Charles Goodman
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195375190
- eISBN:
- 9780199871377
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195375190.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
Buddhist ethical views have much in common with certain modern ethical theories, and contain many insights relevant to contemporary moral problems. This book examines the theoretical structure of the ...
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Buddhist ethical views have much in common with certain modern ethical theories, and contain many insights relevant to contemporary moral problems. This book examines the theoretical structure of the normative views found in a number of Indian and Tibetan Buddhist texts. Teachings from all three major traditions of Buddhism, the Theravāda, Mahāyāna, and Vajrayāna, are considered. Although Buddhist philosophy is quite diverse, and these traditions differ in their ethical perspectives, they can all be understood as versions of a general moral outlook known as welfarist consequentialism. Buddhist versions of consequentialism regard virtue as an intrinsic component of the good life. They range from the cautious indirect approach of the Theravāda, which focuses on following rules that lead to the welfare of many, to the bold and often shocking direct approach of the Vajrayāna. Buddhists can respond convincingly to certain often-discussed criticisms of consequentialism, including several powerful arguments due to Kant. Buddhist texts offer an interesting approach to the problem of the demands of morality. These texts also contain a powerful critique of what we would identify as the concept of free will, a critique which leads to a hard determinist view of human action. This view supports Buddhist values of compassion, nonviolence and forgiveness, and leads to a more humane approach to the justification of punishment.Less
Buddhist ethical views have much in common with certain modern ethical theories, and contain many insights relevant to contemporary moral problems. This book examines the theoretical structure of the normative views found in a number of Indian and Tibetan Buddhist texts. Teachings from all three major traditions of Buddhism, the Theravāda, Mahāyāna, and Vajrayāna, are considered. Although Buddhist philosophy is quite diverse, and these traditions differ in their ethical perspectives, they can all be understood as versions of a general moral outlook known as welfarist consequentialism. Buddhist versions of consequentialism regard virtue as an intrinsic component of the good life. They range from the cautious indirect approach of the Theravāda, which focuses on following rules that lead to the welfare of many, to the bold and often shocking direct approach of the Vajrayāna. Buddhists can respond convincingly to certain often-discussed criticisms of consequentialism, including several powerful arguments due to Kant. Buddhist texts offer an interesting approach to the problem of the demands of morality. These texts also contain a powerful critique of what we would identify as the concept of free will, a critique which leads to a hard determinist view of human action. This view supports Buddhist values of compassion, nonviolence and forgiveness, and leads to a more humane approach to the justification of punishment.
Mandy Sadan
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780197265550
- eISBN:
- 9780191760341
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265550.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter considers the impact of conversion to Christianity among the Kachin peoples of Burma and the role that conflict has had in promoting Christianity as a principal ideological foundation ...
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This chapter considers the impact of conversion to Christianity among the Kachin peoples of Burma and the role that conflict has had in promoting Christianity as a principal ideological foundation for the social movement of Kachin ethno-nationalism. It challenges the perception that Christianity was a majority belief system before the late 1970s and explores some of the different social dynamics that produced this large-scale conversion beyond the colonial period. It also examines the boundaries between Christianity (specifically American Baptist doctrinal orthodoxies), Theravada Buddhism, and autochthonous belief systems to show how ideological perceptions of threats to the self and the community have been modelled by Kachin Christian ethno-nationalists within the Kachin Baptist Church. It then describes how the social prevalence of this belief system among Kachin youth has created significant shifts in comprehension of ‘Kachin’ history and society, which have also had a transformative effect upon modern Kachin ethno-nationalist ideologies.Less
This chapter considers the impact of conversion to Christianity among the Kachin peoples of Burma and the role that conflict has had in promoting Christianity as a principal ideological foundation for the social movement of Kachin ethno-nationalism. It challenges the perception that Christianity was a majority belief system before the late 1970s and explores some of the different social dynamics that produced this large-scale conversion beyond the colonial period. It also examines the boundaries between Christianity (specifically American Baptist doctrinal orthodoxies), Theravada Buddhism, and autochthonous belief systems to show how ideological perceptions of threats to the self and the community have been modelled by Kachin Christian ethno-nationalists within the Kachin Baptist Church. It then describes how the social prevalence of this belief system among Kachin youth has created significant shifts in comprehension of ‘Kachin’ history and society, which have also had a transformative effect upon modern Kachin ethno-nationalist ideologies.
Kristin Scheible
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780231171380
- eISBN:
- 9780231542609
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231171380.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
Vamsa is a dynamic genre of Buddhist history filled with otherworldly characters and the exploits of real-life heroes. These narratives collapse the temporal distance between Buddha and the reader, ...
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Vamsa is a dynamic genre of Buddhist history filled with otherworldly characters and the exploits of real-life heroes. These narratives collapse the temporal distance between Buddha and the reader, building an emotionally resonant connection with an outsized religious figure and a longed-for past. The fifth-century Pali text Mahāvamsa is a particularly effective example, using metaphor and other rhetorical devices to ethically transform readers, to stimulate and then to calm them.
