Routledge Handbook of Theravada Buddhism

Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
List of illustrations
List of contributors
Acknowledgments
List of abbreviations
Technical notes
Theravāda Civilizations Project
Introduction
	Introduction
	The very idea of Theravāda
	Theravāda Civilizations
	Organization of the handbook
	References
Part I: Ideas/Ideals
	Chapter 1: Theravāda: Sectarianism and diversity in Mahāvihāra historiography
		Introduction
		Sect and Nikāya
		Theravāda as a Buddhist sect
		Nāgārjunakoṇḍa: early positioning in a multi-sectarian environment
		A bold claim of exclusive authenticity: Theravāda in the Dīpavaṃsa and the Mahāvaṃsa
		Buddhist diversity in a retrospective view: the Nikāyasaṅgraha
		Conclusion
		Notes
		References
	Chapter 2: Pāli: Its place in the Theravāda Buddhist tradition
		Authoritative tradition
			The language of Buddhas
			The root language
			The language of Magadha
			A classical language
			The Pāli imaginaire and the idea of a canon
		Organization and reform
			Elaboration
			Encompassment
		Indexical power
			From rhetoric to magic
			Performative rituals
		Conclusion
		Notes
		References
	Chapter 3: Circulations: Linked spaces and divergent temporalities in the Pāli world
		Introduction
		Sukhothai 1
		Networks
		Networks reconsidered
		Circulatory processes
		Notes
		References
	Chapter 4: Statecraft: From Buddhist kingship to modern states
		Introduction
		Buddhist kingship and statecraft in the Pāli-Sanskrit cosmopolis
		Localizations: Statecraft in premodern Lao and Tai Kingdoms
		Theravāda Buddhism and modern statecraft
		References
	Chapter 5: Reform: Ideas and events in modern Theravāda reformism
		Introduction
		New ways of knowing
		Scripturalism in Siam
		Mid-20th century reformers
		Reform and media
		Modern Buddhist subjects
		Conclusion
		Notes
		References
	Chapter 6: Tradition: Nuns and “Theravāda” in Sri Lanka
		Introduction
		Tradition
		Contestation
		Power
		Concluding remarks
		Notes
		References
Part II: Practices/Persons
	Chapter 7: Merit: Ritual giving and its cultural mediations
		The perfection of giving in the Vessantara Jātaka
		Making merit
		Merit-making and institution building
		Contemporary flows of merit-making in the service of others
		Theories of giving in a Theravāda Buddhist context
		References
	Chapter 8: Meditation: Techniques and processes of transformation
		Overview of meditation
		The goal
		Pāli terms concerning “meditation”
		Authoritative meditation texts 7
		Overview of meditation topics
		Meditation and Abhidhamma
		Conclusion
		Notes
		References
	Chapter 9: Repetition: Pāli iterations of ritual commitment, commentarial refrain, and assiduous practice
		Ritual
		Textual composition
		Doctrine
		References
	Chapter 10: Filial piety: Shades of difference across Theravādin traditions
		Introduction
		Filial piety in the Pāli scriptures
		“Sharing merit”: Filial piety in Buddhist practice
		Filial piety as a Buddhist virtue
		Conclusion
		Notes
		References
	Chapter 11: Laity: Status, role, and practice in Theravāda
		Introduction
		Recent academic constructions of the laity in Theravāda
		The lay Buddhist as donor
		The lay Buddhist meditation practice
		Study of the Dhamma by the laity
		Concluding remarks
		Notes
		References
	Chapter 12: Discipline: Beyond the Vinaya
		How to wear the robes
		Monks behaving badly
		Religious ideologies and practices within educational contexts
		Policing monastic bodies and appropriate activity
		Laity and monastic discipline
		Conclusion: monks and smoking
		Notes
		References
	Chapter 13: Funerals: Changing funerary practices
		Central Thailand
			Of cremations, burials and bird-offerings
			Cremation at Mt. Meru on temple grounds
			Delaying cremations, temple storage
			Cremains: kept in homes, chedi, or temples
		Northern funerary rites
			Burial versus cremation
			Charnel forest ( paa chaa), not temple Meru
			Corpses in homes, not temples
			Treatment of cremains
		Post–World War II changes
		Notes
		References
Part III: Texts/Teachings
	Chapter 14: Canons: Authoritative texts of the Theravaṃsa
		The idea of “canon”
			Pāli Tripiṭaka and Pāli canon
			Canon formation
		Materiality
			Writing systems
		Problems with canons
			The Theravāda canon: closed or open?
