Melford spiro buddhism and society pdf

Melford elliot mel spiro april 26, 1920 october 18, 2014 was an american cultural anthropologist specializing in religion and psychological anthropology. Jun 12, 2019 burmese supernaturalism pdf buddhism and society burmese supernaturalism. Prenticehall, inc englewood cliffs, new jersey, 1967. Melford elliot spiroeveryone called him melwas born in ohio. Apotropaic buddhism concerned with providing protection from evil spirits, kammatic buddhism concerned with making merit for a future birth, and nibbanic buddhism concerned with attaining the liberation of. Specifically, it considers examples selected from christianity, judaism, buddhism, indigenous religious traditions, and modern secular religion. Spiro is an anthropologist, interested in the ways in which the intellectual strictures of doctrinal theravada buddhism are translated into the everyday practice of an entire society in this case, that of burmamyanmar. It was historically used in a political context to denote a governing assembly in a republic or a kingdom. Interviews i conducted with several ethnic monks who had lived in rangoon at one.

Melford spiros burmese supernaturalism has been one of the major works in this debate, both for its position on the two religions question and for its arguments concerning the psychological basis of religion. Melford elliot mel spiro april 26, 1920 october 18, 2014 was an american cultural. The lecturer holds her audiences attention my use of the feminine pronoun alludes of course to the initiator of this series, wendy doniger by relaying to. This is an expanded version of a paper delivered at the sixty. Buddhism and society a great tradition and its burmese vicissitudes, expanded edition. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext.

He received his phd from northwestern university in 1950. Quebecs controversial bill could ban religious symbols for public workers. Spiro has tambiah deliberately ignore canonical buddhism buds, 4, a statement belied by the matter of ts book, which he could not have seen when he wrote. Spiro university of chicago the buddhist world vicv, and especially its notions of rebirth and karma, prde a cognitive orimwion luithin which religious spending is a much sounder and much more profitable investment than economic saving in the usual sense of saving. However, spiro reduces sacrifice to the psychological act of a donors genuine deprivation melford e. He is known for his critiques of the pillars of contemporary anthropological theorywholesale cultural determinism, radical cultural relativism, and virtually limitless cultural diversityand for his emphasis on the theoretical. The buddhist world view, and especially its notions of rebirth and karma, provide a cognitive. His approach not only signaled a departure from redfields. As one of the founding chairs in the social sciences at. Philosophical and political preference for a secular society over that heavily shaped by religion. Melford spiro remarks on an interesting difference with the concept of suffering in burmese folk religion as opposed to buddhism. Moreover, the practice of the five precepts and other parts of sila are described as forms of meritmaking, means to create good karma.

Field work in burma was conducted in 19611962, and was supported by a grant from the national science foundation. As one of the founding chairs in the social sciences at ucsd, mel was an influential voice who. Spiro, melford hartford institute for religion research. Augustine said of the word time, most of us know perfectly well what it is until someone asks us to define it. Having elaborated these theories of collective and territorial charisma, in chapter four smyer yu sets his sights on examining how the emerging cyberversion of tibetan buddhism in china has amplified. A social historical perspective on religious change, with special reference tocentesimus annus steven piker 1 journal of business ethics volume 12, pages 965 973 1993 cite this article. On generalized exchange and the domestication of the sangha. Kindness and compassion as means to nirvana in early buddhism. The course package for history 438spring 1994 available at the copy center of humanities building, rm. Read the fulltext online edition of buddhism and society. The best lectures have the quality of detective stories. Sangha is a sanskrit word used in many indian languages, including pali, meaning association, assembly, company or community. Below is a selection of definitions of religion from a variety of sources.

A great tradition and its burmese vicissitudes that the main problem the religion dealt with was suffering, a conception of religion mainly grounded on a psychological approach. Burmese supernaturalism pdf buddhism and society burmese supernaturalism. Buddhism in burma general online burmamyanmar library. Prentice hall, inc englewood cliffs, new jersey, pp. The equivalen in sanskritt term, ths e principal vehicl of classicael. Zuesse divination and deity in african religions divination as a spiritual phenomenon has had very little written about it, perhaps due in part to the ready labeling of it as a form of magic and therefore irrational, utilitarian, egoistic, and insuffici ently religious.

