The Immortals : Faces of the Incredible in Buddhist Burma / Guillaume Rozenberg; edition by George J. Tanabe.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rozenberg, Guillaume, Author.

Contributor:

Keeler, Ward.

Tanabe, George J., Editor.

De Gruyter.

Series:

Topics in Contemporary Buddhism ; 19

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Anthropology of religion--Burma.

Anthropology of religion.

Buddhist cults--Burma.

Buddhist cults.

Weikza.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (384 pages) : 1 chart, 1 line drawing

Contained In:

De Gruyter Plus.

Place of Publication:

Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press, [2015]

Language Note:

In English.

System Details:

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

text file PDF

Summary:

In 1952 a twenty-six-year-old man living in a village in Central Burma was possessed by weikza-humans with extraordinary powers, including immortality. Key figures in Burmese Buddhism, weikza do not die but live on in an invisible realm. From there they re-enter the world through possession to care for people's temporal and spiritual needs while protecting and propagating Buddhism. A cult quickly formed around the young peasant, the chosen medium for four weikza ranging in age from 150 to 1000 years. In addition, these weikza appeared regularly in the flesh. The Immortals plunges us into the midst of this cult, which continues to attract followers from all over the country who seek to pay homage to the weikza, receive their teaching, and benefit from their power.The cult of the four weikza raises a number of classic anthropological issues, particularly for the anthropology of religion: the nature of the supernatural and of belief; the relations among religion, magic, and science; the experience of possession. It also provides a window on contemporary Burmese society. To contemplate both, the author adopts an unconventional approach, which itself reflects representation in anthropology, or, more precisely, how anthropology uses description and the interpretations description occasions to make sense of what it studies. The writing makes clear both the indigenous take on reality and the work of anthropological understanding as it is being elaborated, along with the ties that connect the latter to the former. Mixing narration of the incredible with reflection on the forms religious experience takes, The Immortals offers us a way to accompany the author into the field and to grasp-to take up and make our own-the anthropologist's interpretations and the realities to which they pertain.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Series Editor's Preface

Translator's Preface

Acknowledgments

Note on the English Edition

A Word to the Reader

Dramatis Personae

1. From Belief to Believing

2. Being a Disciple, Fashioning a Cult

3. The Possessed

4. In Quest of Invulnerability

5. Trial by Fire

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 02. Mrz 2022)

ISBN:

9780824854881

OCLC:

905734269

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.