Buddhist Romanticism

which like-minded men and women could live and work together in their
quest to develop the right qualities of heart. One of the prime activities of
these brotherhoods was to hold Bible-reading circles in which members
were encouraged to keep diaries of the state of their souls, to be shared in
the (ideally) safe environment of the circle so that they could learn from one
another how to develop the right attitudes of spiritual love. Other activities,
designed to bring this love into the world, included the founding of
orphanages and hospitals for the care of the poor.
The Bible-reading circles of the Pietists soon inspired secular
counterparts among the educated administrative classes of Germany: bookreading
clubs in which people pursued their own further education and
cultural improvement, beyond the rote-learning they had received in
university. The German word for this ideal—a self-directed improvement
of not only one’s knowledge but also one’s good taste, character, maturity,
and overall culture—is Bildung. Because there is no English word adequate
to translate this concept, we will keep the German word throughout this
book. Bildung was central to the sense of a German cultural identity that,
during this period, began to transcend state boundaries. In some ways, it
was the secular equivalent of piety, in that it was a matter of the maturity
and quality of the entire character, shaped by philosophy and literary
sensibility, consciously cultivated in a self-directed way, and going far
beyond the education organized by the state.
Although Bildung was acquired through one’s entire life experience, it
was influenced by ideas picked up from books and discussed in the bookreading
clubs. Book-publishing during this period expanded at a faster rate
in German-speaking parts of Europe than anywhere else—a sign not only
that more Germans were becoming literate, but also that they were looking
more and more to books for their emotional and intellectual sustenance.
The Leipzig catalog of new books, for instance, listed approximately 1,200
titles in 1764, but 5,000 by 1800. Favorite genres included plays, travel
writing, essays, popular philosophy, and novels. Travel books allowed
people to imagine and discuss alternate ways of life in a manner that the
authorities did not find threatening. Annual essay contests provoked
responses from all the German lands, and sparked widespread discussion
of such topics as the meaning of Enlightenment, the relationship between
reason and feelings, and the future of German literature. Popular
philosophy books addressed the Big Questions of life, but without requiring
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