			Conceptual proliferation
			Modernity
		Many canons: function and practice
			The inclusive Tripiṭaka
			Sponsorship
			Ritual canons of Siam
			Sermons
			Vernacular canons
			Model canons
			Carved in stone: epigraphic canons
		Early Buddhisms
		Canon and authority
		The culture of the book
		Acknowledgments
		Notes
		References
	Chapter 15: Abhidhamma: Theravāda thought in relation to Sarvāstivāda thought
		The nature of Abhidhamma
		The initial development of Abhidhamma
		Canonical Abhidhamma literature
		The development of Abhidhamma literature
		The Abhidharma theory of dharmas
		Dharmas in action: causation, processes, and rebirth
		Conclusion
		Notes
		References
	Chapter 16: Vaṃsa: History and lineage in the Theravāda
		Expanding the Theravāda
		Materiality and Theravāda
		Authority and Theravāda
		Conclusion
		Notes
		References
	Chapter 17: Merit: Ten ways of making merit in Theravāda exegetical literature and contemporary Sri Lanka 1
		Introduction
		Commentarial literature and systematic exegetical Abhidhamma texts
		From three to ten ways of merit
		Poetic works and a lay manual
		From ten to twelve ways of making merit
		Contemporary sources
		A characteristic Theravāda way of looking at merit
		Conclusion
		Notes
		References
		Primary sources and list of abbreviations
		Secondary literature and translations
	Chapter 18: Bilingualism: Theravāda bitexts across South and Southeast Asia
		Introduction
		Creating bitexts: primary steps and techniques
			Selection
				Citation
				Invention
			Analysis
				Parsing
				Amplification
				Rearrangement
				Annotation
				Gloss
			Presentation
				Philological
				Exegetical
				Homiletic
				Poetic
		Spreading bitexts: the diffusion of bilingual compositions
			Early Sri Lankan Bitexts, ca. 900–1200
			Pyu and Old Khmer Proto-Bitexts, ca. 500–1200
			Early Mon and Burmese Bitexts, ca. 1100–1500
			Early Modern Siamese, Lao, and Lanna Bitexts, ca. 1300–1700
			Modern Khmer, Tai Khün, Tai Lü, and Vietnamese Bitexts, ca. 1700–1950
		Theravāda bitexts today
		Acknowledgments
		Manuscripts cited
		References
	Chapter 19: Visual narratives: Buddha life stories in the “medieval Theravāda” of Southeast Asia
		Introduction
		Visualization of the “Buddha’s life” in early Pagan
		The Buddha’s realm created
		The rise of the new Sīhaḷa order
		Discussion
		Acknowledgments
		Notes
		References
Part IV: Images/Imaginations
	Chapter 20: Icons: Standing out from the narrative in Theravādin art
		Setting the scene
		On image–text relations
		The aniconic and the anthropomorphic: ongoing issues in Buddhist art history
		Re-presenting the Buddha: two historical examples
		Notes
		References
			Primary Sources
			Secondary Sources and Translations
	Chapter 21: Affect: Notes from contemporary Southeast Asian visual culture
		Relics: temporal dialectics and affective attachments
		Remediating relics in Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s affective history of the Cold War
		Relics that bind: Rithy Panh’s The Missing Picture and the affective trace of the Cambodian genocide
		Conclusion
		Notes
		References
	Chapter 22: Deities: Supernatural forces in Theravāda Buddhist religious cultures
		Buddhist Deva s in Sri Lanka
		The Phi of Thai-Lao Buddhist religious culture
		Nat s of Burmese Myanmar
		Conclusion
		Notes
		References
	Chapter 23: Mons: Creating a narrative of the origins of Theravāda
		Constructing an image: Mons in Southeast Asia
		Cosmopolitan scholars and the search for Mon origins
		Local historiographies of “origins” before the colonial encounter
		Mon-language accounts
		Burmese-language accounts
		Narratives in circulation: colonial-era Mon texts
		A new normativity: British creations of national pasts
		Local adaptations
		Notes
		References
Index