Burma’s Mass Lay Meditation Movement: Buddhism and the Cultural Construction of Power (Volume 115)

by Ingrid Jordt

Burma's Mass Lay Meditation Buddhism and the Cultural Construction of Power describes a transformation in Buddhist practice in contemporary Burma. This revitalization movement has had real consequences for how the oppressive military junta, in power since the early 1960s, governs the country.

Drawing on more than ten years of extensive fieldwork in Burma, Ingrid Jordt explains how vipassanā meditation has brought about a change of worldview for millions of individuals, enabling them to think and act independently of the totalitarian regime. She addresses human rights as well as the relationship between politics and religion in a country in which neither the government nor the people clearly separates the two. Jordt explains how the movement has been successful in its challenge to the Burmese military dictatorship where democratically inspired resistance movements have failed.

Jordt's unsurpassed access to the centers of political and religious power in Burma becomes the reader's opportunity to witness the political workings of one of the world's most secretive and tyrannically ruled countries. Burma's Mass Lay Meditation Movement is a valuable contribution to Buddhist studies as well as anthropology, religious studies, and political science.

Genres: Buddhism

272 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2007

Reviews

[Ihor Kolesnyk]

Це книга про те, як буддизм у М'янмі перетворився на фундамент культурного, політичного та світоглядного відродження. Це книга про те як релігія в один момент відроджується і стає чимось соціально заангажованим, що має на меті відновити моральні цінності, практики медитації і суспільне благополуччя.
Дуже цікаво читати, але по моїй темі було небагато матеріалу.