ABSTRACT
This chapter follows the construction of Buddhist identities is governed by objectives as diverse as the development of moral discernment, the recuperation of Buddhist origins, or the delineation of monastic communities. The historical contexts shaping these concerns reveal not only the situatedness of all discourse on identity, but also the ideological motives for and consequences of the search for Buddhist identities. Buddhist discourse about identity is as likely as any other to reify identity and to establish norms against which others are measured. European imperialism constituted the other against which these Buddhists attempted to construct a unified and universal Buddhist identity that could include all Buddhists. Jaffe suggests that this ambivalence grew along with Japanese power and ambition, and became increasingly apparent in the paternalistic role that Japanese Buddhists attempted to occupy in the construction of a pan-Buddhist community.