Reading the Mahāvamsa advocates a new, literary approach to this text by revealing its embedded reading advice (to experience samvega and pasada) and affective work of metaphors (the Buddha's dharma as light) and salient characters (nagas). Kristin Scheible argues that the Mahāvamsa requires a particular kind of reading. In the text’s proem, special instructions draw readers to the metaphor of light and the nagas, or salient snake-beings, of the first chapter. Nagas are both model worshippers and unworthy hoarders of Buddha’s relics. As nonhuman agents, they challenge political and historicist readings of the text. Scheible sees these slippery characters and the narrative’s potent and playful metaphors as techniques for refocusing the reader’s attention on the text’s emotional aims. Her work explains the Mahāvamsa’s central motivational role in contemporary Sri Lankan Buddhist and nationalist circles. It also speaks broadly to strategies of reading religious texts and to the internal and external cues that give such works lives beyond the page.Less
Vamsa is a dynamic genre of Buddhist history filled with otherworldly characters and the exploits of real-life heroes. These narratives collapse the temporal distance between Buddha and the reader, building an emotionally resonant connection with an outsized religious figure and a longed-for past. The fifth-century Pali text Mahāvamsa is a particularly effective example, using metaphor and other rhetorical devices to ethically transform readers, to stimulate and then to calm them.
Reading the Mahāvamsa advocates a new, literary approach to this text by revealing its embedded reading advice (to experience samvega and pasada) and affective work of metaphors (the Buddha's dharma as light) and salient characters (nagas). Kristin Scheible argues that the Mahāvamsa requires a particular kind of reading. In the text’s proem, special instructions draw readers to the metaphor of light and the nagas, or salient snake-beings, of the first chapter. Nagas are both model worshippers and unworthy hoarders of Buddha’s relics. As nonhuman agents, they challenge political and historicist readings of the text. Scheible sees these slippery characters and the narrative’s potent and playful metaphors as techniques for refocusing the reader’s attention on the text’s emotional aims. Her work explains the Mahāvamsa’s central motivational role in contemporary Sri Lankan Buddhist and nationalist circles. It also speaks broadly to strategies of reading religious texts and to the internal and external cues that give such works lives beyond the page.
Charles Goodman
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195375190
- eISBN:
- 9780199871377
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195375190.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter analyzes the theoretical structure of Theravāda ethics, drawing primarily on the Pali Canon. This form of Buddhist ethics has much in common with consequentialism. Several explicit ...
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This chapter analyzes the theoretical structure of Theravāda ethics, drawing primarily on the Pali Canon. This form of Buddhist ethics has much in common with consequentialism. Several explicit statements connect the rightness of actions with their consequences. Moreover, Pali texts commend extreme acts of self-sacrificing generosity. On the other hand, the Theravāda tradition attaches great importance to moral rules. Yet it differs fundamentally from Kantian deontology. So the best interpretation of Theravāda ethics is as a form of rule-consequentialism. The conception of well-being in this tradition includes both happiness and virtue as intrinsic goods. Although attachment to wealth and craving for sensual pleasures are very bad, the pleasures themselves have some small but genuine value, and wealth can be an instrumentally valuable means to benefit oneself and others. Nirvana is the final goal of Theravāda practice, but it is inaccurate to say that Nirvana is the good.Less
This chapter analyzes the theoretical structure of Theravāda ethics, drawing primarily on the Pali Canon. This form of Buddhist ethics has much in common with consequentialism. Several explicit statements connect the rightness of actions with their consequences. Moreover, Pali texts commend extreme acts of self-sacrificing generosity. On the other hand, the Theravāda tradition attaches great importance to moral rules. Yet it differs fundamentally from Kantian deontology. So the best interpretation of Theravāda ethics is as a form of rule-consequentialism. The conception of well-being in this tradition includes both happiness and virtue as intrinsic goods. Although attachment to wealth and craving for sensual pleasures are very bad, the pleasures themselves have some small but genuine value, and wealth can be an instrumentally valuable means to benefit oneself and others. Nirvana is the final goal of Theravāda practice, but it is inaccurate to say that Nirvana is the good.
D. Jason Slone
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195169263
- eISBN:
- 9780199835256
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195169263.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
Religious thought involves the presumption that superhuman agents exist, while theology involves postulations about these agents. This dual feature of religion seems to apply across the board. ...
