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Buddhist Rituals of Death and Rebirth: Contemporary Sri Lankan

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Buddhist Rituals of Death and Rebirth: Contemporary Sri Lankan BROA01 18/06/2007 09:38 AM Page i BUDDHIST RITUALS OF DEATH AND REBIRTH In Buddhist thought and practice, death has always been a central concept. This book provides a careful and thorough analysis of the rituals and social customs surrounding death in the Theravada tradition of Sri Lanka. The author describes the rituals of death and rebirth and analyses social issues of the relationship between monks and lay people in this context. This aspect is of particular interest as death rituals are the only life cycle ritual in which Theravada Buddhist monks are actively involved. The author then embarks upon an investigation of the ancient origins of these rituals. Drawing on early Vedic setras and Pali texts, as well as archaeological and epigraphical mater- ial, this book establishes that Sri Lankan rituals are deeply rooted in their pre-Buddhist, Vedic precursors. Whilst beliefs and doctrines have undergone considerable changes over the centuries, it becomes evident that the under- lying practices have largely remained stable. As the first comprehensive study of death rituals in Theravada Buddhist practice, this is an important con- tribution to the fields of Buddhist studies, indology, anthropology and reli- gious studies. Rita Langer is Lecturer in Buddhist Studies at the University of Bristol, UK. Focusing on Southeast Asia (Thailand and Laos), she is continuing her research into Theravada death rituals as part of a larger AHRC funded project, ‘Buddhist Death Rituals of Southeast Asia and China’. BROA01 11/06/2007 03:41PM Page ii ROUTLEDGE CRITICAL STUDIES IN BUDDHISM General Editors: Charles S. Prebish and Damien Keown Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism is a comprehensive study of the Buddhist tradition. The series explores this complex and extensive tradition from a variety of perspectives, using a range of different methodologies. The series is diverse in its focus, including historical studies, textual translations and commentaries, sociological investigations, bibliographic studies, and considerations of religious practice as an expression of Buddhism’s integral religiosity. It also presents materials on modern intellectual historical studies, including the role of Buddhist thought and scholarship in a contemporary, critical context and in the light of current social issues. The series is expansive and imaginative in scope, spanning more than two and a half millennia of Buddhist history. It is receptive to all research works that inform and advance our knowledge and understanding of the Buddhist tradition. A SURVEY OF VINAYA PAIN AND ITS ENDING LITERATURE Carol S. Anderson Charles S. Prebish EMPTINESS APPRAISED THE REFLEXIVE NATURE David F. Burton OF AWARENESS THE SOUND OF Paul Williams LIBERATING TRUTH ALTRUISM AND REALITY Edited by Sallie B. King and Paul Williams Paul O. Ingram BUDDHISM AND BUDDHIST THEOLOGY HUMAN RIGHTS Edited by Roger R. Jackson and Edited by Damien Keown, Charles John J. Makransky Prebish and Wayne Husted THE GLORIOUS DEEDS WOMEN IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF PURNA OF THE BUDDHA Joel Tatelman Kathryn R. Blackstone EARLY BUDDHISM: THE RESONANCE OF A NEW APPROACH EMPTINESS Sue Hamilton Gay Watson CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN BUDDHISM BUDDHIST ETHICS Edited by Duncan Ryuken Williams Edited by Damien Keown and Christopher Queen INNOVATIVE BUDDHIST IMAGING WISDOM WOMEN Jacob N. Kinnard Edited by Karma Lekshe Tsomo BROA01 11/06/2007 03:41PM Page iii TEACHING BUDDHISM BUDDHIST STUDIES FROM IN THE WEST INDIA TO AMERICA Edited by