The Buddhist World of Southeast AsiaThis book is a remarkable synthesis and empathetic interpretation of Buddhism in Southeast Asia. No other single book matches its depth and breadth, or its balance between scholarly interpretation and sensitive first person portrayal. The author focuses his analysis on Theravada Buddhism in Southeast Asia as a dynamic, complex system of thought and practice imbedded in the respective cultures, societies, and histories of Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka. The book discusses three distinct but interrelated aspects of this system: the popular tradition in terms of paradigms of ideal action, rituals, festivals, and rites of passage; Buddhism as civic religion in terms of King Asoka as the paradigmatic Buddhist monarch, cosmology and kingship, and Buddhism and the modern nation state; and modern transformations of the tradition in terms of the changing roles of the monk and the laity, modern reform movements, and Buddhism in the West. |
Contents
The Popular Tradition Inclusive Syncretism | 5 |
Ideal Action | 7 |
Ritual Occasions Merit and the Appropriation of Power | 18 |
Festivals | 35 |
Rites of Passage | 46 |
Buddhism as Civil Religion Political Legitimation and National Integration | 63 |
Asoka the Exemplary Buddhist Ruler | 64 |
Kings and Cosmology | 72 |
The Changing Role of the Laity | 141 |
Buddhism and the West | 156 |
Postscript | 159 |
Sigalaka Sutta Code of Lay Ethics | 163 |
Audio Visual Bibliography | 167 |
Borobudur | 171 |
Notes | 175 |
Glossary | 209 |
The Buddha as Cosmocrator | 91 |
Modern Nationalism and Buddhism | 95 |
Modernization The Dynamic of Tradition and Change | 107 |
The Changing Role of the Monk | 108 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Ačhān almspersons Angkor Asian Asian Studies Asoka associated Bangkok Bhikkhu Borobudur Brahmanical Buddha image Buddha relics Buddhadāsa Buddhism in Southeast Buddhist monks Burma Burmese cakkavattin Cambodia celebration century ceremony cetiya chanting Chiang chronicles Coedès context cosmology cult cultural devarāja dhamma doctrine economic enlightenment Ethics example festival film forest tradition History Ibid ideal India interpretation Jātaka kathina Khmer King Asoka kingship Kitthiwuttho laity Laos Legitimation Loi Krathong Mahāyāna meditation merit modern monarch monastery monastic order monks moral movement Myanmar nibbāna northern Thai northern Thailand ordination Pagan Pali paritta Photo by Donald Phra political practice Prince Pūja rains retreat religion renunciant represents rites ritual robes role ruler sacred sangha Santi Asok Sarvodaya Siddhattha sīla Sinhalese Sivaraksa social Society Southeast Asia spiritual Sri Lanka story stupa Sukhothai Sutta Swearer symbolic teaching temple texts Thai Buddhism Theravada Buddhism University Press Vessantara village Western women