Philosophers Under the Bodhi Tree: The Meeting of Western Thought and Buddhism

A sweeping intellectual journey exploring the resonances between Buddhism and Western thought—from the early Romantics to Nietzsche and beyond.

Buddhism didn’t arrive in the West in a vacuum. From its first reception in the Romantic era, its study and practice in the West has been shaped by multiple streams of culture and thought. In this sweeping intellectual journey, Peter Oldmeadow surveys the philosophical traditions that have profoundly impacted our modern views on humanity, the meaning of life, and Buddhism. 

Beginning with the intellectuals of the late 18th century who first brought Sanskrit and Buddhism into Western consciousness and spanning to the present day with discussions of environmentalism and social justice, Oldmeadow reveals the resonances between Western philosophy and Buddhism, challenging our assumptions about both traditions along the way. 

With chapters on Romanticism, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Heidegger, deep ecology, and postmodernism, Philosophers Under the Bodhi Tree is a thoughtful examination of how universal ideas about suffering, identity, and transcendence are reinterpreted across time and culture—and how we might reexamine our own fundamental beliefs about the nature of existence.