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Religious thought involves the presumption that superhuman agents exist, while theology involves postulations about these agents. This dual feature of religion seems to apply across the board. However, one religious system, Theravada Buddhism of South and Southeast Asia appears to challenge this assumption. It is argued that Buddhists are not passive recipients but active participants in Buddhism. Thus, Buddhism is the same as other religions because its members share the same cognitive equipment as members of other religions.Less
Religious thought involves the presumption that superhuman agents exist, while theology involves postulations about these agents. This dual feature of religion seems to apply across the board. However, one religious system, Theravada Buddhism of South and Southeast Asia appears to challenge this assumption. It is argued that Buddhists are not passive recipients but active participants in Buddhism. Thus, Buddhism is the same as other religions because its members share the same cognitive equipment as members of other religions.
Todd Tremlin
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195305340
- eISBN:
- 9780199784721
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195305345.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
Religious people and their religions are not always harmonized. Scholars have long noted two faces of religious practice, one corresponding to an “official” set of beliefs and ...
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Religious people and their religions are not always harmonized. Scholars have long noted two faces of religious practice, one corresponding to an “official” set of beliefs and actions taught in texts, maintained by institutions, and communicated by specialists; the other is a “folk” form of religion pursued by ordinary people in everyday life. This chapter applies a dual-process model of cognition to the problem of “divergent religion,” arguing that how religious people think and act is directly linked to the way the brain processes religious concepts. Evidence drawn from social psychology and comparative religion suggests that religious concepts can proceed along two contrasting mental pathways to differing affect. This account of cognitive processing provides a new way of understanding duplicitous forms of religious thought, explaining common episodes of religious change (e.g., doctrinal and ritual innovation, syncretism, conversion, and the formation of new religions), and mapping an important set of selective forces at work on the content and stability of religious systems. Pentecostal Christianity and Theravada Buddhism provide case studies.Less
Religious people and their religions are not always harmonized. Scholars have long noted two faces of religious practice, one corresponding to an “official” set of beliefs and actions taught in texts, maintained by institutions, and communicated by specialists; the other is a “folk” form of religion pursued by ordinary people in everyday life. This chapter applies a dual-process model of cognition to the problem of “divergent religion,” arguing that how religious people think and act is directly linked to the way the brain processes religious concepts. Evidence drawn from social psychology and comparative religion suggests that religious concepts can proceed along two contrasting mental pathways to differing affect. This account of cognitive processing provides a new way of understanding duplicitous forms of religious thought, explaining common episodes of religious change (e.g., doctrinal and ritual innovation, syncretism, conversion, and the formation of new religions), and mapping an important set of selective forces at work on the content and stability of religious systems. Pentecostal Christianity and Theravada Buddhism provide case studies.
Thomas A. Borchert
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780824866488
- eISBN:
- 9780824875657
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824866488.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
Educating Monks examines the education and training of novices and young Buddhist monks of a Tai minority group on China’s Southwest border. The Buddhists of this region, the Dai-lue, are Chinese ...
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Educating Monks examines the education and training of novices and young Buddhist monks of a Tai minority group on China’s Southwest border. The Buddhists of this region, the Dai-lue, are Chinese citizens but practice Theravada Buddhism and have long-standing ties to the Theravāda communities of Southeast Asia. The book shows how Dai-lue Buddhists train their young men in village temples, monastic junior high schools and in transnational monastic educational institutions, as well as the political context of redeveloping Buddhism during the Reform era in China. While the book focuses on the educational settings in which these young boys are trained, it also argues that in order to understand how a monk is made, it is necessary to examine local agenda, national politics and transnational Buddhist networks.Less
Educating Monks examines the education and training of novices and young Buddhist monks of a Tai minority group on China’s Southwest border. The Buddhists of this region, the Dai-lue, are Chinese citizens but practice Theravada Buddhism and have long-standing ties to the Theravāda communities of Southeast Asia. The book shows how Dai-lue Buddhists train their young men in village temples, monastic junior high schools and in transnational monastic educational institutions, as well as the political context of redeveloping Buddhism during the Reform era in China. While the book focuses on the educational settings in which these young boys are trained, it also argues that in order to understand how a monk is made, it is necessary to examine local agenda, national politics and transnational Buddhist networks.
J. L. Cassaniti
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781501707995
- eISBN:
- 9781501714177
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501707995.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
Remembering the Present examines the contemporary meanings, practices, and purposes of mindfulness in the countries of Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar (Burma), which together make up a large part of ...
