Second edition. Donald K. Swearer is Distinguished Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies and Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions at the Harvard Divinity School. He is the author or editor of several books, including Becoming the Buddha: The Ritual of Image Consecration in Thailand.
摘要
This book is a remarkable synthesis and empathetic interpretation of Buddhism in Southeast Asia. No other single book matches its depth and breadth, or its balance between scholarly interpretation and sensitive first person portrayal. The author focuses his analysis on Theravada Buddhism in Southeast Asia as a dynamic, complex system of thought and practice imbedded in the respective cultures, societies, and histories of Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka. The book discusses three distinct but interrelated aspects of this system: the popular tradition in terms of paradigms of ideal action, rituals, festivals, and rites of passage; Buddhism as civic religion in terms of King Asoka as the paradigmatic Buddhist monarch, cosmology and kingship, and Buddhism and the modern nation state; and modern transformations of the tradition in terms of the changing roles of the monk and the laity, modern reform movements, and Buddhism in the West.
目次
Preface to the Second Edition Acknowledgments Introduction PART I. THE POPULAR TRADITION Ideal Action Ritual Occasions, Merit, and the Appropriation of Power Festivals Rites of Passage PART II. BUDDHISM AND THE STATE Asoka, the Exemplary Buddhist Ruler Kings and Cosmology The Cosmological Scheme of the Three Worlds The Buddha as Cosmocrator Modern Nationalism and Buddhism PART III. BUDDHISM AND MODERNIZATION The Changing Role of the Monk Reforming the Tradition The Changing Role of the Laity Women and Buddhism Buddhism and the West Postscript Appendix 1 Sigalaka Sutta: Code of Lay Ethics Appendix 2 Borobudur Notes Glossary Bibliography Index
