Download or read book Buddhism and the Spirit Cults in North East Thailand written by S. J. Tambiah and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1975-09-04 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dr Tambiah describes the religious practices and beliefs of the people of a remote village in north-east Thailand, relating them to the wider context of the civilization in which they are embedded, and examining the relationship of the religious practices of the villagers to the classical Buddhist tradition. Because they have based their studies on the Sanskrit and Pali literature, Western observers have tended to dismiss much of the popular manifestation of Buddhism as debased. Dr Tambiah demonstrates that this judgement is misleading, and emphasizes that the contemporary village religion that he describes manifests continuities as well as transformations with respect to the classical literary tradition. The village religion is described primarily through ritual.
Download or read book Spirits of the Place written by John Clifford Holt and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2009-07-29 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spirits of the Place is a rare and timely contribution to our understanding of religious culture in Laos and Southeast Asia. Most often studied as a part of Thai, Vietnamese, or Khmer history, Laos remains a terra incognita to most Westerners—and to many of the people living throughout Asia as well. John Holt’s new book brings this fascinating nation into focus. With its overview of Lao Buddhism and analysis of how shifting political power—from royalty to democracy to communism—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. Holt advances the provocative 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—indeed how all ritual spaces and times—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, Holt takes a comparative approach, using his nearly thirty years’ experience with Sri Lanka to elucidate what is unique about Lao Buddhism. This stimulating book invites students in the fields of the history of religion and Buddhist and Southeast Asian studies to take a fresh look at prevailing assumptions and perhaps reconsider the place of Buddhism in Laos and Southeast Asia.
Download or read book Buddhism and the Spirit Cults in North East Thailand written by Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah and published by . This book was released on 1970 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Buddhism and the spirit cults in north east Thailand written by Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah and published by . This book was released on 1980 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Development Monks in Northeast Thailand written by Phinit Lāpthanānon and published by Apollo Books. This book was released on 2012 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study examines the role of Buddhist monks as development agents in rural Thailand. Through 20 years of field studies, and with a focus on Northeast Thailand (which is known as Isan and long classified as the poorest region of Thailand), author Pinit Lapthananon investigates development in contemporary Thailand. Although development monks form a small percentage of the monks in Isan, or in Thailand as a whole, their actions have been highly visible in Thai society for more than five decades, and they have helped to maintain a balance between modernization and traditional culture. The book examines the role of Buddhism, investigates religious and socioeconomic activities, and probes the changing approach to development - with an emphasis on economic growth to support both social and human development, self-sufficiency, community participation and empowerment, and the revitalization of traditional knowledge and folk wisdom. The Role of Development Monks in Northeast Thailand will help in understanding the process of development and social change in Isan society. (Series: Kyoto Area Studies on Asia - Vol. 22)
Download or read book Buddhism and Postmodern Imaginings in Thailand written by Jim Taylor and published by Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. This book was released on 2008 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents a rethink on the significance of Thai Buddhism in an increasingly complex and changing post-modern urban context, especially following the financial crisis of 1997. Defining the cultural nature of Thai 'urbanity'; the implications for local/global flows, interactions and emergent social formations, James Taylor opens up new possibilities in understanding the specificities of everyday urban life as this relates to perceptions, conceptions and lived experiences of religiosity. Changes in the centre are also reverberating in the remaining forests and the monastic tradition of forest-dwelling which has sourced most of the nation's modern saints. The text is based on ethnography taking into account the rich variety of everyday practices in a mélange of the religious. In Thailand, Buddhism is so intimately interconnected with national identity and social, economic and ethno-political concerns as to be inseparable. Taylor argues here that in recent years there has been a marked reformulation of important conventional cosmologies through new and challenging Buddhist ideas and practices. These influences and changes are as much located outside as inside the Buddhist temples/monasteries.
