Thailand's International Meditation Centers

Tourism and the Global Commodification of Religious Practices

Brooke Schedneck author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd

Published:10th May '17

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Thailand's International Meditation Centers cover

This book explores contemporary practices within the new institution of international meditation centers in Thailand. It discusses the development of the lay vipassana meditation movement in Thailand and relates Thai Buddhism to contemporary processes of commodification and globalisation. Through an examination of how meditation centers are promoted internationally, the author considers how Thai Buddhism is translated for and embodied within international tourists who participate in meditation retreats in Thailand. Shedding new light on the decontextualization of religious practices, and raising new questions concerning tourism and religion, this book focuses on the nature of cultural exchange, spiritual tourism, and religious choice in modernity. With an aim of reframing questions of religious modernity, each chapter offers a new perspective on the phenomenon of spiritual seeking in Thailand. Offering an analysis of why meditation practices appeal to non-Buddhists, this book contends that religions do not travel as whole entities but instead that partial elements resonate with different cultures, and are appropriated over time.

"This is a valuable study for a number of reasons. For example, Chapter 2, ‘‘Theravada Buddhism and the History of Modern Vipassan□a,’’ is simply one of the most elucidating treatments of this subject that I know of. Other chapters offer enlightening ‘‘thick descriptions’’ of how these centers function for spreading the s□asana internationally. But most specifically, this book reveals how meditation, as it spreads beyond Thailand, is transforming itself into a new global spiritual movement."

Mark MacWilliams, St. Lawrence University

ISBN: 9781138078949

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 453g

198 pages