BUDDHISM AND ETHNIC CONFLICT IN SRI LANKA . By Patrick Grant . Albany : The State University of New York Press , 2009 . Pp . ix +146 . Cloth, $60.00; paper, $23.95 .
摘要
This is a very different book than I what I expected when I read the title. There have been a number of studies on Buddhism and violence in Sri Lanka. Tambiah, Gombrich, Obeyesekere, Bartholomeusz, Berkwitz, Rathana, Kapferer, Spencer, and many others have written extensively on this subject. Grant's book, though, offers both the insight and naiveté of nonexpert. His insight comes from his career spent studying (and growing up in) the violence of Northern Ireland and researching it in detail. His naiveté comes from analyzing the conflict intellectually and ethically through the study of the writings of Anagarika Dharmapala, Walpola Rahula, and J. R. Jayewardene in comparison to what he sees as normative Buddhist ethics. In this way, this book is illuminating for those interested in learning more about theoretical approaches to religion and violence. Grant discusses extensively the ideas of “moral inversion” and the dangers of “regressive inversion.” He also provides a basic introduction to Buddhist ethics. The problem is that he does not look at the conflict from the perspective of those involved (local monastic and lay sermon‐givers, writers of vernacular religious tracts, lay people and monastics caught in the conflict in different parts of Sri Lanka). His is an intellectual exercise and one not conversant with the debates “on the ground.” However, it offers a brief and clear introduction to three major figures in modern Buddhist intellectual history and their creative use of Buddhist texts, as well as a clear overview of the history of the conflict for nonexperts.
