First, he's saying that there's some monolithic "Asian culture" that in general is about escapism. That's a big claim.
Second, you may have a misconception about what those religions say. Buddhism, for example, is entirely about becoming fully immersed in one's present reality. If one discovers that it's not the solid, external entity that one thought it was, that's not "escaping" it. In fact, their claim is that the constant distractedness of the untrained mind is the real escapism.
When somebody mentions meditation, most people talk about the types of meditation that are based off religious practices originating from Asia.
Religions where the end-goal in most cases is to escape the physical reality we live in.