This essay is a study of Mòpyar Gaing in Myanmar, an unorthodox Buddhist sect that became prominent in the 1980s and U Nyana its founder monk gained notoriety for propagating the concept of ‘this-worldly karma’, which led to his imprisonment for almost 20 years. The uncertainty that followed Myanmar’s political reform and social trans-formation in the last decade has contributed to intra-communal tensions and the rise of Buddhist nationalism. Unorthodox religious viewpoints regarded as threatening to law and order have been de-authenticated and discredited. Although the Myanmar penal code was not used to regulate religious activities, rebuilding of law and order in society has become a priority for the state, increasingly bound up with a pronounced religious nationalism. Meanwhile, the state Vinicchaya court, established with a broad aim of purifying the sangha, have come to function as an official channel to penalize monastic transgressions, through which scholarly monks eliminate heretical ideas and impose their notions of Theravada Buddhist orthodoxy.
目次
Abstract 1 1. INTRODUCTION 2 2. MÒPYAR GAING: HOW DID IT START? 6 3. MICCHĀ-DITTHI: CONTESTING REBIRTH 10 4. U NYANA’S VIEWPOINTS 13 5. MODERNIST BUDDHISM OR MISINTERPRETATION OF THE DOCTRINE 16 6. WHO WERE/ARE U NYANA’S FOLLOWERS? 18 7. PERFORMANCE-ORIENTED CULTURE AND DOMINANCE OF PARIYATTI BUDDHIST MONKS 23 8. THE MONASTIC JURIDICIARY SYSTEM IN MYANMAR 26 9. VINICCHAYA AND THE IMPOSITION OF LAW AND ORDER 28 10. WHAT HAS HAPPENED SINCE? 31 11. CONCLUDING REMARKS 33 Glossary (Romanized version for Pali terms) 35 Bibliography 36