Download or read book Religion in Relation written by Ivan Strenski and published by Univ of South Carolina Press. This book was released on 1993 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Buddhism and Postmodern Imaginings in Thailand written by James Taylor and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-12-05 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents a rethink on the significance of Thai Buddhism in an increasingly complex and changing post-modern urban context, especially following the financial crisis of 1997. Defining the cultural nature of Thai ’urbanity’; the implications for local/global flows, interactions and emergent social formations, James Taylor opens up new possibilities in understanding the specificities of everyday urban life as this relates to perceptions, conceptions and lived experiences of religiosity. Changes in the centre are also reverberating in the remaining forests and the monastic tradition of forest-dwelling which has sourced most of the nation’s modern saints. The text is based on ethnography taking into account the rich variety of everyday practices in a mélange of the religious. In Thailand, Buddhism is so intimately interconnected with national identity and social, economic and ethno-political concerns as to be inseparable. Taylor argues here that in recent years there has been a marked reformulation of important conventional cosmologies through new and challenging Buddhist ideas and practices. These influences and changes are as much located outside as inside the Buddhist temples/monasteries.
Download or read book Childbirth and Tradition in Northeast Thailand written by Anders Poulsen and published by NIAS Press. This book was released on 2007 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This beautifully illustrated volume offers a rare study of Isan-Thai customs and beliefs associated with pregnancy and birth and how they have changed over almost half a century. Using a psychological and socio-therapeutic framework, Anders Poulsen discusses the function of various birth rites while giving an unmatched description of all traditions specifically connected to pregnancy and birth. He includes an interesting description of the tradition of confinement by fire (yuu fai) and documents that it is still widely practiced, contrary to what has been reported. He also puts forward a theory of why some traditions maintain their importance while others fade away. The findings of this study are supported by the transcription in Isan (and translated in to English) of the ritual texts that are used in these rites.
Download or read book The Golden Peninsula written by Charles F. Keyes and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 1994-12-01 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Golden Peninsula: Culture and Adaptation in Mainland Southeast Asia has long been recognized as the best all-around introduction to the diverse cultural traditions found in Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. First published in 1977, it continues to offer useful insights to students and travelers to the region. In five well-defined and succinct chapters, Professor Keyes, a leading specialist in the field, offers a jargon-free, copiously annotated synthesis of knowledge about the cultural history of tribal, Theravada Buddhist, and Vietnamese societies. He combines analysis of traditional cultural practices with examination of cultural conflict in the colonial and post-colonial periods. The book remains unique in providing a detailed examination of urban life as well as of life in rural communities.
Download or read book Family Life in a Northern Thai Village written by Sulamith Heins Potter and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2023-11-10 with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Potter's 'humanistic narrative' probes family social structure and social organization in Chiangmai, a Northern Thai village .... a solid, informative, and very interesting and alive picture."--Library Journal "Gives us a rare inside view of daily life in a northern Thai village . . . The reader gets a feeling of life, pleasure,jealously,anger, pain, and death that is seldom discussed in the anthropological literature."--Asia "Rejecting the traditional 'loosely structured' theory of the Thai family, Potter suggests a system that is female--centered with structurally significant consanguineal ties between women rather than men. This alternative not only explains the data presented but offers a new way of looking at comparative kinship." --Intercom "The dynamic interplay between the structural dominance of women and the ideological dominance of men is vividly brought out, challenging earlier, and possibly male-biased, perspectives on Northern Thai family structure."--Population and Development Review "Potter succeeds in presenting ethnographic material in a lively, humanistically oriented manner. By the time we have encountered three generations of Plenitudes at home in their courtyard . . . we know them as individuals as we as representatives of an exotic culture. . . . Potter presents individual portraits alongside this vivid picture of family and social structure, communal and individual economic activity, political factionalism, and religious observance . . . this book stands as a challenge to cross-cultural psychology."--Contemporary Psychology "Dr. Potter's study is highly readable and will be of interest to the general public as well as to scholars."--Asian Student
Download or read book Of Beggars and Buddhas written by Katherine A. Bowie and published by University of Wisconsin Pres. This book was released on 2017-02-21 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An exploration of subversive, ribald variations of the most important story in Theravada Buddhism.
