Title Holy things : the genealogy of the sacred in Thai religion / Nathan McGovern

Published New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2024]

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Description 1 online resource (xvii, 269 pages) : illustrations Contents 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 Summary "Scholars of religion have increasingly rejected the model of religious syncretism, in which apparent deviations from normative practice are explained as the result of a mixture of religions. Nevertheless, there are aspects of Thai Buddhist practice that still stubbornly appear syncretistic, such as the worship of particular Buddha images for mundane boons in the same way as gods and spirits. Moreover, increasingly Thai Buddhists themselves are 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? Holy Things 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. It shows that what appears to be syncretism is actually an illusion created by an array of historically transforming and interacting discourses: Pali Buddhist, Sanskritic Hindu, and the modern discourse of religion. Holy Things thus explains not only why a stubborn case of apparent syncretism is actually not so, but also why syncretism seems so appealing in the first place"-- Provided by publisher Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on July 25, 2024) Subject Buddhism -- Social aspects -- Thailand Buddhism -- Thailand -- History Syncretism (Religion) syncretism. Society & culture: general. Religion. Thailand -- Social life and customs Thailand -- Religion Form Electronic book LC no. 2024012953 ISBN 9780197759912 0197759912 9780197759899 0197759890 9780197759905 0197759904

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