Research Catalog

Title

Forest recollections : wandering monks in twentieth-century Thailand / Kamala Tiyavanich.

Author

Tiyavanich, Kamala, 1948-

Publication

Honolulu : University of Hawai'i Press, 1997.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xxi, 410 pages; 25 cm

Summary

• During the first half of this century the forests of Thailand were home to wandering ascetic monks. They were Buddhists, but their brand of Buddhism did not copy the practices described in ancient doctrinal texts. Their Buddhism found expression in living day-to-day in the forest and in contending with the mental and physical challenges of hunger, pain, fear, and desire.
• Combining interviews and biographies with an exhaustive knowledge of archival materials and a wide reading of ephemeral popular literature, Kamala Tiyavanich documents the monastic lives of three generations of forest-dwelling ascetics and challenges the stereotype of state-centric Thai Buddhism.
• Although the tradition of wandering forest ascetics has disappeared, a victim of Thailand's relentless modernization and rampant deforestation, the lives of the monks presented here are a testament to the rich diversity of regional Buddhist traditions. The study of these monastic lineages and practices enriches our understanding of Buddhism in Thailand and elsewhere.

Subject

• Asceticism > Buddhism
• Buddhism > Thailand > History > 20th century
• Buddhist monks > Thailand
• Ascetics > Thailand
• Wayfaring life > Thailand

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 387-400) and index.

Contents

Thai Names and Romanization -- Ch. 1. Buddhist Traditions in Siam/Thailand -- Ch. 2. The Path to the Forest -- Ch. 3. Facing Fear -- Ch. 4. Overcoming Bodily Suffering -- Ch. 5. Battling Sexual Desire -- Ch. 6. Wandering and Hardship -- Ch. 7. Relations with Sangha Officials -- Ch. 8. Relations with Villagers -- Ch. 9. The Forest Invaded -- Ch. 10. Many Paths and Misconceptions.

ISBN

• 0824817680 (cloth : alk. paper)
• 0824817818 (paper : alk. paper)

LCCN

96034016

OCLC

• 35138672
• ocm35138672

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries