Rebuilding Buddhism: The Theravada Movement in Twentieth-Century NepalRebuilding Buddhism describes in evocative detail the experiences and achievements of Nepalis who have adopted Theravada Buddhism. This form of Buddhism was introduced into Nepal from Burma and Sri Lanka in the 1930s, and its adherents have struggled for recognition and acceptance ever since. With its focus on the austere figure of the monk and the biography of the historical Buddha, and more recently with its emphasis on individualizing meditation and on gender equality, Theravada Buddhism contrasts sharply with the highly ritualized Tantric Buddhism traditionally practiced in the Kathmandu Valley. Based on extensive fieldwork, interviews, and historical reconstruction, the book provides a rich portrait of the different ways of being a Nepali Buddhist over the past seventy years. At the same time it explores the impact of the Theravada movement and what its gradual success has meant for Buddhism, for society, and for men and women in Nepal. |
Contents
Introduction The Origins of Modernist Buddhism | 1 |
Theravada Missionaries in an Autocratic State | 24 |
Creating a Tradition | 56 |
Charisma and Education Dhammawati and the Nuns Order after 1963 | 76 |
The Changing Buddhist Laity | 99 |
Organizing and Educating the Monastic Community | 130 |
Raising the Status of Nuns The Controversy over Bhikkhuni Ordination | 171 |
Winds of Change Meditation and Social Activism | 207 |
Other Buddhist Revival Movements Tibetan Mahayana and Newar Vajrayana | 241 |
Other editions - View all
Rebuilding Buddhism: The Theravada Movement in Twentieth-Century Nepal Sarah LeVine,David N. Gellner No preview available - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
abbot Amritananda Anagarika Ananda Kuti Ashwaghosh Bahadur Bhante bhikkhuni Bhikshu Bodh Gaya buddha dharma Buddha Vihara Burma Burmese caste Chaitya Chinese devotees Dhammalok Dhammawati Dharmacharyya Dharmakirti Dharmapala Dharmashringha Dharmodaya dhism donations donors father Fo Guang Shan full ordination Gellner Gompa guru Guruma Gyanapurnik Hindu IBMC India Janajati Jyoti Kathmandu Valley Kwa Baha Kyangtse laity Lalitpur Lama laypeople learned live Lumbini Mahapragya Maharjan Mahayana Maniharsha married monastery monastic monks monks and nuns Nepal Bhasha Nepalese Nepali nuns Newar Buddhist novices nunnery nuns Order organization pabbajja Padmawati Pali parents practice Pragyananda Precepts puja Rana Ratna religion religious revival rite ritual samanera Sangha Shakya Sherpa Shrestha Sri Lanka Sudarshan Sumangal Swayambhu teachers teaching Thailand Theravada Buddhism Theravada monks Theravadins Tibet Tibetan Buddhism traditional Newar Buddhism Tuladhar Uday upasakas upasampada Vajracharya priests Vajrayana Vinaya vipassana Vishwa Shanti women young