Buddha''s Wizards - Magic, Protection, and Healing in Burmese Buddhism

Belief in wizard-saints who protect their devotees and intervene in the world is widespread among Burmese Buddhists. The Buddha's Wizards is a historically informed, ethnographic study that explores the supernatural landscape of Buddhism in Myanmar to explain the persistence of wizardry as a form of lived religion in the modern era.

List of contents

Acknowledgments
A Note on Abbreviations
A Note on Transliteration
Introduction
1. Vanguards of the Sāsana
2. The Buddha’s Chief Wizard
3. Women of the Wizard King
4. Pagodas of Power
5. Wizards in the Shadows
Conclusion
Notes
References
Index

About the author

Thomas Nathan Patton is assistant professor of Buddhist and Southeast Asian studies at the City University of Hong Kong.

Summary

Belief in wizard-saints who protect their devotees and intervene in the world is widespread among Burmese Buddhists. The Buddha’s Wizards is a historically informed, ethnographic study that explores the supernatural landscape of Buddhism in Myanmar to explain the persistence of wizardry as a form of lived religion in the modern era.

Additional text

A work of lucid scholarship on a novel topic of interest not only to students of Theravada Buddhism but also to ethnographers, theorists of affect, and historians of religion.

Product details

• Authors: Thomas Nathan Patton
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.03.2020
• EAN: 9780231187619
• ISBN: 978-0-231-18761-9
• No. of pages: 240
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology > Other religions; Myanmar, RELIGION / Buddhism / Rituals & Practice, HISTORY / Asia / Southeast Asia, RELIGION / Buddhism / Theravada, Buddhism, Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography, Social and cultural anthropology, Myanmar (Burma)