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Remembering the Present examines the contemporary meanings, practices, and purposes of mindfulness in the countries of Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar (Burma), which together make up a large part of what is known as the “Pali imaginaire” that spawned today’s global mindfulness movement. Drawing from the experiences of over 600 monks, psychiatrists, students, and villagers in the Buddhist monasteries, hospitals, markets, and homes in the region, Remembering the Present shows how an attention to memory informs how people live today, and how mindfulness, as understood through its Buddhist Pāli-language term of sati, is intimately tied to local constructions of time, affect, power, emotion, and selfhood. With a focus on lived experience and the practical matters of people for whom mindfulness is a central part of everyday life, the book offers an engaged ethnographic investigation of what it means to ‘remember the present’ in the meditative practices, interpersonal worlds, and psychiatric hospitals for people in a region strongly influenced by Buddhist thought. The book will speak to an increasingly global network of psychological scientists, anthropologists, Buddhist studies scholars, and religious practitioners interested in contemporary Buddhist thought and the cultural phenomenology of religious experience.Less
Remembering the Present examines the contemporary meanings, practices, and purposes of mindfulness in the countries of Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar (Burma), which together make up a large part of what is known as the “Pali imaginaire” that spawned today’s global mindfulness movement. Drawing from the experiences of over 600 monks, psychiatrists, students, and villagers in the Buddhist monasteries, hospitals, markets, and homes in the region, Remembering the Present shows how an attention to memory informs how people live today, and how mindfulness, as understood through its Buddhist Pāli-language term of sati, is intimately tied to local constructions of time, affect, power, emotion, and selfhood. With a focus on lived experience and the practical matters of people for whom mindfulness is a central part of everyday life, the book offers an engaged ethnographic investigation of what it means to ‘remember the present’ in the meditative practices, interpersonal worlds, and psychiatric hospitals for people in a region strongly influenced by Buddhist thought. The book will speak to an increasingly global network of psychological scientists, anthropologists, Buddhist studies scholars, and religious practitioners interested in contemporary Buddhist thought and the cultural phenomenology of religious experience.
Alf Hiltebeitel
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195394238
- eISBN:
- 9780199897452
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195394238.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
Chapter 4 takes up Buddhist understandings of dhamma or dharma as they were developed in (or better, into) the three baskets of the early Buddhist canon, especially the Pāli canon of the Theravāda ...
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Chapter 4 takes up Buddhist understandings of dhamma or dharma as they were developed in (or better, into) the three baskets of the early Buddhist canon, especially the Pāli canon of the Theravāda tradition. It takes the three baskets' extant collections to have historical implications for understanding how Buddhist dharma was formulated over time. The first section treats Sūtra/Sutta Basket dharma, concentrating on what the Buddha is represented as saying in these “sermons,” particularly in dialogues with Brahmins, highlighting in this respect the Ambaṭṭha Sutta. The second section on Abhidharma/Abhidhamma concentrates on Buddhist “dharma theory,” with its notion of “dharmas plural.” It looks at “dharmas plural” first in Sutta Basket usages and then in scholastic usages by the Theravāda, the influential Sarvāstivādin sect, and the early Mahāyāna. The third part examines Vinaya for its usage of dharmas as “rules,” its emphasis on consensus with respect to recitation of the Prātimokṣa/Pātimokkha code, possible correlations between Vinaya and the so‐called “little republics,” and the treatment of Vinaya rules in the “Buddhist Genesis” narrative of the emergence of householder life, celibacy, and kingship recounted in the Aggañña Sutta.Less
Chapter 4 takes up Buddhist understandings of dhamma or dharma as they were developed in (or better, into) the three baskets of the early Buddhist canon, especially the Pāli canon of the Theravāda tradition. It takes the three baskets' extant collections to have historical implications for understanding how Buddhist dharma was formulated over time. The first section treats Sūtra/Sutta Basket dharma, concentrating on what the Buddha is represented as saying in these “sermons,” particularly in dialogues with Brahmins, highlighting in this respect the Ambaṭṭha Sutta. The second section on Abhidharma/Abhidhamma concentrates on Buddhist “dharma theory,” with its notion of “dharmas plural.” It looks at “dharmas plural” first in Sutta Basket usages and then in scholastic usages by the Theravāda, the influential Sarvāstivādin sect, and the early Mahāyāna. The third part examines Vinaya for its usage of dharmas as “rules,” its emphasis on consensus with respect to recitation of the Prātimokṣa/Pātimokkha code, possible correlations between Vinaya and the so‐called “little republics,” and the treatment of Vinaya rules in the “Buddhist Genesis” narrative of the emergence of householder life, celibacy, and kingship recounted in the Aggañña Sutta.
James-William Coleman
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195152418
- eISBN:
- 9780199849314
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195152418.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter discusses the differences among the three major branches of Western Buddhism and then turns to the common ground they share. These include Zen, Vajrayana, and Vipassana Buddhism. Zen was ...
