Making Fields of Merit: Buddhist Female Ascetics and Gendered Orders in Thailand (Gendering Asia): No. 2 - Softcover

Monica Lindberg Falk

Softcover

ISBN 10: 8776940195 ISBN 13: 9788776940195

Publisher: NIAS Press, 2007

Synopsis

This is the first monograph published on the lives and aspirations of Thai Buddhist nuns. It presents a unique ethnography of the nuns lives and examines what it means to be a female ascetic in contemporary Thailand. It also broadens the discussion on gendered orders and Buddhism, not least by analysing religious legitimacy and authority from a gender perspective - a very timely study, given the recent struggles for recognition by Buddhist nuns and restoration of a Theravada order of female monks in Thailand. Religion plays a central role in Thai society with Buddhism intertwined in the daily lives of the people. Religion also plays an important role in establishing gender boundaries. The growth in recent decades of self-governing nunneries and the increasing interest of Thai women in a Buddhist monastic life are notable changes in the religion gender dynamic. This anthropological study addresses religion and gender relations, analysing this through the lens of the lives, actions and role in Thai society of Buddhist nuns (mae chii). It presents an unique ethnography of the Thai Buddhist nuns, examines what it implies to be a female ascetic in contemporary Thailand and analyses how the ordained state for women fits into the wider gender patterns found in Thai society. It raises questions about how the position of Thai Buddhist nuns outside the Buddhist sangha affects their religious legitimacy and describes recent moves to restore a Theravada order of female monks.

About this title

Product Description:

Religion plays a central role in Thai society with Buddhism intertwined in the daily lives of the people. Religion also plays an important role in establishing gender boundaries. The growth in recent decades of self-governing nunneries and the increasing interest of Thai women in a Buddhist monastic life are notable changes in the religion-gender dynamic. This anthropological study addresses religion and gender relations, analysing this through the lens of the lives, actions and role in Thai society of Buddhist nuns (mae chii). It raises questions about how the position of Thai Buddhist nuns outside the Buddhist sangha affects their religious legitimacy and describes recent moves to restore a Theravada order of female monks.

Review:

The book is an excellent introduction for students and those who are interested in gaining further insight into the religious experiences of Buddhist women and nuns in Thailand. It is also sympathetically written reflecting the deep affection the author has for her informants whose life as Buddhist female renunicants is by no means easy, as we analyse and objectify their daily struggle from comfortable chairs. Aseasuk News Making Fields of Merit is a fascinating study of the Thai mae chiis and will undoubtedly become required reading for anyone interested in Thai Buddhism or female Buddhist asceticism. Journal of Buddhist Ethics

About this edition

• Publisher: NIAS Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 8776940195
• ISBN 13: 9788776940195
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 297