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Among one of the older subfields in Buddhist Studies, the study of Theravada 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 Theravada 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 Theravada Buddhism illustrates the growth and new directions of scholarship in the study of Theravada Buddhism and is structured in four parts:
- Ideas/Ideals
- Practices/Persons
- Texts/Teachings
- Images/Imaginations
Owing largely to the continued vitality of Theravada 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 Theravada attract considerable attention from scholars and practitioners around the world. An in-depth guide to the distinctive features of Theravada, the Handbook will be an invaluable resource for providing structure and guidance for scholars and students of Asian Religion, Buddhism and, in particular, Theravada 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.
List of contents
Introduction PART I - Ideas/Ideals 1. "THERAVADA": Sectarianism and Diversity in Mahavihara Historiography 2. PALI: Its Place in the Theravada Buddhist Tradition 3. CIRCULATIONS: Linked Spaces and Divergent Temporalities in the Pali World 4. STATECRAFT: From Buddhist Kingship to Modern States 5. REFORM: Ideas and Events in Modern Theravada Reformism 6. TRADITION: Nuns and "Theravada" in Sri Lanka PART II - Practices/Persons 7. MERIT: Ritual Giving and Its Cultural Meditations 8. MEDITATION: Techniques and Processes of Transformation 9. REPETITION: Pali Iterations of Ritual Commitment, Commentarial Refrain, and Assiduous Practice 10. FILIAL PIETY: Shades of Difference across Theravadin traditions 11. LAITY: Status, Role and Practice in Theravada 12. DISCIPLINE: Beyond the Vinaya 13. FUNERALS: Changing Funerary Practices PART III - Texts/Teachings 14. CANONS: Authoritative Texts of the Therava sa 15. ABHIDHAMMA: Theravada Thought in Relation to Sarvastivada Thought 16. VA SA: History and Lineage in the Theravada 17. MERIT: Ten Ways of Making Merit in Theravada Exegetical Literature and Contemporary Sri Lanka 18. BILINGUALISM: Theravada Bitexts across South and Southeast Asia PART IV - Images/Imaginations 19. VISUAL NARRATIVES: Buddha Life Stories in the 'Medieval Theravada' of Southeast Asia 20. ICONS: Standing out from the Narrative in Theravadin Art 21. AFFECT: Notes from Contemporary Southeast Asian Visual Culture 22. DEITIES: Supernatural Forces in Theravada Buddhist Religious Cultures 23. MONS: Creating a Narrative of the Origins of Theravada
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).
Summary
Among one of the older sub-fields in Buddhist Studies, the study of Theravada 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.
