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Nirvana for Sale?: Buddhism, Wealth, and the Dhammakaya Temple in Contemporary Thailand
What is the proper relationship between religion and prosperity? Rachelle M. Scott looks at this issue in a Thai Buddhist context, asking when the relationship between Buddhist piety and wealth is viewed in favorable terms and when it is viewed in terms of conflict and tension. Scott focuses on the Dhammakāya Temple, an organization that has placed traditional Theravāda practices, such as meditation and merit-making, within a modernist framework that encourages personal and social prosperity. The Temple's construction of a massive religious monument in the late 1990s embodied this message, but also sparked criticism of the Temple's wealth and fund-raising techniques and engendered debates over authentic Buddhism and religious authority. Scott situates this controversy within the context of postmodern Thailand and the Asian economic crisis when reevaluations of wealth, global capitalism, and "Asian values" occupied a preeminent place in Thai public discourse.
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Nirvana for Sale?: Buddhism, Wealth, and the Dhammakaya Temple in Contemporary Thailand
What is the proper relationship between religion and prosperity? Rachelle M. Scott looks at this issue in a Thai Buddhist context, asking when the relationship between Buddhist piety and wealth is viewed in favorable terms and when it is viewed in terms of conflict and tension. Scott focuses on the Dhammakāya Temple, an organization that has placed traditional Theravāda practices, such as meditation and merit-making, within a modernist framework that encourages personal and social prosperity. The Temple's construction of a massive religious monument in the late 1990s embodied this message, but also sparked criticism of the Temple's wealth and fund-raising techniques and engendered debates over authentic Buddhism and religious authority. Scott situates this controversy within the context of postmodern Thailand and the Asian economic crisis when reevaluations of wealth, global capitalism, and "Asian values" occupied a preeminent place in Thai public discourse.
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Nirvana for Sale?: Buddhism, Wealth, and the Dhammakaya Temple in Contemporary Thailand

Nirvana for Sale?: Buddhism, Wealth, and the Dhammakaya Temple in Contemporary Thailand

by Rachelle M. Scott
Nirvana for Sale?: Buddhism, Wealth, and the Dhammakaya Temple in Contemporary Thailand

Nirvana for Sale?: Buddhism, Wealth, and the Dhammakaya Temple in Contemporary Thailand

by Rachelle M. Scott

Overview

What is the proper relationship between religion and prosperity? Rachelle M. Scott looks at this issue in a Thai Buddhist context, asking when the relationship between Buddhist piety and wealth is viewed in favorable terms and when it is viewed in terms of conflict and tension. Scott focuses on the Dhammakāya Temple, an organization that has placed traditional Theravāda practices, such as meditation and merit-making, within a modernist framework that encourages personal and social prosperity. The Temple's construction of a massive religious monument in the late 1990s embodied this message, but also sparked criticism of the Temple's wealth and fund-raising techniques and engendered debates over authentic Buddhism and religious authority. Scott situates this controversy within the context of postmodern Thailand and the Asian economic crisis when reevaluations of wealth, global capitalism, and "Asian values" occupied a preeminent place in Thai public discourse.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781438427881
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Publication date: 09/17/2009
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 256
File size: 5 MB

About the Author

Rachelle M. Scott is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Tennessee.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Note on Transliteration and Terminology

Introduction

1. Buddhism, Renunciation, and Prosperity

2. Modernity, Prosperity, and the Dhammakāya Temple

3. The Mahathammakai Chedi and Postmodern Merit Making

4. The Dhammakāya Controversy: Piety, Wealth, and Authority

5. Consumerism and Commercialization of Buddhism

Conclusion

Notes
Bibliography
Index
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Related Subjects

Religion
Buddhism
Buddhist Customs, Rites & Practices
Religion
Buddhism
Buddhist Customs, Rites & Practices

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