A critique of Western Buddhism : ruins of the Buddhist real What are we to make of Western Buddhism Glenn Wallis argues that in aligning their tradition with the contemporary self help industry Western Buddhists evade the consequences of Buddhist thought. This book shows that with concepts such as vanishing nihility extinction contingency and no self Buddhism like all potent systems of thought articulates a notion of the real. Raw unflinching acceptance of this real is held by Buddhism to be at the very core of human awakening. Yet these preeminent human truths are universally shored up against in contemporary Buddhist practice which contradicts the very heart of Buddhism. The authors critique of Western Buddhism is threefold. It is immanent in emerging out of Buddhist thought but taking it beyond what it itself publicly concedes; negative in employing the democratizing deconstructive methods of François Laruelles non philosophy; and re descriptive in applying Laruelles concept of philofiction. Through applying resources of Continental philosophy to Western Buddhism A Critique of Western Buddhism suggests a possible practice for our time an anthropotechnic or religion transposed from its seductive but misguiding idealist haven. Bloomsbury Publishing