Mediums Monks And Amulets

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Mediums, Monks, and Amulets

Author : Pattana Kitiarsa
Publisher : Silkworm Books
ISBN 13 : 1630417572
Total Pages : 152 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (34 download)

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Book Synopsis Mediums, Monks, and Amulets by : Pattana Kitiarsa

Download or read book Mediums, Monks, and Amulets written by Pattana Kitiarsa and published by Silkworm Books. This book was released on 2012-08-15 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mediums, Monks, and Amulets is a sophisticated yet accessible study of the state of popular Buddhist beliefs as they are practiced in Thailand today. Using a combination of focused case studies and analysis, Pattana Kitiarsa explores the nature and evolution of popular Buddhism over the past three decades by focusing on those individuals who practice, popularize, and profit from it. The case studies profiled in this book include prominent spirit mediums and magic monks, the lottery fever surrounding the posthumous cult of folk singer, Phumphuang Duangchan, the Chatukham‐Rammathep amulet craze, and the cult of wealth attributed to preeminent monk, Luang Pho Khun. It also explores the history of both popular and official opinion surrounding supernatural Buddhism and its clashes with the rationalist, modernizing policies of Thailand’s monarchy and government. Mediums, Monks, and Amulets contests the viewpoint that supernatural elements within popular Buddhism are a symptom of the decline of the religion. Instead, it argues that this hybridity between traditional Buddhist beliefs and elements from other religions is in fact a symptom of the health and wealth of Buddhism, as it negotiates large‐scale commercialization and global modernity. What others are saying “Pattana Kitiarsa’s ability to weave his personal experiences in with sophisticated anthropological methods makes this book a fascinating and moving read. It is a welcome addition to the field and should be read by everyone interested in religion and modernity in Southeast Asia and beyond.”—Justin McDaniel, author of Gathering Leaves and Lifting Words (2008) and The Lovelorn Ghost and Magical Monk (2011) “Medium, Monks, and Amulets sheds light on the changing landscape of contemporary Thai religion that is increasingly influenced by ‘prosperity cults’ from both inside and outside the Buddhist establishment. This book helps us to make sense of the religious universe, where magic monks, spirit mediums, amulets, deities, and other religious commodities of different sorts keep appearing endlessly.”—Phra Paisal Visalo Highlights • Focused case studies on individual cult practices, including magic monks, spirit mediums, amulet cults, and other prosperity cults • Written by the perspective of an anthropologist who is also a follower of popular Buddhism • Discusses not only the interaction of popular Buddhist practices with modern‐day lawmakers, but also of nineteenth‐century royal interaction with supernatural cults

Mediums, Monks, and Amulets

Author : Phatthanā Kitiʻāsā
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 170 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (124 download)

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Book Synopsis Mediums, Monks, and Amulets by : Phatthanā Kitiʻāsā

Download or read book Mediums, Monks, and Amulets written by Phatthanā Kitiʻāsā and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Living Theravada

Author : Brooke Schedneck
Publisher : Shambhala Publications
ISBN 13 : 1611809711
Total Pages : 273 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (118 download)

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Book Synopsis Living Theravada by : Brooke Schedneck

Download or read book Living Theravada written by Brooke Schedneck and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2023-04-18 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An illuminating introduction to the contemporary world of Theravada Buddhism and its rich culture and practices in modern mainland Southeast Asia. Theravada translates as “the way of the Elders,” indicating that this Buddhist tradition considers itself to be the most authoritative and pure. Tracing all the way back to the time of the Buddha, Theravada Buddhism is distinguished by canonical literature preserved in the Pali language, beliefs, and practices—and this literature is often specialized and academic in tone. By contrast, this book will serve as a foundational and accessible resource on Theravada Buddhism and the contemporary, lived world of its enduring tradition. Brooke Schedneck has done extensive research on topics such as religions of Southeast Asia, contemporary Buddhism, gender in Asian religions, and religious tourism. Narrowing in on topics such as temples, monastic lives, lay Buddhists, meditation, and Buddhist objects, Schedneck highlights the thriving diversity of Theravada Buddhists today. Exploring Theravada as a lived religion reveals how people apply various expressions in everyday life. She presents to readers the most important practices and beliefs of Theravada Buddhists, illustrated through contemporary debates about what represents proper Theravada practice within Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand in the twenty-first century. Additionally, practical information is provided in appendices about what temples and practice centers readers can visit as well as a temple etiquette guide offering tips for being a respectful visitor. While academics will benefit from and appreciate this overview, the writing offers a refreshing introduction to a complex tradition for readers new to the subject.

