The Buddhist World of Southeast Asia (Suny Series in Religion) - Softcover

Swearer, Donald K

Softcover

ISBN 10: 079142460X ISBN 13: 9780791424605

Publisher: State University of New York Press, 1995

Synopsis

This is a synthesis and interpretation of Buddhism in Southeast Asia. No other book matches its depth and breadth or its balance of scholarly interpretation and readable personal portrayal.

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.

About this title

From the Back Cover

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, 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 civil 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.

About the Author

Donald K. Swearer is Professor of Religion at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.

About this edition

• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 079142460X
• ISBN 13: 9780791424605
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272