Becoming the Buddha The Ritual of Image Consecration in Thailand

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Donald K. Swearer.

Series:

Buddhisms: A Princeton University Press Series ; 13

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Abhiṣeka (Buddhist rite).

Buddhism--Thailand--Rituals.

Buddhism.

Theravāda Buddhism--Rituals--History.

Theravāda Buddhism.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (354 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, 2004.

Summary:

Becoming the Buddha is the first book-length study of a key ritual of Buddhist practice in Asia: the consecration of a Buddha image or "new Buddha," a ceremony by which the Buddha becomes present or alive. Through a richly detailed, accessible exploration of this ritual in northern Thailand, an exploration that stands apart from standard text-based or anthropological approaches, Donald Swearer makes a major contribution to our understanding of the Buddha image, its role in Buddhist devotional life, and its relationship to the veneration of Buddha relics. Blending ethnography, analysis, and Buddhist texts related to this mimetic reenactment of the night of the Buddha's enlightenment, he demonstrates that the image becomes the Buddha's surrogate by being invested with the Buddha's story and charged with the extraordinary power of Buddhahood. The process by which this transformation occurs through chant, sermon, meditation, and the presence of charismatic monks is at the heart of this book. Known as "opening the eyes of the Buddha," image consecration traditions throughout Buddhist Asia share much in common. Within the cultural context of northern Thailand, Becoming the Buddha illuminates scriptural accounts of the making of the first Buddha image; looks at debates over the ritual's historical origin, at Buddhological insights achieved, and at the hermeneutics of absence and presence; and provides a thematic comparison of several Buddhist traditions.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PREFACE

NOTE AND ABBREVIATIONS

PART I

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1. BUDDHA AND BUDDHA IMAGE

CHAPTER 2. MEETING THE BUDDHA: TEMPLE, IMAGE, AND RELIC

CHAPTER 3. CONSTRUCTING A BUDDHA IMAGE

PART II

CHAPTER 4. THE RITUAL: OPENING THE EYES OF THE BUDDHA

CHAPTER 5. INSTRUCTING THE IMAGE

CHAPTER 6. EMPOWERING THE IMAGE

PART III

CHAPTER 7. THE BODY OF THE BUDDHA: POPULAR BUDDHISM

CHAPTER 8. CONSECRATION TRADITIONS IN OTHER BUDDHIST CULTURES: REASSESSING THE BUDDHABHISEKA

EPILOGUE: IF YOU MEET THE BUDDHA, KILL HIM!

NOTES

GLOSSARY OF SELECTED PĀLI AND THAI TERMS

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780691216027

0691216029

OCLC:

1176566432