Spirit Possession in Buddhist Southeast Asia

Author : Bénédicte Brac de la Perrière
Publisher : NIAS Press
ISBN 13 : 8776943097
Total Pages : 363 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (769 download)

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Book Synopsis Spirit Possession in Buddhist Southeast Asia by : Bénédicte Brac de la Perrière

Download or read book Spirit Possession in Buddhist Southeast Asia written by Bénédicte Brac de la Perrière and published by NIAS Press. This book was released on 2022-03-31 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In dramatic contrast to the reported growing influence of doctrinal and fundamentalist forms of religion in some parts of Southeast Asia, the predominantly Buddhist societies of the region are witnessing an upsurge of spirit possession cults and diverse forms of magical ritual. This is found in many social strata, including the urban poor, rising middle classes and elite groups, and across the different political systems of Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. This volume reveals both the central historical place of spirit possession rituals in the Buddhist cultures of mainland Southeast Asia and their important contemporary roles to enhance prosperity and protection. This book examines the increasing prominence of spirit mediumship and divination across the region by exploring the interplay of neoliberal capitalism, visual media, the network cultures of the Internet, and the politics of cultural heritage and identity. It advances beyond critiques of the “secularization” and “disenchantment” theses to explore the processes of modernity that are actively producing magical worldviews and stimulating the rise of spirit cults. As such, it not only challenges the assumptions of modernization theory but demonstrates that the cults in question are novel ritual forms that emerge out of inherently modern conditions.

Popular Religion in Southeast Asia

Author : Robert L. Winzeler
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 0759124418
Total Pages : 323 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (591 download)

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Book Synopsis Popular Religion in Southeast Asia by : Robert L. Winzeler

Download or read book Popular Religion in Southeast Asia written by Robert L. Winzeler and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2015-12-17 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this overview of popular religion in Southeast Asia, Robert L. Winzeler offers an interpretative look at the nature of today’s indigenous religious traditions as well as Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity and conversion. He focuses not on religion as it exists in books, doctrine, theology, and among elites and dominant institutions but rather in the lives, beliefs, and practices of ordinary people. Popular Religion in Southeast Asia employs a broad view of religion as involving not just the usual Western notions of faith but also supernatural belief in general, magic, sorcery, and practical concerns such as healing, personal protection, and success in business. Case studies and concrete examples flesh out the discussion, demonstrating how popular religion relates to historical and contemporary social, cultural, political, and economic developments in the region.

In Asian Waters

Author : Eric Tagliacozzo
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691146829
Total Pages : 512 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (911 download)

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Book Synopsis In Asian Waters by : Eric Tagliacozzo

Download or read book In Asian Waters written by Eric Tagliacozzo and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2022-07-19 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A sweeping account of how the sea routes of Asia have transformed a vast expanse of the globe over the past five hundred years, powerfully shaping the modern world In the centuries leading up to our own, the volume of traffic across Asian sea routes—an area stretching from East Africa and the Middle East to Japan—grew dramatically, eventually making them the busiest in the world. The result was a massive circulation of people, commodities, religion, culture, technology, and ideas. In this book, Eric Tagliacozzo chronicles how the seas and oceans of Asia have shaped the history of the largest continent for the past half millennium, leaving an indelible mark on the modern world in the process. Paying special attention to migration, trade, the environment, and cities, In Asian Waters examines the long history of contact between China and East Africa, the spread of Hinduism and Buddhism across the Bay of Bengal, and the intertwined histories of Islam and Christianity in the Philippines. The book illustrates how India became central to the spice trade, how the Indian Ocean became a “British lake” between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, and how lighthouses and sea mapping played important roles in imperialism. The volume ends by asking what may happen if China comes to rule the waves of Asia, as Britain once did. A novel account showing how Asian history can be seen as a whole when seen from the water, In Asian Waters presents a voyage into a past that is still alive in the present.

