Sons of the Buddha : continuities and ruptures in a Burmese monastic tradition / Jason A. Carbine.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Carbine, Jason A., 1971-

Series:

Religion and society (Hague, Netherlands) ; 50.

Religion and society, 1437-5370 ; 50

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Monastic and religious life (Buddhism)--Burma.

Monastic and religious life (Buddhism).

Religion and sociology--Burma.

Religion and sociology.

Monastic and religious life (Buddhism)--Burma--History.

Shwegyin Nikāya.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (268 p.)

Place of Publication:

New York : Walter de Gruyter, 2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Intended as a methodological and theoretical contribution to the study of religion and society, this book examines Buddhist monasticism in Myanmar. The book focuses on the Shwegyin, one of the most important but least understood monastic groups in the country. Analyzing the group as a tradition constructed around ideas of continuity and disruption/rupture, the study illuminates key aspects of monastic and wider Burmese Buddhist thought and practice, and ultimately argues for the distinctiveness of elements of that thought and practice in comparison to the Buddhist cultures of Sri Lanka and Laos.After situating the Shwegyin within the history of Buddhist monasticism more generally, and within the vicissitudes of modern Burmese political history, the book proceeds along two scholarly avenues. It adopts an interdisciplinary method with attention to biographical, administrative, doctrinal, and ethnographic evidence. Theoretically, the book engages scholarly discussion about "traditions" and their "traditionalisms" and advances a specific type of interpretive approach built on bringing the viewpoints and practices of the Shwegyin into conversation with the enterprise of understanding larger historical and cultural patterns in the Buddhist societies of South and Southeast Asia.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Acknowledgements

Contents

Abbreviations

Figures and Tables

A Note on the Name Myanmar

Conventions for Transliterations, etc.

Map of Myanmar

Introduction: From the kyamuni Buddha to the Shwegyin Tradition

Chapter One: The Shwegyin Tradition and Its Traditionalism

Chapter Two: Institutional Moorings

Chapter Three: Classic Ritual Permutations

Chapter Four: Existential Ruminations

Conclusion: Continuities and Ruptures

Epilogue: A Comment on Continuity and Rupture, from Afar

Bibliography

Index of Authors

Index of Burmese Terms

Index of Pali and Sanskrit Terms

Index of Subjects

Notes:

Significant revision of the author's thesis (doctoral--University of Chicago, 2004) under title: An Ethic of Continuity: Shwegyin monks and the Sasana in Contemporary Burma/Myanmar.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [223]-235) and indexes.

ISBN:

9786613166715

9781283166713

1283166712

9783110254105

3110254107

OCLC:

747006750