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This chapter discusses the differences among the three major branches of Western Buddhism and then turns to the common ground they share. These include Zen, Vajrayana, and Vipassana Buddhism. Zen was the first style of Asian Buddhism to take root in North America and, not surprisingly, it is has the largest influence there. Vajrayana groups practice many complex and intricate rituals, but in contrast to the formality of most Zen practice their approach seems far more casual. The Vipassana movement's roots are in the Theravada Buddhism of Southern Asia, which is by far the world's most conservative branch of Buddhism—in both its steadfast adherence to the Buddha's original teachings and its strong emphasis on the importance of celibate monasticism. Yet Vipassana is more westernized and less traditional than either Zen or Vajrayana.Less
This chapter discusses the differences among the three major branches of Western Buddhism and then turns to the common ground they share. These include Zen, Vajrayana, and Vipassana Buddhism. Zen was the first style of Asian Buddhism to take root in North America and, not surprisingly, it is has the largest influence there. Vajrayana groups practice many complex and intricate rituals, but in contrast to the formality of most Zen practice their approach seems far more casual. The Vipassana movement's roots are in the Theravada Buddhism of Southern Asia, which is by far the world's most conservative branch of Buddhism—in both its steadfast adherence to the Buddha's original teachings and its strong emphasis on the importance of celibate monasticism. Yet Vipassana is more westernized and less traditional than either Zen or Vajrayana.
Asanga Tilakaratne
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824835965
- eISBN:
- 9780824871598
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824835965.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This concluding chapter discusses Theravada Buddhism in the globalized world of today. It particularly examines Western Theravada Buddhism, socially engaged Buddhism, and the movement of Theravada ...
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This concluding chapter discusses Theravada Buddhism in the globalized world of today. It particularly examines Western Theravada Buddhism, socially engaged Buddhism, and the movement of Theravada nuns. Each of the three subjects discussed in this chapter represents a situation in which tradition is challenged by modernity. Consequently, Theravada emerges as a religious example of attempts to avoid change. However, according to the teaching of the Buddha himself, change is one of the three characteristics of reality. All constructed phenomena are subject to it. It is very unlikely that the leaders of Theravada are unaware of this truth. Therefore, their insistence on perpetuating tradition has to be seen as resulting from other considerations.Less
This concluding chapter discusses Theravada Buddhism in the globalized world of today. It particularly examines Western Theravada Buddhism, socially engaged Buddhism, and the movement of Theravada nuns. Each of the three subjects discussed in this chapter represents a situation in which tradition is challenged by modernity. Consequently, Theravada emerges as a religious example of attempts to avoid change. However, according to the teaching of the Buddha himself, change is one of the three characteristics of reality. All constructed phenomena are subject to it. It is very unlikely that the leaders of Theravada are unaware of this truth. Therefore, their insistence on perpetuating tradition has to be seen as resulting from other considerations.
John Clifford Holt
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824833275
- eISBN:
- 9780824869991
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824833275.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This book contributes to the understanding of religious culture in Laos and Southeast Asia. This book brings this nation into focus. With its overview of Lao Buddhism and analysis of how shifting ...
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This book contributes to the understanding of religious culture in Laos and Southeast Asia. This book brings this nation into focus. With its overview of Lao Buddhism and analysis of how shifting political power has impacted Lao religious culture, the book offers an integrated account of the entwined political and religious history of Laos from the fourteenth century to the contemporary era. The book advances the argument that common Lao knowledge of important aspects of Theravada Buddhist thought and practice has been heavily conditioned by an indigenous religious culture dominated by the veneration of phi, spirits whose powers are thought to prevail over and within specific social and geographical domains. The enduring influence of traditional spirit cults in Lao culture and society has brought about major changes in how the figure of the Buddha and the powers associated with Buddhist temples and reliquaries have been understood by the Lao. Despite vigorous attempts by Buddhist royalty, French rationalists, and most recently by communist ideologues to eliminate the worship of phi, spirit cults have not been displaced; they continue to persist and show no signs of abating. Not only have the spirits resisted eradication, but they have withstood synthesis, subordination, and transformation by Buddhist political and ecclesiastical powers. Rather than reduce Buddhist religious culture to a set of simple commonalities, the book takes a comparative approach to elucidate what is unique about Lao Buddhism.Less
This book contributes to the understanding of religious culture in Laos and Southeast Asia. This book brings this nation into focus. With its overview of Lao Buddhism and analysis of how shifting political power has impacted Lao religious culture, the book offers an integrated account of the entwined political and religious history of Laos from the fourteenth century to the contemporary era. The book advances the argument that common Lao knowledge of important aspects of Theravada Buddhist thought and practice has been heavily conditioned by an indigenous religious culture dominated by the veneration of phi, spirits whose powers are thought to prevail over and within specific social and geographical domains. The enduring influence of traditional spirit cults in Lao culture and society has brought about major changes in how the figure of the Buddha and the powers associated with Buddhist temples and reliquaries have been understood by the Lao. Despite vigorous attempts by Buddhist royalty, French rationalists, and most recently by communist ideologues to eliminate the worship of phi, spirit cults have not been displaced; they continue to persist and show no signs of abating. Not only have the spirits resisted eradication, but they have withstood synthesis, subordination, and transformation by Buddhist political and ecclesiastical powers. Rather than reduce Buddhist religious culture to a set of simple commonalities, the book takes a comparative approach to elucidate what is unique about Lao Buddhism.
