Overview and Impressions of "Theravada Buddhism in Contemporary Sri Lanka" by Egaku Maeda - A great book for a systematic study of contemporary Sri Lankan Buddhism!
The book introduced here is "Theravada Buddhism in Contemporary Sri Lanka," edited by Maeda Egaku, published by Yamakibo Butsushorin in 1986.
Recently I have been reading a number of books on Sri Lankan Buddhism and the sectarian and cultural differences were actually starting to confuse me.
Just as Japanese Buddhism is divided into various sects, each with completely different doctrines and manners, there are many differences in Sri Lankan Buddhism.
I am no longer sure which sects there are and what teachings they teach.
It was then that I came across this book and it cleared my head.
In this book, you can learn about each of these modern Sri Lankan sects and their origins in a systematic and easy-to-understand manner. This was a great help to me when I was confused.
And in my last article.Buddhism in Sri Lanka.The translator's afterword to the book introduced the book as follows
In Japan, a major work on modern Sri Lankan Buddhism, "Modern Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhism" edited by Keigaku Maeda (Yamakibo Butsushorin) was published in 1986 (total 671 pages), which is an excellent and comprehensive study on modern Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhism. Just two years later, in 1988, the original book, Buddhism Transformed-Religous Change in Sri Lanka (48-44 pages), co-authored by Richard Gombrich and Gananath Obersekara, two of the leading scholars of modern Sri Lankan Buddhism, was published. (48-44 pages) was published. Later, in 1996, a large book, Religion and Society in Sri Lanka: A Cultural Anthropological Study, by Masataka Suzuki (Shunju-sha) was published in Japan (991 pages).
Although these three books are all major works on Buddhism in modern Sri Lanka based on many years of fieldwork, they are in sharp contrast to each other in the following respects. Theravada Buddhism in Contemporary Sri Lanka" was written from the standpoint of Buddhist studies, while "Religion and Society in Sri Lanka" was written from the standpoint of cultural anthropology, and is a joint work of a Buddhist scholar and a cultural anthropologist. There is also a contrast between "Theravada Buddhism in Contemporary Sri Lanka" and this book. While the former is mainly based in rural areas and consciously avoids using various theoretical frameworks from the standpoint of Buddhist studies to describe the current state of Buddhism in contemporary Sri Lanka, the latter is based in Colombo and the surrounding urban areas and uses a variety of methods and theoretical frameworks to describe the current state of Buddhism in urban areas, while the former is based in rural areas and consciously avoids using a variety of theoretical frameworks from the standpoint of Buddhist studies to describe the current state of Buddhism in urban areas. The latter, on the other hand, focuses on analyzing the transformation of Buddhism in Sri Lanka as a result of urbanization, using a variety of methods and theoretical frameworks in Colombo and the surrounding urban areas.
Hozokan, Richard Gombrich, Gananat Obesekara, translated by Shima Iwa.Buddhism in Sri Lanka.P715-716
I think the enormity of these works, this Sri Lankan Buddhist trilogy, can be clearly seen when placed side by side with the paperbacks. As was mentioned in the quote above, it is a staggering volume.
This may be a tough introductory book on Sri Lanka, but if you want to learn more about Sri Lanka in depth, this is a great collection of books that I highly recommend. Despite being such a large volume, it is not hard to read. Not only is the narrative interesting, but the religious situation in Sri Lanka is just fascinating to begin with! It was very exciting to learn about the uniqueness of Sri Lankan Buddhism while considering the religious differences between India and Sri Lanka.
I will not hesitate to open these books if I have any questions or need confirmation on Sri Lankan Buddhism in the future. They are just wonderful as reference books and resources.
This book is very valuable because it systematically summarizes the characteristics and doctrines of each sect in Sri Lanka, as well as Buddhism at the level of daily life of the people of Sri Lanka. It is very interesting to read it while comparing it with Buddhism in Japan, as it also explains in detail about funerals and daily prayers.
This is a work I would highly, highly recommend. Why don't you pick it up?
The above is "Theravada Buddhism in Contemporary Sri Lanka" edited by Maeda Egaku: A great book for systematic study of contemporary Sri Lankan Buddhism! The above is "Contemporary Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhism" edited by Maeda Egaku.
Next Article.
Click here to read the previous article.
Related Articles
