, filtered, or woven into the practices and imaginary fabric of global popular culture.

Reading Religion

This volume explores the hitherto-unrecognized complexity of the earliest connections between the Euro-American world and the cultures of Asia. With carefully constructed and nuanced historical case studies, we see how the beliefs and practices of various Asian religions were imported, adopted, and at times twisted to fit into expressions of Western culture. These include new spiritual movements, performing arts, and literature. This skillfully-compiled and broad collection of essays adds completely new examples of the phenomenon of Orientalism in context; the detail and insights found here are sure to interest a broad audience as well as inspire further explorations of this fascinating phenomenon.

Todd T. Lewis, College of the Holy Cross

Here is a brilliant collection detailing the pretzel logic of yoga in popular culture. It demonstrates how pervasive and deep Asian religions and spiritualities permeate the West’s best, even super-heroic, imaginings of itself.

Rudy V. Busto, University of California, Santa Barbara