Living with the dead as a way of life : a materialist historiographical approach to cemetery asceticism in Indian Buddhist monasticisms
This study challenges the long-standing scholarly conception that ascetic practice was incompatible with the institutional imperatives of the Indian Buddhist monastery in the “middle period.” Drawing upon the rich narrative tradition in Indian Buddhist law codes (Vinaya), I employ a new hermeneutica...
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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2020
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/143740 |
| _version_ | 1811684024458936320 |
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| author | Witkowski, Nicholas |
| author2 | School of Humanities |
| author_facet | School of Humanities Witkowski, Nicholas |
| author_sort | Witkowski, Nicholas |
| collection | NTU |
| description | This study challenges the long-standing scholarly conception that ascetic practice was incompatible with the institutional imperatives of the Indian Buddhist monastery in the “middle period.” Drawing upon the rich narrative tradition in Indian Buddhist law codes (Vinaya), I employ a new hermeneutical approach in order to demonstrate that cemetery (śmaśāna) asceticism remained central to the Buddhist monastic lifestyle. I begin with an extended methodological discussion that locates my approach—what I call materialist historiography—in a genealogy of scholarship that reads literary texts for an anthropology of everyday life. I then draw from a wide range of Vinaya narratives to argue that, despite the increasingly vocal presence of a Brahmanical purity party, the ascetic practices of residing in the cemetery, meditating on corpses, scavenging for goods on the charnel ground, and stripping corpses of their funeral shrouds remained an everyday affair in the monastery. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T04:22:03Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/143740 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T04:22:03Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1437402020-09-22T01:41:14Z Living with the dead as a way of life : a materialist historiographical approach to cemetery asceticism in Indian Buddhist monasticisms Witkowski, Nicholas School of Humanities Humanities::History::Asia Indian History Buddhist Studies Indian Buddhist Monasticism This study challenges the long-standing scholarly conception that ascetic practice was incompatible with the institutional imperatives of the Indian Buddhist monastery in the “middle period.” Drawing upon the rich narrative tradition in Indian Buddhist law codes (Vinaya), I employ a new hermeneutical approach in order to demonstrate that cemetery (śmaśāna) asceticism remained central to the Buddhist monastic lifestyle. I begin with an extended methodological discussion that locates my approach—what I call materialist historiography—in a genealogy of scholarship that reads literary texts for an anthropology of everyday life. I then draw from a wide range of Vinaya narratives to argue that, despite the increasingly vocal presence of a Brahmanical purity party, the ascetic practices of residing in the cemetery, meditating on corpses, scavenging for goods on the charnel ground, and stripping corpses of their funeral shrouds remained an everyday affair in the monastery. Accepted version 2020-09-22T01:09:05Z 2020-09-22T01:09:05Z 2019 Journal Article Witkowski, N. (2019). Living with the dead as a way of life : a materialist historiographical approach to cemetery asceticism in Indian Buddhist monasticisms. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 87(3), 824-859. doi:10.1093/jaarel/lfz040 0002-7189 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/143740 10.1093/jaarel/lfz040 3 87 824 859 en M4082221.100 Journal of the American Academy of Religion © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Academy of Religion. All rights reserved. application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Humanities::History::Asia Indian History Buddhist Studies Indian Buddhist Monasticism Witkowski, Nicholas Living with the dead as a way of life : a materialist historiographical approach to cemetery asceticism in Indian Buddhist monasticisms |
| title | Living with the dead as a way of life : a materialist historiographical approach to cemetery asceticism in Indian Buddhist monasticisms |
| title_full | Living with the dead as a way of life : a materialist historiographical approach to cemetery asceticism in Indian Buddhist monasticisms |
| title_fullStr | Living with the dead as a way of life : a materialist historiographical approach to cemetery asceticism in Indian Buddhist monasticisms |
| title_full_unstemmed | Living with the dead as a way of life : a materialist historiographical approach to cemetery asceticism in Indian Buddhist monasticisms |
| title_short | Living with the dead as a way of life : a materialist historiographical approach to cemetery asceticism in Indian Buddhist monasticisms |
| title_sort | living with the dead as a way of life a materialist historiographical approach to cemetery asceticism in indian buddhist monasticisms |
| topic | Humanities::History::Asia Indian History Buddhist Studies Indian Buddhist Monasticism |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/143740 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT witkowskinicholas livingwiththedeadasawayoflifeamaterialisthistoriographicalapproachtocemeteryasceticisminindianbuddhistmonasticisms |