Haunting the Buddha: Indian Popular Religions and the Formation of BuddhismOxford University Press, 30 սեպ, 2004 թ. - 240 էջ Early European histories of India frequently reflected colonialist agendas. The idea that Indian society had declined from an earlier Golden Age helped justify the colonial presence. It was said, for example, that modern Buddhism had fallen away from its original identity as a purely rational philosophy that arose in the mythical 5th-century BCE Golden Age unsullied by the religious and cultural practices that surrounded it. In this book Robert DeCaroli seeks to place the formation of Buddhism in its appropriate social and political contexts. It is necessary, he says, to acknowledge that the monks and nuns who embodied early Buddhist ideals shared many beliefs held by the communities in which they were raised. In becoming members of the monastic society these individuals did not abandon their beliefs in the efficacy and the dangers represented by minor deities and spirits of the dead. Their new faith, however, gave them revolutionary new mechanisms with which to engage those supernatural beings. Drawing on fieldwork, textual, and iconographic evidence, DeCaroli offers a comprehensive view of early Indian spirit-religions and their contributions to Buddhism-the first attempt at such a study since Ananda Coomaraswamy's pioneering work was published in 1928. The result is an important contribution to our understanding of early Indian religion and society, and will be of interest to those in the fields of Buddhist studies, Asian history, art history, and anthropology. |
Բովանդակություն
Making Believers | |
Set in Stone | |
Ghost Stories | |
The Politics of Enlightenment | |
Policing the Monastery | |
Passage from India | |
Confronting Their Demons | |
Notes | |
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Common terms and phrases
accounts actions Anawrahta ancestors ancient associated authority become believed Bodhisattva brahmans Buddha Buddhist Buddhist community Burmese caitya century chapter Chronicle complex confront contained continued conversion Cult dead DeCaroli deities demonstrate depicted described desire discussion early established evidence example fact fear figure forms funerary Gayā ghost give given gods human Ibid Iconography identified images important Indian inscriptions instance Jātaka king known later Likewise linked literature living located Māra means mentioned merit monastery monastic monks nāga nats nature nuns offerings originally passage popular possessed practices presence Record refers region relationship relics religious remains reside reveals rites ritual Robert role royal Śākyamuni saṃgha scene Schopen seems seen serve significant similar sources specific spirit religions spirit-deities story stūpa suggests supernatural tale tells term textual tree Vinaya worship yakkha yakṣa