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