Relics, Ritual, and Representation in Buddhism: Rematerializing the Sri Lanka Theravada Tradition FROM THE PUBLISHER
This book is the first serious study of relic veneration among south Asian Buddhists. Drawing on textual sources and archeological evidence from India and Sri Lanka, including material not previously examined in the West, it looks specifically at the practice of relic veneration in the Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhist tradition. The author portrays relic veneration as a technology of remembrance and representation which makes present the Buddha of the past for living Buddhists. By analyzing the abstract ideas, emotional orientations, and ritual behavior centered on the Buddha's material remains, he contributes to the "rematerializing" of Buddhism which is currently underway among Western scholars. Professor Trainor's study reflects the scholarly shift toward an appreciation of historical diversity and local difference in Buddhist thought and practice, while at the same time drawing upon the broader interpretive orientation of the discipline of religious studies. In doing so this work demonstrates admirably the benefits that arise from a continued conversation between the study of a particular religion and the study of religion more generically defined.
FROM THE CRITICS
- Journal of Buddhist Ethics
This is a superb book....Shifting our primary focus away from the texts — the preoccupation of the first generation of Buddhist scholars...toward inscriptions, art, and cultural patterns of worship, Trainor's work is a model of responsible scholarship....[A] very important book that goes a very long way in furthering our understanding of the relics of Sri Lanka's colonial period and of the Buddha himself.
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