Roaming Free Like a Deer

Author : Daniel Capper
Publisher : Cornell University Press
ISBN 13 : 1501759582
Total Pages : 300 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (17 download)

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Book Synopsis Roaming Free Like a Deer by : Daniel Capper

Download or read book Roaming Free Like a Deer written by Daniel Capper and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2022-03-15 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By exploring lived ecological experiences across seven Buddhist worlds from ancient India to the contemporary West, Roaming Free Like a Deer provides a comprehensive, critical, and innovative examination of the theories, practices, and real-world results of Buddhist environmental ethics. Daniel Capper clarifies crucial contours of Buddhist vegetarianism or meat eating, nature mysticism, and cultural speculations about spirituality in nonhuman animals. Buddhist environmental ethics often are touted as useful weapons in the fight against climate change. However, two formidable but often overlooked problems with this perspective exist. First, much of the literature on Buddhist environmental ethics uncritically embraces Buddhist ideals without examining the real-world impacts of those ideals, thereby sometimes ignoring difficulties in terms of practical applications. Moreover, for some understandable but still troublesome reasons, Buddhists from different schools follow their own environmental ideals without conversing with other Buddhists, thereby minimizing the abilities of Buddhists to act in concert on issues such as climate change that demand coordinated large-scale human responses. With its accessible style and personhood ethics orientation, Roaming Free Like a Deer should appeal to anyone who is concerned with how human beings interact with the nonhuman environment.

Religion in Southeast Asia

Author : Jesudas M. Athyal
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 1610692500
Total Pages : 425 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (16 download)

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Book Synopsis Religion in Southeast Asia by : Jesudas M. Athyal

Download or read book Religion in Southeast Asia written by Jesudas M. Athyal and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2015-03-10 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This engaging encyclopedia covers the religions and religious traditions of various Southeast Asian countries, including Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. In this unprecedented profile of the religions of Southeast Asia, scholars from around the world explore the faiths, spiritual practices, and theological dogmas of the region. The book contains a fascinating collection of accurate, detailed articles; informative sidebars; and an extensive list of reference materials, all of which uncover beliefs in that part of the world. Discussions of ancient religions, combined with a look at contemporary trends, feature topics such as religious fundamentalism, secularism, and globalization. Through 150 alphabetically arranged entries, this encyclopedia investigates the religions and religious traditions of countries such as Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, and the Philippines, among others. Written in an accessible style, this comprehensive reference looks at a variety of belief systems, including Buddhism, Confucianism, tribal practices, Hinduism, Jainism, and Zoroastrianism. A selected, general bibliography offers a listing of the most important print and electronic resources on the topic.

Militant Buddhism

Author : Peter Lehr
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3030035174
Total Pages : 305 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (3 download)

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Book Synopsis Militant Buddhism by : Peter Lehr

Download or read book Militant Buddhism written by Peter Lehr and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-12-30 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Against the backdrop of the ongoing Rohingya crisis, this book takes a close and detailed look at the rise of militant Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Burma and Thailand, and especially at the issues of ‘why’ and ‘how’ around it. We are well aware of Christian fundamentalism, militant Judaism and Islamist Salafism-Jihadism. Extremist and violent Buddhism however features only rarely in book-length studies on religion and political violence. Somehow, the very idea of Buddhist monks as the archetypical ‘world renouncers’ exhorting frenzied mobs to commit acts of violence against perceived ‘enemies of the religion’ seems to be outright ludicrous. Recent events in Myanmar/Burma, but also in Thailand and Sri Lanka, however indicate that a militant strand of Theravada Buddhism is on the rise. How can this rise be explained, and what role do monks play in that regard? These are the two broad questions that this book explores.

Historical Dictionary of Thailand

Author : Gerald W. Fry
Publisher : Scarecrow Press
ISBN 13 : 081087525X
Total Pages : 712 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (18 download)

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Book Synopsis Historical Dictionary of Thailand by : Gerald W. Fry

Download or read book Historical Dictionary of Thailand written by Gerald W. Fry and published by Scarecrow Press. This book was released on 2013-08-08 with total page 712 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout its history, Thailand has shown remarkable resiliency, adaptability, and creativity in responding to serious threats and crises, and this since much earlier times when it was known as Siam. This book, while focusing on the modern period, does reach back to ancient kingdoms but also shows the impressive rise to a modern democracy, although still endowed with a king, and even more impressively, an economic “tiger.” Moreover, it has become a prime tourist destination and is thus known to vast numbers of foreigners as a sort of “instant Asia.” The Historical Dictionary of Thailand, now in its third edition, covers this amazing story in various ways. First, the chronology traces the most significant events from year to year. The introduction then provides a good overview of the land and people, the history and traditions, and where it now seems to be heading. The dictionary, which by now has hundreds of detailed and cross-referenced entries, looks more closely at important persons, places, institutions and events as well as more generally its politics, economy, society, culture and religion. So this is an excellent reference work not only for scholars but many others who have visited the country and were fascinated by it.

