Bringing the Buddha Closer: the Role of Venerating the Buddha in The
BRINGING THE BUDDHA CLOSER: THE ROLE OF VENERATING THE BUDDHA IN THE MODERNIZATION OF BUDDHISM IN SRI LANKA by Soorakkulame Pemaratana BA, University of Peradeniya, 2001 MA, National University of Singapore, 2005 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2017 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH THE DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Soorakkulame Pemaratana It was defended on March 24, 2017 and approved by Linda Penkower, PhD, Associate Professor, Religious Studies Joseph Alter, PhD, Professor, Anthropology Donald Sutton, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Religious Studies Dissertation Advisor: Clark Chilson, PhD, Associate Professor, Religious Studies ii Copyright © by Soorakkulame Pemaratana 2017 iii BRINGING THE BUDDHA CLOSER: THE ROLE OF VENERATING THE BUDDHA IN THE MODERNIZATION OF BUDDHISM IN SRI LANKA Soorakkulame Pemaratana, PhD. University of Pittsburgh, 2017 The modernization of Buddhism in Sri Lanka since the late nineteenth century has been interpreted as imitating a Western model, particularly one similar to Protestant Christianity. This interpretation presents an incomplete narrative of Buddhist modernization because it ignores indigenous adaptive changes that served to modernize Buddhism. In particular, it marginalizes rituals and devotional practices as residuals of traditional Buddhism and fails to recognize the role of ritual practices in the modernization process. This dissertation attempts to enrich our understanding of modern and contemporary Buddhism in Sri Lanka by showing how the indigenous devotional ritual of venerating the Buddha known as Buddha-vandanā has been utilized by Buddhist groups in innovative ways to modernize their religion.
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