Science, Magic, and Scandal. 60 years of Tibetan Buddhism in the West

even scientific, and the seemingly superstitious practices of Tibetan Buddhists are, at best, overlooked by Western observers. Yet, since the arrival of Tibetan Buddhism to the West, some of its largest institutions have been subject to scandalous allegations of abuse, which make it appear that the modern Western mind is as gullible as any other, and that the Enlightenment and secularization process have done little to prevent Europeans from falling prey to superstition, charlatans, and cults. The contradictions in Tibetan Buddhism, and the controversies they often give rise to, can be elucidated through distinguishing between three waves of Buddhism around the world: first, traditional, ‘pre colonization Buddhism,’ which perhaps no longer exists anywhere in a pure form; second, modern, ‘scientific Buddhism,’ which is the offspring of four centuries of East-West interaction, and which predominates in the popular understanding of ‘Buddhism’ worldwide; and finally post-secular ‘glocal Buddhism,’ which rejects the straightjacket of science, rationality, and Western modernity, and instead promotes diversity and localisation, while emphasising the Buddha’s original experience. Tibetan institutions, teachers, and students each contain different blends of all of these strands, which can give rise to confusion and misunderstanding.