The department was noted for its high degree of solidarity, as well as its academic strengths. Most prominently, the anthropologist melford spiro in his work buddhism and society separated burmese theravada into three groups. Buddhism teaches that suffering comes from bad karma which one has rightfully accumulated from a past life and this karma cant be improved upon until the next life. Anthropological approaches to the study of religion is the third volume in the highly regarded series of monographs put out by the association of social anthropologists of the commonwealth. Though buddhism possesses nothing similar to a bible or quran, it does have authoritative sacred. The buddha taught that the uposatha day is for the cleansing of the defiled mind, resulting in inner calm and joy. For more than 50 years the british journal of sociology has represented the mainstream of sociological thinking and research. Religion and legitimation of power in thailand laos and burma. A great tradition and its burmese vicissitudes 1970. Kindness and compassion as means to nirvana in early.

Anthropologists, working especially in therav a da societies, led the study of buddhist ethics a generation ago in ways that still frame much scholarly work in the field. It is an attempt to interpret buddhism in the light of some current theories about. Melford spiro s burmese supernaturalism has been one of the major works in this debate, both for its position on the two religions question and for its arguments concerning the psychological basis of religion. Behind common expectations about buddhism and social justice we often find an implicit assumption that since buddhism is good, and teaches ways to spiritual liberation, buddhist ideology must also attack, and buddhist institutions work to oppose, the evils of social and economic bondage. They have often expounded two kinds of buddhism to explain the discrepancy between what doctrine says buddhist practice is and how many actually approach it. Specifically, it considers examples selected from christianity, judaism, buddhism. I pariyatti edition buddhism in a nutshell pariyatti edition manual of the excellent man, a pariyatti edition dhamma reflections pariyatti edition dhammapada chanting pali only and with hindi translation audio download discourse summaries, the. A great tradition and its burmese vicissitudes berkeley.

Pdf the impact of social change on the traditional dwelling. Buddhism is a moral law, thus, the concept of karma is its moral punishment. While no one definition can completely sum up what religion is, together they can bring one to a closer. Request an exam or desk copy recommend to your library pdf rightslink. Spiro writes very well, with a minimum of jargon and pretension. It contains five essays, of which two are very broad in scope basically attempts at a definition of religion and consequent methodological suggestions for. Another important contribution, buddhism and society university of california press 1982, examines discrepancies between observed ritual practice and the official doctrines of buddhism. It is the most religious buddhist country in terms of the proportion of monks in the population and proportion of income spent on religion. Under this doctrine, social inequality, injustice and sufferings or victimization. Buddhism in burma also known as myanmar is predominantly of the theravada tradition, practised by 89% of the country. Anthropological approaches to the study of religion michael.

Although this is a scholary work and i am not an anthropologist, i found it very easy to read, with a wealth of new and interesting. Prentice hall, inc englewood cliffs, new jersey, 1967. Politics and religion in contemporary burma 39 u ottama and u wissera to lead public opinion against the british. Upavasatha is a buddhist day of observance, in existence from the buddhas time 600 bce, and still being kept today in buddhist countries. Melford spiro department became an outstanding department of psychological anthropology, arguably the best in the country. Consistently ranked highly by the isi in sociology, this prestigious international journal publishes sociological scholarship of the highest quality on all aspects of the discipline, by academics from all over the world. The current western interest in buddhism and other eastern religions isamong other reasonsboth the result of and the stimulation for an entire library of books purporting to bring the wisdom of the east to an audience for whom the wisdom of the west has failed. His parents moved to minnesota where he attended the university of minnesota, majoring in philosophy. Supernaturalism, spiro concludes, offers alternate explanations for suffering and thereby meets existential needs. A great tradition and its burmese vicissitudes new york. The five precepts are part of the right speech, action and livelihood aspects of the noble eightfold path, the core teaching of buddhism.