Going against the grain:A historical and comparative analysis of renunciationand celibacy in Indian Buddhist monasticisms
Year: 2014
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This research is concerned with the concept of renunciation and celibacy \nin Buddhist traditions, and how it has evolved with respect to \ninstitutional, social and cultural aspects. The goal of this study is to trace \nthe history of renunciation to Indian contexts and show how the practice \nof celibacy has evolved in Buddhist Monasticisms. \nI hypothesise that the practice of celibacy is the most significant concept \nin maintaining Buddhist communal institutions. It can be used as the \nmoral standard and ethical norm for both Buddhist monks and lay people. \nIt has always existed alongside the growth and ramification of Buddhist \nsects and sectarian schools. Buddhism arose as one of the reformist \nśramaṇa traditions that opposed the Vedic sacrificial rituals of \nBrahmanism. The success of the śramaṇa movements made celibacy a \ncentral virtue within the broad spectrum of Indian religions, even that of \nthe Brahmaṇism. The value placed on celibacy resulted in Brahmanism \nhaving to adapt and reinterpret celibate and renunciatory values. \nAlthough the early Mahāyāna shows new forms of religious practice \noriented around devotion to bodhisattvas, there is no evidence that \nMahāyāna attempted to denigrate the monastic life. However, as \nMahāyāna evolved fully, it became strongly critical of the arhat ideal of \nthe Śrāvakayāna. With the development of the new teaching of upāya \n‘skill in means’, Mahāyāna undertook the greatest degree of doctrinal \nadaptation, which may be seen as to deviate considerably from earlier \nNikāya Buddhism. Consequently, the bodhisattvas are permitted to \nviolate the monastic vow of celibacy. The root of monasticism was thus \nthreatened. This was connected with the emergence of married monks in \nKāśmir followed by Nepal. In Japan, although Buddhism was faced with \nthe same phenomenon, clerical marriage obviously lies in the ideology of \nmappō, a belief in the decline of the Buddhist doctrine.
Author: Phramaha Hemthep
Language: English
Topic: Indian and Buddhist Studies
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1569657019