Download or read book Dharma Rain written by Stephanie Kaza and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2000-02-08 with total page 506 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive collection of classic texts, contemporary interpretations, guidelines for activists, issue-specific information, and materials for environmentally-oriented religious practice. Sources and contributors include Basho, the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Gary Snyder, Chögyam Trungpa, Gretel Ehrlich, Peter Mathiessen, Helen Tworkov (editor of Tricycle), and Philip Glass.
Download or read book Spirit Possession in Buddhist Southeast Asia written by Bénédicte Brac de la Perrière and published by NIAS Press. This book was released on 2022-03-31 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In dramatic contrast to the reported growing influence of doctrinal and fundamentalist forms of religion in some parts of Southeast Asia, the predominantly Buddhist societies of the region are witnessing an upsurge of spirit possession cults and diverse forms of magical ritual. This is found in many social strata, including the urban poor, rising middle classes and elite groups, and across the different political systems of Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. This volume reveals both the central historical place of spirit possession rituals in the Buddhist cultures of mainland Southeast Asia and their important contemporary roles to enhance prosperity and protection. This book examines the increasing prominence of spirit mediumship and divination across the region by exploring the interplay of neoliberal capitalism, visual media, the network cultures of the Internet, and the politics of cultural heritage and identity. It advances beyond critiques of the “secularization” and “disenchantment” theses to explore the processes of modernity that are actively producing magical worldviews and stimulating the rise of spirit cults. As such, it not only challenges the assumptions of modernization theory but demonstrates that the cults in question are novel ritual forms that emerge out of inherently modern conditions.
Download or read book Death and Religion in a Changing World written by Kathleen Garces-Foley and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-12-18 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive study of the intersection of death and religion offers a unique look at how religious people approach death in the twenty-first century. Previous scholarship has largely focused on traditional beliefs and paid little attention to how religious traditions evolve in relation to their changing social context. Employing a sociological approach, "Death and Religion in a Changing World" describes how people from a wide variety of faiths draw on and adapt traditional beliefs and practices as they deal with death in modern societies. The book includes coverage of newly emerging social and religious phenomena that are only just beginning to be analyzed by religion scholars, such as public shrines, the role of the media, spiritual bereavement groups, and the use of the Internet in death practices.
Download or read book Routledge Handbook of Religions in Asia written by Bryan S. Turner and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-09-25 with total page 614 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Routledge Handbook of Religions in Asia provides a contemporary and comprehensive overview of religion in contemporary Asia. Compiled and introduced by Bryan S. Turner and Oscar Salemink, the Handbook contains specially written chapters by experts in their respective fields. The wide-ranging introduction discusses issues surrounding Orientalism and the historical development of the discipline of Religious Studies. It conveys how there have been many centuries of interaction between different religious traditions in Asia and discusses the problem of world religions and the range of concepts, such as high and low traditions, folk and formal religions, popular and orthodox developments. Individual chapters are presented in the following five sections: Asian Origins: religious formations Missions, States and Religious Competition Reform Movements and Modernity Popular Religions Religion and Globalization: social dimensions Striking a balance between offering basic information about religious cultures in Asia and addressing the complexity of employing a western terminology in societies with radically different traditions, this advanced level reference work will be essential reading for students, researchers and scholars of Asian Religions, Sociology, Anthropology, Asian Studies and Religious Studies.
Download or read book Reflecting on Reflexivity written by T. M. S. (Terry) Evens and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2016-03-01 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Humanness supposes innate and profound reflexivity. This volume approaches the concept of reflexivity on two different yet related analytical planes. Whether implicitly or explicitly, both planes of thought bear critically on reflexivity in relation to the nature of selfhood and the very idea of the autonomous individual, ethics, and humanness, science as such and social science, ontological dualism and fundamental ambiguity. On the one plane, a collection of original and innovative ethnographically based essays is offered, each of which is devoted to ways in which reflexivity plays a fundamental role in human social life and the study of it; on the other—anthropo-philosophical and developed in the volume’s Preface, Introduction, and Postscript—it is argued that reflexivity distinguishes—definitively, albeit relatively—the being and becoming of the human.