Reiko Ohnuma
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199915651
- eISBN:
- 9780199950058
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199915651.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter examines the use of breastfeeding as a metaphor for the compassionate deeds of buddhas and bodhisattvas. It argues that whereas the comparison between a mother’s breastfeeding and the ...
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This chapter examines the use of breastfeeding as a metaphor for the compassionate deeds of buddhas and bodhisattvas. It argues that whereas the comparison between a mother’s breastfeeding and the Buddha’s teaching of the dharma is largely absent in India, it did become prevalent in the medieval Theravāda tradition of Sri Lanka, where the Buddha was often described as a “mother” who feeds the “milk” of the dharma to the “suckling babies” of the Saṃgha. In India, on the other hand, the mother’s breastfeeding is more often compared to the bodhisattva’s “gift of the body,” or the many deeds of bodily self-sacrifice the bodhisattva engages in on behalf of others. In this way, the bodhisattva’s gift of his body is subtly rendered as “physical” and “female” (akin to a mother’s breastfeeding), whereas the Buddha’s teaching of the dharma is “spiritual” and “male”—and therefore the gift of a father.Less
This chapter examines the use of breastfeeding as a metaphor for the compassionate deeds of buddhas and bodhisattvas. It argues that whereas the comparison between a mother’s breastfeeding and the Buddha’s teaching of the dharma is largely absent in India, it did become prevalent in the medieval Theravāda tradition of Sri Lanka, where the Buddha was often described as a “mother” who feeds the “milk” of the dharma to the “suckling babies” of the Saṃgha. In India, on the other hand, the mother’s breastfeeding is more often compared to the bodhisattva’s “gift of the body,” or the many deeds of bodily self-sacrifice the bodhisattva engages in on behalf of others. In this way, the bodhisattva’s gift of his body is subtly rendered as “physical” and “female” (akin to a mother’s breastfeeding), whereas the Buddha’s teaching of the dharma is “spiritual” and “male”—and therefore the gift of a father.
Wendy Cadge
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226088990
- eISBN:
- 9780226089010
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226089010.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
Theravada is one of the three main branches of Buddhism. In Asia it is practiced widely in Thailand, Laos, Burma, Sri Lanka, and Cambodia. This ethnography opens a window onto two communities of ...
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Theravada is one of the three main branches of Buddhism. In Asia it is practiced widely in Thailand, Laos, Burma, Sri Lanka, and Cambodia. This ethnography opens a window onto two communities of Theravada Buddhists in contemporary America: one outside Philadelphia that is composed largely of Thai immigrants and one outside Boston that consists mainly of white converts. The book first provides a historical overview of Theravada Buddhism and considers its specific origins here in the United States. It then brings the findings to bear on issues of personal identity, immigration, cultural assimilation, and the nature of religion in everyday life. The work is a systematic comparison of the ways in which immigrant and convert Buddhists understand, practice, and adapt the Buddhist tradition in America. The men and women in this story speak directly to us in this work, both in their personal testimonials and as they meditate, pray, and practice Buddhism.Less
Theravada is one of the three main branches of Buddhism. In Asia it is practiced widely in Thailand, Laos, Burma, Sri Lanka, and Cambodia. This ethnography opens a window onto two communities of Theravada Buddhists in contemporary America: one outside Philadelphia that is composed largely of Thai immigrants and one outside Boston that consists mainly of white converts. The book first provides a historical overview of Theravada Buddhism and considers its specific origins here in the United States. It then brings the findings to bear on issues of personal identity, immigration, cultural assimilation, and the nature of religion in everyday life. The work is a systematic comparison of the ways in which immigrant and convert Buddhists understand, practice, and adapt the Buddhist tradition in America. The men and women in this story speak directly to us in this work, both in their personal testimonials and as they meditate, pray, and practice Buddhism.
Asanga Tilakaratne
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824835965
- eISBN:
- 9780824871598
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824835965.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This book brings to life the age-old religious tradition of Theravada (literally, “view of the elders”) Buddhism as it is found in ancient texts and understood and practiced today in South and ...