Deities and Divas

Author : Peter A. Jackson
Publisher : NIAS Press
ISBN 13 : 8776943089
Total Pages : 325 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (769 download)

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Book Synopsis Deities and Divas by : Peter A. Jackson

Download or read book Deities and Divas written by Peter A. Jackson and published by NIAS Press. This book was released on 2022-01-22 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In central Thailand, a flamboyantly turbaned gay medium for the Hindu god of the underworld posts Facebook selfies of himself hugging and kissing a young man. In Myanmar’s largest city Yangon, a one-time member of a gay NGO dons an elaborate wedding dress to be ritually married to a possessing female spirit; he believes she will offer more support for his gay lifestyle than the path of LGBTQ activism. The only son of a Chinese trading family in Bangkok finds acceptance for his homosexuality and crossdressing when he becomes the medium for a revered female Chinese deity. And in northern Thailand, female mediums smoke, drink, flaunt butch masculine poses and flirt with female followers when they are ritually possessed by male warrior deities. Across the Buddhist societies of mainland Southeast Asia, local queer cultures are at the center of a recent proliferation of professional spirit mediumship. Drawing on detailed ethnographies and extensive comparative research, Deities and Divas captures this variety and ferment. The first book to trace commonalities between queer and religious cultures in Southeast Asia and the West, it reveals how modern gay, trans and spirit medium communities all emerge from a shared formative matrix of capitalism and new media. With insights and analysis that transcend the modern opposition of religion vs secularity, it provides fascinating new perspectives in transnational cultural, religious and queer studies.

Capitalism Magic Thailand

Author : Peter A Jackson
Publisher : ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute
ISBN 13 : 9814951978
Total Pages : 381 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (149 download)

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Book Synopsis Capitalism Magic Thailand by : Peter A Jackson

Download or read book Capitalism Magic Thailand written by Peter A Jackson and published by ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. This book was released on 2021-12-13 with total page 381 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By studying intersections among new cults of wealth, ritually empowered amulets and professional spirit mediumship—which have emerged together in Thailand’s dynamic religious field in recent decades—Capitalism Magic Thailand explores the conditions under which global modernity produces new varieties of enchantment. Bruno Latour’s account of modernity as a condition fractured between rationalizing ideology and hybridizing practice is expanded to explain the apparent paradox of new forms of magical ritual emerging alongside religious fundamentalism across a wide range of Asian societies. In Thailand, novel and increasingly popular varieties of ritual now form a symbolic complex in which originally distinct cults centred on Indian deities, Chinese gods and Thai religious and royal figures have merged in commercial spaces and media sites to sacralize the market and wealth production. Emerging within popular culture, this complex of cults of wealth, amulets and spirit mediumship is supported by all levels of Thai society, including those at the acme of economic and political power. New theoretical frameworks are presented in analyses that challenge the view that magic is a residue of premodernity, placing the dramatic transformations of cultic ritual centre stage in modern Thai history. It is concluded that modern enchantment arises at the confluence of three processes: neoliberal capitalism’s production of occult economies, the auraticizing effects of technologies of mass mediatization, and the performative force of ritual in religious fields where practice takes precedence over doctrine.

Deathpower

Author : Erik W. Davis
Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN 13 : 0231540663
Total Pages : 318 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (315 download)

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Book Synopsis Deathpower by : Erik W. Davis

Download or read book Deathpower written by Erik W. Davis and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2015-12-08 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Cambodia, Erik W. Davis radically reorients approaches toward the nature of Southeast Asian Buddhism's interactions with local religious practice and, by extension, reorients our understanding of Buddhism itself. Through a vivid study of contemporary Cambodian Buddhist funeral rites, he reveals the powerfully integrative role monks play as they care for the dead and negotiate the interplay of non-Buddhist spirits and formal Buddhist customs. Buddhist monks perform funeral rituals rooted in the embodied practices of Khmer rice farmers and the social hierarchies of Khmer culture. The monks' realization of death underwrites key components of the Cambodian social imagination: the distinction between wild death and celibate life, the forest and the field, and moral and immoral forms of power. By connecting the performative aspects of Buddhist death rituals to Cambodian history and everyday life, Davis undermines the theory that Buddhism and rural belief systems necessarily oppose each other. Instead, he shows Cambodian Buddhism to be a robust tradition with ethical and popular components extending throughout Khmer society.

