Before 1893, Americans viewed the religions of the East through the eyes of Christian missionaries, who judged them to be demonic, atheistic, and pessimistic. This comfortable view was seriously upset by the Parliament of Religions which met during the Columbian Exposition (World's Fair) in Chicago. Although intended by its planners to showcase Western belief systems as morally superior to those of the East, the Parliament turned out to be a surprise to many, and to some a life-changing shock.

A key figure in this transformation was Paul Carus (1852-1919), longtime believer in the consilience of science and religion, editor of The Open Court and The Monist, and manager of The Open Court Publishing Company. He discovered in his conversations with Hindu and Buddhist leaders like Mozoomdar, Vivekananda, Dharmapala and Shaku Soyen, that the religions of the East, particularly Mahayana Buddhism, accorded better with science than Christianity.

Between 1893 and World War I, with the help of D.T. Suzuki and Shaku Soyen, Carus built a bridge between the West and East in the areas of religion, philosophy, and culture. He introduced Buddhist thought to the West through his own books and translations (The Gospel of Buddha, The Dharma, Christianity and Its Critics, and Karma), as well as through the writings of numerous philologists, historians, theologians, and philosophers whose works he published. Paul Carus dedicated himself to finding a path from the older theologies into a new secular world and its uncertain future.

The Buddha's Midwife: Paul Carus and the Spread of Buddhism in America, John S Haller Jr, Open Universe, Paperback, 264 pp, $29.99

John S. Haller, JR., has written more than twenty books, including Swedenborg, Mesmer, and the Mind-Body Connection (2010), The History of American Homeopathy (two volumes, 2005-2009), and The Physician and Sexuality in Victorian America (with Robin M. Haller, 1974). Dr. Haller is Emeritus Professor of History and Medical Humanities at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. He is former editor of Caduceus and served for twenty years as Vice President for Academic Affairs for the Southern Illinois University system.