Burmese Buddhist scholarship

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Description: "This article analyzes the cult of the monk Thamanya Sayadaw and examines the process by which a community-based village-dwelling monk became a forest-dwelling monk, and then a nationally prominent cult figure. Focusing on the social dynamics which led to the community becoming a major center for pilgrimage, I describe how a large-scale enterprise has emerged around this monk. The materialization of such power suggests that the cult of Thamanya Sayadaw emerged out of a dialectic transaction between the donation of religious land, and a popular belief in the prosperity of the followers as the realization of the material manifestation of the power of saints. I also argue that we need to pay attention to the participation of his followers as well as the practices of the monk himself, and also distinguish two types of participation: the participation of the residents who have settled on this land, and that of pilgrims... keywords: cult of a saint--materialization of power--engaged Buddhism-- pilgrimage--religious land--forest-dwelling
Creator/author: Keiko Tosa
Source/publisher: "Asian Ethnology" Volume 68, Number 2, 2009
2009-09-22
Date of entry/update: 2010-12-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "How have Buddhist nuns in Myanmar engaged themselves in monastic relationships while being officially excluded from the monastic institution (the Sangha) since the female order disappeared? This article examines the term "nuns" and monastic status through the way it is embodied in everyday interactions. I begin by presenting the main characteristics of the ambivalent status of Buddhist nuns and the methodological problem this raises -- an analysis of donation interactions between nuns and lay donors indicates the different paths that lead to monastic identification. I then focus on the various relationships in which nuns are engaged in Myanmar, with a description of the combination of relationships between nuns, monks, and lay donors that highlights the monastic system as a network of dynamic relationships in which monastic social identity and its processes of legitimation can take place... keywords: Theravada Buddhism--female monasticism--donation interactions--monastic relational system
Creator/author: Laure Carbonnel
Source/publisher: Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture: "Asian Ethnology" Volume 68, Number 2, 2009
2009-09-22
Date of entry/update: 2010-12-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "THE INITIAL inspiration for this collaboration came from the experience garnered at an international conference on Burmese studies in 2002, titled "Burma-Myanmar Research and Its Future." (1) It was convened to reflect on social science and humanities-based scholarship on Myanmar in the past half century, which had started in earnest in the 1940s, and culminated in the first wave of publications based on empirical research in the 1950s and 1960s. (2) At the start of the millennium, the conference acknowledged a new era in engaging in constructive discussion amongst scholars in many areas of Burmese-Myanmar studies. Some of the articles in this special issue were originally presented as part of a panel on religion convened by the guest editors of this issue, Hiroko Kawanami and Benedicte Brac de la Perriere, whilst others were written anew to fit the theme of power, authority, and contested hegemony in the field of Burmese-Myanmar religion. Although most approaches are generally phenomenological or anthropological, some have undertaken analysis from a historical perspective or a hermeneutical approach to enrich the discussion. What must also be highlighted here is that the scope of this issue was restricted to those concerned primarily with social phenomena that have relevance to Buddhism, it being the religion of the majority population in Myanmar. Other religions such as Islam and Hinduism that are also adhered to by Myanmar people of other ethnic origins, as well as Christianity and indigenous religions practiced by minority groups, were left out here. (3)....."
Creator/author: Hiroko Kawanami
Source/publisher: "Asian Ethnology" Volume 68, Number 2, 2009
2009-09-22
Date of entry/update: 2010-12-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "This article presents an apocryphal Buddhist text that contains a speech of the Buddha listing the relics linked to his former existences in Arakan, as well as prophecies regarding the historical succession of kings. Looking at various aspects such as the geographical distribution of the relics and the typically Buddhist representation of kingship, the author argues that the text can best be understood in the eighteenth-century context of the political decline of the Arakanese kingdom. As this article shows, apocryphal texts have authority because they build on traditional concepts and beliefs and are still a poorlyexploited source of historical enquiry."... keywords: Arakanese Buddhism--history of Arakan--Buddhist relics-- apocryphal Buddhist texts--prophetical literature
Creator/author: Jacques P. Leider
Source/publisher: "Asian Ethnology" Volume 68, Number 2, 2009, 333-364
2009-09-22
Date of entry/update: 2010-12-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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