Buddhist Monk, Buddhist Layman: A Study of Urban Monastic Organization in Central Thailand (Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology, Series Number 6)

Most anthropological and sociological studies of Buddhism have concentrated on village and rural Buddhism. This is a systematic anthropological study of monastic organization and monk-layman interaction in a purely urban context in the countries where Theravada Buddhism is practised, namely, Burma, Cambodia, Ceylon, Laos and Thailand. The material presented is based on fieldwork carried out in Ayutthaya, Central Thailand. Dr Bunnag describes and analyses the socio-economic and ritual relations existing between the monk and the lay community, and she demonstrates the way in which the role of the monk is used by some men, wittingly or otherwise, as a social stepping-stone, in that for the son of a farmer a period in the monkhood can provide the education and contacts necessary to facilitate his assimilation into the urban lay community at a social and economic level which would otherwise have been impossible. Finally, Dr Bunnag places the material presented in a broader theoretical context by reviewing it in relation to anthropological discussions concerning the nature of Thai society as a whole. Book=Cover......Page 1 Half-Titel......Page 2 TITLES IN THE SERIES......Page 3 Titel......Page 4 Cobyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 List of tables......Page 8 List of illustrations......Page 9 Preface......Page 10 Map A Thailand......Page 13 Introduction: The Thai social system......Page 14 I The way of the monk'......Page 42 2 The monk and the lay community......Page 64 3 The wat community......Page 99 4 The wat and its social matrix......Page 113 5 The role of the Buddhist layman......Page 154 6 The loosely structured social system:red herring or rara avis?......Page 192 l Case-history......Page 200 2 Results of the questionnaire survey......Page 202 3 Ecclesiastical educational qualifications of the monks of Ayutthaya......Page 206 4 a) Honorific titles awarded to monks......Page 208 4 b) Monks receiving Nittayaphat......Page 209 5 Estimated annual income and expenditure of two monks......Page 211 6 Composition of the monastic community and extent of lay support at fifteen wats in Ayutthaya......Page 212 7 The rights and duties of the abbot of a wat......Page 213 8 The appointment of higher ecclesiastical officials......Page 215 9 Statistics relating to the income and expenditure of fifteen wats in Ayutthaya......Page 217 BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 221 INDEX......Page 224 Leere Seite......Page 18

this Is A Systematic Anthropological Study Of Monastic Organization And Monk-layman Interaction In A Purely Urban Context In The Countries Where Theravada Buddhism Is Practised.