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History and Gratitude in Theravada Buddhism |
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Author |
Berkwitz, Stephen C.
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Source |
Journal of the American Academy of Religion
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Volume | v.71 n.3 |
Date | 2003.09 |
Pages | 579 - 604 |
Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Publisher Url |
http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/
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Location | Oxford, UK [牛津, 英國] |
Content type | 期刊論文=Journal Article |
Language | 英文=English |
Keyword | 南傳佛教史=Theravadin Buddhist History; gratitude; Buddha's relics |
Abstract | An inspection of several Buddhist histories (or vamsas) written in the Sinhala language in medieval Sri Lanka encourages us to reevaluate the use of emotions in religious contexts and why people write narratives of the past. This article suggests that the attention given to emotions such as gratitude in Theravada Buddhist vamsas signals that historical narratives were composed and disseminated to orient the emotional lives of devotees toward the past and to give rise to moral communities in the present. Such texts led "virtuous persons" to understand themselves and their capacity to attain desired religious goals as being enabled by people and events from the past. The Sinhala vamsas that describe how the Buddha's relics were brought to Sri Lanka illustrate that emotions can be cultural products that are instilled by historical narratives to accomplish a variety of ethical,social,and soteriological ends. |
Table of contents | NARRATIVE AND EMOTIONS 583 THE EFFECTS OF GRATITUDE 588 THE OBLIGATIONS OF BUDDHIST HISTORIES 592 CONSTRUCTING A MORAL COMMUNITY 597
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ISSN | 00027189 (P); 14774585 (E) |
Hits | 493 |
Created date | 2003.10.17
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Modified date | 2020.01.10 |

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