Routledge Handbook of Theravada Buddhism

by Stephen C. Berkwitz (Editor), Ashley Thompson (Editor)

Overview

Among one of the older subfields in Buddhist Studies, the study of Theravāda Buddhism is undergoing a revival by contemporary scholars who are revising long-held conventional views of the tradition while undertaking new approaches and engaging new subject matter. The term Theravāda has been refined, and research has expanded beyond the analysis of canonical texts to examine contemporary cultural forms, social movements linked with meditation practices, material culture, and vernacular language texts. The Routledge Handbook of Theravāda Buddhism illustrates the growth and new directions of scholarship in the study of Theravāda Buddhism and is structured in four parts:

• Ideas/Ideals
• Practices/Persons
• Texts/Teachings
• Images/Imaginations

Owing largely to the continued vitality of Theravāda Buddhist communities in countries like Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos, as well as in diaspora communities across the globe, traditions associated with what is commonly (and fairly recently) called Theravāda attract considerable attention from scholars and practitioners around the world. An in-depth guide to the distinctive features of Theravāda, the Handbook will be an invaluable resource for providing structure and guidance for scholars and students of Asian Religion, Buddhism and, in particular, Theravāda Buddhism.

The introduction and chapter 20 of this book are available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at www.routledge.com. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781032186726
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	08/26/2024
Pages:	394
Product dimensions:	6.88(w) x 9.69(h) x (d)

About the Author

Stephen C. Berkwitz is Professor and Head of the Department of Religious Studies, Missouri State University, USA. His research is focused on the literature and cultural history of Sri Lankan Buddhism. He has published South Asian Buddhism: A Survey (Routledge 2009) and is the editor of the Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism series.

Ashley Thompson is Hiram W. Woodward Chair in Southeast Asian Art at SOAS, University of London, UK. She is a specialist in Southeast Asian Cultural Histories, with particular expertise on premodern Cambodian arts. Her most recent monograph is Engendering the Buddhist State: Territory, Sovereignty and Sexual Difference in the Inventions of Angkor (Routledge 2016).

Table of Contents

Introduction PART I – Ideas/Ideals 1. "THERAVĀDA": Sectarianism and Diversity in Mahāvihāra Historiography 2. PĀLI: Its Place in the Theravāda Buddhist Tradition 3. CIRCULATIONS: Linked Spaces and Divergent Temporalities in the Pāli World 4. STATECRAFT: From Buddhist Kingship to Modern States 5. REFORM: Ideas and Events in Modern Theravāda Reformism 6. TRADITION: Nuns and "Theravāda" in Sri Lanka PART II – Practices/Persons 7. MERIT: Ritual Giving and Its Cultural Meditations 8. MEDITATION: Techniques and Processes of Transformation 9. REPETITION: Pāli Iterations of Ritual Commitment, Commentarial Refrain, and Assiduous Practice 10. FILIAL PIETY: Shades of Difference across Theravādin traditions 11. LAITY: Status, Role and Practice in Theravāda 12. DISCIPLINE: Beyond the Vinaya 13. FUNERALS: Changing Funerary Practices PART III – Texts/Teachings 14. CANONS: Authoritative Texts of the Theravaṃsa 15. ABHIDHAMMA: Theravāda Thought in Relation to Sarvāstivāda Thought 16. VAṂSA: History and Lineage in the Theravāda 17. MERIT: Ten Ways of Making Merit in Theravāda Exegetical Literature and Contemporary Sri Lanka 18. BILINGUALISM: Theravāda Bitexts across South and Southeast Asia PART IV – Images/Imaginations 19. VISUAL NARRATIVES: Buddha Life Stories in the ‘Medieval Theravāda’ of Southeast Asia 20. ICONS: Standing out from the Narrative in Theravādin Art 21. AFFECT: Notes from Contemporary Southeast Asian Visual Culture 22. DEITIES: Supernatural Forces in Theravāda Buddhist Religious Cultures 23. MONS: Creating a Narrative of the Origins of Theravāda