A Buddhist Bouncer: Monastic Adaptation to the Ethos of Desire in Today's Cambodia
Buddhist teachings have much to say about the disciplining of desire. In lived Buddhism, however, there may be considerable contestation over how canonical tenets should be understood and flexibility in the way precept is related to practice. This article uses ethnographic data recently gathered fro...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Carfax Publ.
[2009]
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In: |
Journal of contemporary religion
Year: 2009, Volume: 24, Issue: 3, Pages: 291-303 |
Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) |
Summary: | Buddhist teachings have much to say about the disciplining of desire. In lived Buddhism, however, there may be considerable contestation over how canonical tenets should be understood and flexibility in the way precept is related to practice. This article uses ethnographic data recently gathered from a rural setting in Cambodia to discuss how religious legitimacy is shaped by the complex fabric of village culture and history and the contemporary ethos of the laity. Today's entrepreneurial Cambodian monks are a telling model of the times. The monk who is the key figure of this article maintains a finely balanced position at the interstices of the local and non-local; he must remain responsive to the interests of both those above' him, including the politicized ecclesiastical hierarchy, and those below' him in the village, with their desires for security and order. |
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ISSN: | 1469-9419 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of contemporary religion
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/13537900903080410 |