Holy Things : The Genealogy of the Sacred in Thai Religion

Scholars of religion have mostly abandoned the concept of "syncretism" in which certain apparent deviations from "standard" practice are believed to be the result of a mixture of religions. This is particularly relevant to Thailand, in which ordinary religious practice was seen by an earlier generation of scholars as a mixture of three religions: local spirit religion, Hinduism, and Buddhism. In part, the perception that Thai Buddhism is syncretistic is due to a misunderstanding of traditional Buddhism, which has always accepted the existence of local spirits and gods. Nevertheless, there are aspects of Thai Buddhist practice that still stubbornly appear syncretistic. Moreover, Thai Buddhists themselves are increasingly adopting the language of syncretism, referring to traditional Thai religion as a mixture of local, Hindu, and Buddhist practices. This raises the question: If syncretism is so wrong, then why does it seem so right? In Holy Things , Nathan McGovern answers this question through an in-depth study of the worship of spirits, gods, and Buddha images--all known as sing saksit , or "holy things"--in Thailand. He takes the reader on a historical and genealogical journey, showing how the category saksit began as a term to describe a power that is inherent to gods and spirits and accessible to Brahmans. Only later, when it was used in the nineteenth century to translate the Western concept of the "holy" did it become associated with Buddhist practice. McGovern shows that what appears to be syncretism is actually an illusion. The worship of "holy things" is not a mixture of different religions, but the category of "holy things" is a mixture of different ways of talking about religion. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents Acknowledgments Abbreviations Transliteration, Transcription, and Translation Vowels and Diphthongs Consonants 1 Introduction Asking for Boons: Making and Fulfilling Vows “Holy Things” and the Limits of Religious Taxonomy Moving Beyond Syncretism Buddhist Inclusivism The Genealogy of Saksit Part I Contextualizing Holy Things 2 Buddhism as Implicit Theology Implicit Theologies The Implicit Theology of Devas in Vedic India Buddhism’s Intervention in Implicitly Theological Discourse in Ancient India Modern Disenchantment and Buddhism’s Theological Project The Cosmological Agency of Buddhist Implicit Theology 3 Situating Siam in History The Sanskrit Cosmopolis and the Śaiva World The Collapse of the Sanskrit Cosmopolis and the Rise of Persianate and Arabic Cosmopoleis The Ripple Effects of the Persianate Cosmopolis and the Rise of the Pali Cosmopolis The Historical Origins of Siam Continuities Between the Sanskrit and Pali Cosmopoleis 4 The Genealogy of the Sacred How Saksit Became “Holy” The Literary Corpus for This Study Saksit in Siamese Literature The Saiyasāt Context of Saksit Saiyasāt, Magic, and Religion Summary Part II Deconstructing the Syncretism of Holy Things 5 Spirits The Chinese Roots of Tai “Spirits” Historicizing “Indigenous” Tai Spirits “Local Spirits” in Thailand Today The Modern Discourse of Religion and the Construction of “Local Religion” 6 Gods Saiyasāt and Extra-Pali Discourses in Sukhōthai and Ayutthayā The Bangkok Restoration and Interest in Hinduism in Prerevolutionary Siam The Ērāwan Shrine and Rise of Brahmā Worship in Thailand Hindu Enthusiasm in Contemporary Thailand Saiyasāt, the Gods, and the Work of World Religions 7 Buddha Images Early Evidence for the Propitiation of Buddha Images in Siam The Culture of Buddha Images and Their Miraculous Power in Lānnā Explaining Miraculous Buddha Relics Within the Pali Imaginaire Luang Phǭ Sōthǭn and the Origins of Modern Kānbonbānsānklāo The Changing Meaning of Saksit and Modern Kānbonbānsānklāo 8 Conclusion Appendix A Explicit Theology From Plato to the Abrahamic Traditions Appendix B Corpus of Siamese Literary Works Consulted Corpus of Sukhōthai Inscriptions Consulted Works of Siamese Literature Consulted Notes Acknowledgments Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Appendix A Appendix B Bibliography Index