Journal of Global Buddhism

Decolonising the Study of Religion: Who Owns Buddhism?

Natalie Quli — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Response to Natalie Fisk Quli’s Review of Decolonising the Study of Religion: Who Owns Buddhism?

Jørn Borup — Wed, 09 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The Oxford Handbook of American Buddhism

Richard Seager — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The Space of Religion: Temple, State, and Buddhist Communities in Modern China

Gareth Fisher — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Mountain at a Center of the World: Pilgrimage and Pluralism in Sri Lanka

Bhadrajee Hewage — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Capitalism Magic Thailand: Modernity with Enchantment

Pattaradhorn Sanpinit — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Rethinking Meditation: Buddhist Meditative Practices in Ancient and Modern Worlds

Almut-Barbara Renger — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Soteriological Inclusiveness and Religious Tourism in Modern Thai Buddhism: The Stūpa of Mae Chi Kaew Sianglam (1901–1991)

Martin Seeger, Prapas Kaewketpong, Adcharawan Seeger, Juree Saijunjiam — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

While numerous Thai male Buddhist monastics have been deeply and widely revered for their perceived attainment of full awakening/arahant-ship, the same recognition for Thai female practitioners together with the concomitant phenomena of veneration remain very limited, with only a few notable exceptions. Given the scarcity of acknowledged Thai female Buddhist arahants in comparison to the number of widely venerated male Thai arahants, it is unsurprising that while numerous sacred sites across the country are dedicated to male practitioners of modern Thai Buddhism, equivalent places for the veneration of female Buddhist practitioners are exceedingly rare. The Mae Chi Kaew Stūpa stands out due to its unique purpose: it was built for the memory and veneration of a female arahant of modern Thai Buddhism. Unlike most similar monuments dedicated to male monastic practitioners of modern Thai Buddhism who are believed to have achieved full awakening, this memorial is an unambiguous articulation of women’s potential to realise the summum bonum of Theravada Buddhist soteriology in current times. As we will show in this paper, the Mae Chi Kaew Stūpa has been strategically promoted as a religious tourism site across multiple levels: international, national, provincial, and local. Thus, our research focuses on the question of how tourism may help to effectively spread the message of what the Buddhist Studies scholar Alan Sponberg in relation to early Buddhism termed “soteriological inclusiveness.” Drawing on sustained ethnographic work at the Mae Chi Kaew Stūpa in Thailand’s northeastern province of Mukdahan, this paper aims to examine the interface between modern tourism and Thai Buddhist religiosity.

Dying ‘Buddhish’: Death, Diversity, and Worldview Complexity in and Beyond Australia

Hannah Gould, Anna Halafoff, Ruth Fitzpatrick — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Buddhism contributes significantly to spirituality and wellness practices in contemporary Australia, influencing a new way of life not just for converts, but also broader society. Less frequently observed, however, is how Buddhism and Buddhist-inspired phenomena contribute to a new way of death or “deathstyle”. This paper examines the position of Buddhism within mainstream end-of-life and death care in Australia, focusing on those phenomena we describe as “buddhish”: derived from or inspired by Buddhism, but sitting outside its institutional structures. Our research, comprising online service scoping, a survey, and interviews with deathcare workers, suggests that buddhish deathcare is successful in Australia because of its compassionate and pragmatic approach. It also occupies a middle way, drawing on but also distinct from the biomedical, religious, and spiritual. In analysing the triangulation of buddhish death in this manner, this article advances our understanding of postmodern or new death movements, theories of worldview complexity in the post-secular age, and how Buddhism is contributing to both.