Teaching and learning guide for: “Compassion without pity: Buddhist Dāna as charity, humanitarianism, and altruism”
This article explores how Buddhists reinterpret the concept of dāna to address contemporary social issues, using the example of Buddhist charities in Vietnam. My study is based on ethnographic research conducted from 2017 to 2019 in Vietnam's fastest growing urban area, Ho Chi Minh City. As the...
| Published in: | Religion compass |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Wiley-Blackwell
[2020]
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| In: |
Religion compass
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Vietnam
/ Dāna (Religion)
/ Charitable works
/ Religious change
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| RelBib Classification: | AH Religious education BL Buddhism KBM Asia |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | This article explores how Buddhists reinterpret the concept of dāna to address contemporary social issues, using the example of Buddhist charities in Vietnam. My study is based on ethnographic research conducted from 2017 to 2019 in Vietnam's fastest growing urban area, Ho Chi Minh City. As the city's economy and population are expanding, social service needs are also on the rise. Buddhist charities have become crucial aid providers, helping to feed the homeless and subsidize medicine for the sick. Some volunteers have adopted the Buddhist concept of dāna—a Sanskrit word which means “giving”—to explain how charity is a spiritually significant religious practice. While people often think of religions as unchanging, timeless traditions, my research illustrates how religious practitioners regularly adapt and reinterpret key concepts like dāna to cope with present day concerns such as poverty and urbanization. To corroborate this argument, I trace how Buddhist understandings of dāna have changed through different historical and political contexts in Asian societies around Vietnam, influencing the way charity workers in Ho Chi Minh City use dāna today. |
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| ISSN: | 1749-8171 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion compass
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/rec3.12374 |