Asian American Religious Cultures [2 volumes]

Author : Jonathan H. X. Lee
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 1100 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (16 download)

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Book Synopsis Asian American Religious Cultures [2 volumes] by : Jonathan H. X. Lee

Download or read book Asian American Religious Cultures [2 volumes] written by Jonathan H. X. Lee and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2015-09-01 with total page 1100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A resource ideal for students as well as general readers, this two-volume encyclopedia examines the diversity of the Asian American and Pacific Islander spiritual experience. Despite constituting a fairly small proportion of the U.S. population—roughly 5 percent—Asian Americans are a widely diverse group with equally heterogeneous religious beliefs and traditions. This encyclopedia provides a single source for authoritative information on the Asian American and Pacific Islander religious experience, addressing South Asian Americans, such as Indian Americans and Pakistani Americans; East Asian Americans, including Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, and Korean Americans; and Southeast Asian Americans, whose ethnicities include Filipino Americans, Thai Americans, and Vietnamese Americans. Pacific Islanders include Hawaiians, Samoans, Marshallese, Tongan, and Chamorro. The coverage includes not only traditional eastern belief systems and traditions such as Buddhism, Confucianism, and Hinduism as well as Micronesian and Polynesian religious traditions in the United States, but also the culture and religious rituals of Asian American Christians.

Nirvana for Sale?

Author : Rachelle M. Scott
Publisher : SUNY Press
ISBN 13 : 9781438427843
Total Pages : 260 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (278 download)

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Book Synopsis Nirvana for Sale? by : Rachelle M. Scott

Download or read book Nirvana for Sale? written by Rachelle M. Scott and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 2009-09-17 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the relationship between material prosperity and spirituality in contemporary Thai Buddhism.

Sacred Sites and Sacred Stories Across Cultures

Author : David W. Kim
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 303056522X
Total Pages : 408 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (35 download)

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Book Synopsis Sacred Sites and Sacred Stories Across Cultures by : David W. Kim

Download or read book Sacred Sites and Sacred Stories Across Cultures written by David W. Kim and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-01-18 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers global perspectives from Mediterranean, Asian, Australian, and American cultures on sacred sites and their related stories in regional history. Contemporary society witnesses many travelers visiting sacred sites (temples, mountains, castles, churches, houses) throughout the world. These visits often involve discovery of new historical facts through the origin stories of the associated tribe, region, or nation. The transmission of oral tradition and myth carries on the significant meaning of those religious sites. This volume unveils multi-angle perspectives of symbolic and mystical places. The contributors describe the religio-political experiences of each regional case, and analyze the religiosity of local people as a lens through which readers can re-examine the concept of iconography, syncretism, and materialism. In addition, contributors interpret the growth of new religions as the alternative perspectives of anti-traditional religions. This new approach offers significant insight into comprehending the practical agony and sorrow of regional people in the context of contemporary history.

Religious Tourism in Northern Thailand

Author : Brooke Schedneck
Publisher : University of Washington Press
ISBN 13 : 0295748931
Total Pages : 243 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (957 download)

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Book Synopsis Religious Tourism in Northern Thailand by : Brooke Schedneck

Download or read book Religious Tourism in Northern Thailand written by Brooke Schedneck and published by University of Washington Press. This book was released on 2021-06-18 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Temples are everywhere in Chiang Mai, filled with tourists as well as saffron-robed monks of all ages. The monks participate in daily urban life here as elsewhere in Thailand, where Buddhism is promoted, protected, and valued as a tourist attraction. Yet this mountain city offers more than a fleeting, commodified tourist experience, as the encounters between foreign visitors and Buddhist monks can have long-lasting effects on both parties. These religious contacts take place where economic motives, missionary zeal, and opportunities for cultural exchange coincide. Brooke Schedneck incorporates fieldwork and interviews with student monks and tourists to examine the innovative ways that Thai Buddhist temples offer foreign visitors spaces for religious instruction and popular in-person Monk Chat sessions in which tourists ask questions about Buddhism. Religious Tourism in Northern Thailand also considers how Thai monks perceive other religions and cultures and how they represent their own religion when interacting with tourists, resulting in a revealing study of how religious traditions adapt to an era of globalization.