Monks, Money, and Morality
The Balancing Act of Contemporary Buddhism
Christoph Brumann editor Beata Switek editor Saskia Abrahms-Kavunenko editor
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published:20th May '21
Should be back in stock very soon
Explores the economic and financial aspects, debates and dilemmas of Buddhist temples and practitioners in contemporary Asia, dispelling the popular romantic notion of Buddhist monks.
Vibrantly engaging contemporary Buddhist lives, this book focuses on the material and financial relations of contemporary monks, temples, and laypeople. It shows that rather than being peripheral, economic exchanges are key to religious debate in Buddhist societies. Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork in countries ranging from India to Japan, including all three major Buddhist traditions, the book addresses the flows of goods and services between clergy and laity, the management of resources, the treatment of money, and the role of the state in temple economies. Along with documenting ritual and economic practices, these accounts deal with the moral challenges that Buddhist adherents are facing today, thereby bringing lived experience to the study of an often-romanticized religion.
Monks, Money, and Morality provides intimate cases studies from around the Buddhist world to show the complex consideration of money and ethics that monks must negotiate for their temples to survive. It offers insights into the way in which national politics and economics affect the practicalities of those seeking to pursue a monastic life. This eye-opening study will change perceptions of Buddhism and understandings of the role of monks in their communities. * Kate Crosby, Professor of Buddhist Studies, King’s College London, UK *
At the heart of Buddhism stands the relationship between monastics and laypeople. These diverse and fascinating case studies, with their sophisticated ethnographic analyses, demonstrate that what is often thought of as an asymmetrical and hierarchical symbiosis is, in actually existing Buddhism, far more complex, far more variable, and far more interesting than that. * David N. Gellner, Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Oxford, UK *
The book is very much about the dilemmas that a religious tradition faces when it comes to issues of money, exchange and incorporation into the capitalist economy ... a very rich collection of studies. -- Jovan Maud * Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology *
ISBN: 9781350213760
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 412g
264 pages