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This book brings to life the age-old religious tradition of Theravada (literally, “view of the elders”) Buddhism as it is found in ancient texts and understood and practiced today in South and Southeast Asia. Following a brief introduction to the life of the historical Buddha and the beginning of his mission, the book examines the Triple Gem (the Buddha, his teachings, and the community of monastic followers) and the basic teachings of the Buddha in the earliest available Pali sources. Basic Buddhist concepts such as dependent co-origination, the four noble truths, the three trainings, and karma and its result are discussed in non-technical language, along with the Buddha's message on social wellbeing. The author goes on to chronicle his own involvement as an observer–participant in “the Theravada world,” where he was born and raised. This is a rare first-hand account of living Theravada Buddhism not only in its traditional habitats, but also in the world at large at the dawn of the twenty-first century. The book concludes with a discussion on what is happening to Theravada today across the globe, covering issues such as diaspora Buddhism, women's Buddhism, and engaged Buddhism.Less
This book brings to life the age-old religious tradition of Theravada (literally, “view of the elders”) Buddhism as it is found in ancient texts and understood and practiced today in South and Southeast Asia. Following a brief introduction to the life of the historical Buddha and the beginning of his mission, the book examines the Triple Gem (the Buddha, his teachings, and the community of monastic followers) and the basic teachings of the Buddha in the earliest available Pali sources. Basic Buddhist concepts such as dependent co-origination, the four noble truths, the three trainings, and karma and its result are discussed in non-technical language, along with the Buddha's message on social wellbeing. The author goes on to chronicle his own involvement as an observer–participant in “the Theravada world,” where he was born and raised. This is a rare first-hand account of living Theravada Buddhism not only in its traditional habitats, but also in the world at large at the dawn of the twenty-first century. The book concludes with a discussion on what is happening to Theravada today across the globe, covering issues such as diaspora Buddhism, women's Buddhism, and engaged Buddhism.
Juliane Schober
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824833824
- eISBN:
- 9780824871635
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824833824.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
For centuries, Burmese have looked to the authority of their religious tradition, Theravada Buddhism, to negotiate social and political hierarchies. This book examines those moments in the modern ...
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For centuries, Burmese have looked to the authority of their religious tradition, Theravada Buddhism, to negotiate social and political hierarchies. This book examines those moments in the modern history of this Southeast Asian country when religion, culture, and politics converge to chart new directions. The book shows that Buddhist practice necessitates public validation within an economy of merit in which moral action earns future rewards. The intervention of colonial modernity in traditional Burmese Buddhist worldviews has created conjunctures at which public concerns critical to the nation's future are reinterpreted in light of a Buddhist paradigm of power. The book begins by focusing on the public role of Buddhist practice and the ways in which precolonial Buddhist hegemonies were negotiated. The discussion then traces the emergence of modern Buddhist communities through the colonial experience. The continuing discourse and cultural negotiation of these themes draw Buddhist communities into political arenas, either to legitimate political power or to resist it on moral grounds. The book concludes with an examination of the way in which Buddhist resistance in 2007, known in the West as the Saffron Revolution, was subjugated by military secularism and the transnational pressures of a global economy.Less
For centuries, Burmese have looked to the authority of their religious tradition, Theravada Buddhism, to negotiate social and political hierarchies. This book examines those moments in the modern history of this Southeast Asian country when religion, culture, and politics converge to chart new directions. The book shows that Buddhist practice necessitates public validation within an economy of merit in which moral action earns future rewards. The intervention of colonial modernity in traditional Burmese Buddhist worldviews has created conjunctures at which public concerns critical to the nation's future are reinterpreted in light of a Buddhist paradigm of power. The book begins by focusing on the public role of Buddhist practice and the ways in which precolonial Buddhist hegemonies were negotiated. The discussion then traces the emergence of modern Buddhist communities through the colonial experience. The continuing discourse and cultural negotiation of these themes draw Buddhist communities into political arenas, either to legitimate political power or to resist it on moral grounds. The book concludes with an examination of the way in which Buddhist resistance in 2007, known in the West as the Saffron Revolution, was subjugated by military secularism and the transnational pressures of a global economy.
Ian Harris
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824835613
- eISBN:
- 9780824871444
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824835613.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This concluding chapter returns to the developments in Buddhism during the PRK period and beyond in discussing the struggles of these Cambodian Buddhists in the face of changing sociopolitical ...
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This concluding chapter returns to the developments in Buddhism during the PRK period and beyond in discussing the struggles of these Cambodian Buddhists in the face of changing sociopolitical climes. As well, it considers the underlying themes present in all regimes since colonial times in their treatment of Buddhism. On a broader scale the chapter examines how the run-up to the first post-Democratic Kampuchea elections in May 1993 marked a turning point in Buddhist engagement with the international community. It then shifts the discussion inward to analyze Theravāda Buddhist perspectives on such a desperate period in its Cambodian history, remarking on the implications and consequences this holds for the Buddhists, and the actions they have taken in moving forward from their troubled past.Less
This concluding chapter returns to the developments in Buddhism during the PRK period and beyond in discussing the struggles of these Cambodian Buddhists in the face of changing sociopolitical climes. As well, it considers the underlying themes present in all regimes since colonial times in their treatment of Buddhism. On a broader scale the chapter examines how the run-up to the first post-Democratic Kampuchea elections in May 1993 marked a turning point in Buddhist engagement with the international community. It then shifts the discussion inward to analyze Theravāda Buddhist perspectives on such a desperate period in its Cambodian history, remarking on the implications and consequences this holds for the Buddhists, and the actions they have taken in moving forward from their troubled past.
Steven M. Cahn and Christine Vitrano
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231172400
- eISBN:
- 9780231539364
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231172400.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This chapter examines Ronald Dworkin's reflections on the good life. More specifically, it considers Dworkin's view that we should all seek to live well so as to achieve “successful” lives and avoid ...
