Intended as a methodological and theoretical contribution to the study of religion and society, this book examines Buddhist monasticism in Myanmar. The book focuses on the Shwegyin, one of the most important but least understood monastic groups in the country. Analyzing the group as a tradition constructed around ideas of continuity and disruption/rupture, the study illuminates key aspects of monastic and wider Burmese Buddhist thought and practice, and ultimately argues for the distinctiveness of elements of that thought and practice in comparison to the Buddhist cultures of Sri Lanka and Laos. After situating the Shwegyin within the history of Buddhist monasticism more generally, and within the vicissitudes of modern Burmese political history, the book proceeds along two scholarly avenues. It adopts an interdisciplinary method with attention to biographical, administrative, doctrinal, and ethnographic evidence. Theoretically, the book engages scholarly discussion about "traditions" and their "traditionalisms" and advances a specific type of interpretive approach built on bringing the viewpoints and practices of the Shwegyin into conversation with the enterprise of understanding larger historical and cultural patterns in the Buddhist societies of South and Southeast Asia.

"At last an anthology that fills the need for a set of informed, authoritative descriptions of Buddhism as it is lived and practiced in the world today! Textbooks focussing on Buddhist ritual are few; this is easily the best and most usable of them. Carbine and Reynolds have done us all a great service. Their selection of significant excerpts from the writings of a variety of anthropologists and historians of religion covers the gamut of Buddhist practice. The examples come from a diversity of Buddhist traditions. While each piece is grounded in a concrete and culturally specific situation, taken together they act as effective springboards to a more general consideration of the reality of Buddhist ritual life. I look forward to using this reader in the classroom." --John Strong, author of "The Experience of Buddhism

"Spanning many Buddhist cultures, the reader gets an exciting tour of Buddhist practices, rituals, and life experiences, focusing on both the monastic and lay traditions. This book will prove to be valuable reading for the classroom and beyond."--Charles S. Prebish, author of "Luminous Passage"

"Whereas traditional scholarship has focused on voices of elite groups, philosophies of different sects, and textual ideals, "The Life of Buddhism presents a wide range of Buddhist practice in relatively contemporary contexts. The book represents a step forward by emphasizing the iconography, individualized and communal rituals, in addition to diverse practices and devotional expressions of both monastic and lay communities, and will make a significant contribution to the field of both religious studies and Buddhist studies. "--Bernard Faure, author of "The Red Thread: BuddhistApproaches to Sexuality, The Rhetoric of Immediacy: A Cultural Critique of Chan/Zen Buddhism, and "Visions of Power: Imagining Medieval Japanese Buddhism.

"This volume is a treasure-trove of issues currently being debated in Buddhist studies. Carbine and Reynolds's compilation breaks through the belief-centered, artificially purified world apparent in other anthologies. "The Life of Buddhism will help redirect pedagogical attention to the many ways in which the historical and cultural setting help to make sense of Buddhist beliefs."--Stephen F. Teiser, D.T. Suzuki Professor in Buddhist Studies, Princeton University

Human-fashioned boundaries transform spaces by introducing dualisms, bifurcations, creative symbioses, contradictions, and notions of inclusion and exclusion. The Buddhist boundaries considered in this book, sīmās—a term found in South and Southeast Asian languages and later translated into East Asian languages—come in various shapes and sizes and can be established on land or in bodies of water. Sometimes, the word sīmā refers not only to a ceremonial boundary, but the space enclosed by the boundary, or even the markers (when they are used) that denote the boundary. Sīmās were established early on as places where core legal acts (kamma), including ordination, of the monastic community (sangha) took place according to their disciplinary codes. Sīmās continue to be deployed in the creation of monastic lineages and to function in diverse ways for monastics and non-monastics alike. As foundations of Buddhist religion, sīmās are used to sustain, revitalize, or reform Buddhist practices, notions of identity, and conceptualizations of time and history. In the last few decades, scholarly awareness of and expertise on sīmās has developed to a point where a volume like this one, which examines sīmās across numerous cultural contexts and scholarly fields of inquiry, is both possible and needed. Sīmā traditions expressed in the Theravāda cultures of Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka constitute the dominant focus of the work; a chapter on East Asia raises questions of historical transmission beyond these areas. Throughout contributors engage texts; history; archaeology; politics; art; ecology; economics; epigraphy; legal categories; mythic narratives; understandings of the cosmos; and conceptualizations of compassion, authority, and violence. Examining sīmās through multiple perspectives allows us to look at them in their contextual specificity, in a way that allows for discernment of variation as well as consistency. Sīmā spaces can be both simple and extremely intricate, and this book helps show why and how that is the case.