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This chapter examines Ronald Dworkin's reflections on the good life. More specifically, it considers Dworkin's view that we should all seek to live well so as to achieve “successful” lives and avoid “wasted” ones. In his posthumously published Religion Without God, Dworkin argues that an atheist can be religious. While this claim would come as no surprise to adherents of Jainism, Theravada Buddhism, or Mimamsa Hinduism, he has in mind not these Asian religious traditions but a viewpoint common to many Western thinkers who deny theism yet recognize “nature's intrinsic beauty” and the “inescapable responsibility” of people to “live their lives well.” Dworkin considers such an outlook religious. Dworkin maintains that “there is, independently and objectively, a right way to live.” Yet he also recognizes “a responsibility of each person to decide for himself ethical questions about which kinds of lives are appropriate and which would be degrading for him”.Less
This chapter examines Ronald Dworkin's reflections on the good life. More specifically, it considers Dworkin's view that we should all seek to live well so as to achieve “successful” lives and avoid “wasted” ones. In his posthumously published Religion Without God, Dworkin argues that an atheist can be religious. While this claim would come as no surprise to adherents of Jainism, Theravada Buddhism, or Mimamsa Hinduism, he has in mind not these Asian religious traditions but a viewpoint common to many Western thinkers who deny theism yet recognize “nature's intrinsic beauty” and the “inescapable responsibility” of people to “live their lives well.” Dworkin considers such an outlook religious. Dworkin maintains that “there is, independently and objectively, a right way to live.” Yet he also recognizes “a responsibility of each person to decide for himself ethical questions about which kinds of lives are appropriate and which would be degrading for him”.
Maria Heim
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199331031
- eISBN:
- 9780199369386
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199331031.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This book treats systematically the ethical thought of the fifth-century CE Theravāda Buddhist thinker Buddhaghosa. It focuses on an important equivalence in Buddhist thought that identifies ...
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This book treats systematically the ethical thought of the fifth-century CE Theravāda Buddhist thinker Buddhaghosa. It focuses on an important equivalence in Buddhist thought that identifies intention (cetanā) as the principal component of action (karma), and how this idea is interpreted in the four main genres of Pāli Buddhist literature: Suttanta, Abhidhamma, Vinaya, and narrative. Attentive to Buddhaghosa’s commentarial guidance in learning how to read each of these genres, it explores canonical and commentarial discussions of intention, agency, and moral psychology. In contrast to many studies that assimilate Buddhist moral thinking to Western theories of ethics, the book attends to distinctively Buddhist ways of systematizing and theorizing its own categories—charting new territory in Buddhist ethics and reading Buddhist commentary.Less
This book treats systematically the ethical thought of the fifth-century CE Theravāda Buddhist thinker Buddhaghosa. It focuses on an important equivalence in Buddhist thought that identifies intention (cetanā) as the principal component of action (karma), and how this idea is interpreted in the four main genres of Pāli Buddhist literature: Suttanta, Abhidhamma, Vinaya, and narrative. Attentive to Buddhaghosa’s commentarial guidance in learning how to read each of these genres, it explores canonical and commentarial discussions of intention, agency, and moral psychology. In contrast to many studies that assimilate Buddhist moral thinking to Western theories of ethics, the book attends to distinctively Buddhist ways of systematizing and theorizing its own categories—charting new territory in Buddhist ethics and reading Buddhist commentary.
Asanga Tilakaratne
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824835965
- eISBN:
- 9780824871598
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824835965.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter examines karma and its consequences. The belief in karma and its results has become a central component in the Theravada belief system. Although karma is not supposed to be understood as ...
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This chapter examines karma and its consequences. The belief in karma and its results has become a central component in the Theravada belief system. Although karma is not supposed to be understood as involving fatalism or determinism, for many Buddhists, it simply provides the ultimate explanation for otherwise inexplicable occurrences, particularly for those unfortunate events that one is bound to encounter in one's daily life. Having exhausted all other explanatory resources at one's disposal, one tends to turn to the belief in karma as a last resort. This, obviously, is an unintended result of the original teachings about karma. Nonetheless, it is now perceived as a fact in the life of the average Theravada Buddhist of today.Less
This chapter examines karma and its consequences. The belief in karma and its results has become a central component in the Theravada belief system. Although karma is not supposed to be understood as involving fatalism or determinism, for many Buddhists, it simply provides the ultimate explanation for otherwise inexplicable occurrences, particularly for those unfortunate events that one is bound to encounter in one's daily life. Having exhausted all other explanatory resources at one's disposal, one tends to turn to the belief in karma as a last resort. This, obviously, is an unintended result of the original teachings about karma. Nonetheless, it is now perceived as a fact in the life of the average Theravada Buddhist of today.