V.S. Hori, R.P. Hayes Edited by Damien Keown and J.M. Shields DISCOURSE AND IDEOLOGY EMPTY VISION IN MEDIEVAL JAPANESE David L. McMahan BUDDHISM Edited by Richard K. Payne and SELF, REALITY AND REASON Taigen Dan Leighton IN TIBETAN PHILOSOPHY Thupten Jinpa BUDDHIST THOUGHT AND APPLIED PSYCHOLOGICAL IN DEFENSE OF DHARMA RESEARCH Tessa J. Bartholomeusz Edited by D.K. Nauriyal, Michael S. BUDDHIST PHENOMENOLOGY Drummond and Y.B. Lal Dan Lusthaus BUDDHISM IN CANADA RELIGIOUS MOTIVATION AND Edited by Bruce Matthews THE ORIGINS OF BUDDHISM BUDDHISM, CONFLICT AND Torkel Brekke VIOLENCE IN MODERN DEVELOPMENTS IN SRI LANKA AUSTRALIAN BUDDHISM Edited by Mahinda Deegalle Michelle Spuler THERAVfDA BUDDHISM AND ZEN WAR STORIES THE BRITISH ENCOUNTER Brian Victoria Religious, missionary and colonial experience in nineteenth century THE BUDDHIST UNCONSCIOUS Sri Lanka William S. Waldron Elizabeth Harris INDIAN BUDDHIST THEORIES BEYOND ENLIGHTENMENT OF PERSONS Buddhism, religion, modernity James Duerlinger Richard Cohen ACTION DHARMA BUDDHISM IN THE PUBLIC Edited by Christopher Queen, SPHERE Charles Prebish and Damien Keown Reorienting global interdependence TIBETAN AND ZEN Peter D. Hershock BUDDHISM IN BRITAIN BRITISH BUDDHISM David N. Kay Teachings, practice and development THE CONCEPT OF THE BUDDHA Robert Bluck Guang Xing BUDDHIST NUNS IN TAIWAN THE PHILOSOPHY OF DESIRE IN AND SRI LANKA THE BUDDHIST PALI CANON A critique of the feminist perspective David Webster Wei-Yi Cheng THE NOTION OF DITTHI IN NEW BUDDHIST MOVEMENTS THERAVADA BUDDHISM IN THAILAND Paul Fuller Toward an understanding of Wat Phra Dhammakaya and Santi Asoke THE BUDDHIST THEORY OF Rory Mackenzie SELF-COGNITION Zhihua Yao BUDDHIST RITUALS OF DEATH AND REBIRTH MORAL THEORY IN Contemporary Sri Lankan practice 3fNTIDEVA’S 3IKofSAMUCCAYA and its origins Barbra R. Clayton Rita Langer BROA01 11/06/2007 03:41PM Page iv The following titles are published in association with the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies a project of The Society for the Wider Understanding of the Buddhist Tradition The Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies conducts and promotes rigorous teaching and research into all forms of the Buddhist tradition. EARLY BUDDHIST METAPHYSICS Noa Ronkin MIPHAM’S DIALECTICS AND THE DEBATES ON EMPTINESS Karma Phuntsho HOW BUDDHISM BEGAN The conditioned genesis of the early teachings Richard F. Gombrich BUDDHIST MEDITATION An anthology of texts from the Pali canon Sarah Shaw REMAKING BUDDHISM FOR MEDIEVAL NEPAL The fifteenth-century reformation of Newar Buddhism Will Tuladhar-Douglas METAPHOR AND LITERALISM IN BUDDHISM The doctrinal history of nirvana Soonil Hwang THE BIOGRAPHIES OF RECHUNGPA The evolution of a Tibetan hagiography Peter Alan Roberts THE ORIGIN OF BUDDHIST MEDITATION Alexander Wynne BROA01 11/06/2007 03:41PM Page v BUDDHIST RITUALS OF DEATH AND REBIRTH Contemporary Sri Lankan practice and its origins Rita Langer BROA01 11/06/2007 03:41PM Page vi First published 2007 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2007 Rita Langer This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 200. To purchase your on copy o this or any o Taylor & Francis or outledes collection o thousands o eoos please o to .eoostore.tand.co.u. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN 0-203-96073-4 aster e-boo ISBN10: 0–415–39496–1 (hbk) ISBN10: 0–203–96073–4 (ebk) ISBN13: 978–0–415–39496–3 (hbk) ISBN13: 978–0–203–96073–8 (ebk) BROA01 11/06/2007 03:41PM Page vii FOR RUPERT AND LEONARD BROA01 11/06/2007 03:41PM Page viii BROA01 11/06/2007 03:41PM Page ix CONTENTS Acknowledgements xi Introduction 1 1 General 1 2 The fieldwork 6 I Death and dying 10 Contemporary Sri Lankan practice 10 The role of monks (questionnaire C.1) 10 The role of laypeople (questionnaire C.1) 11 Excursus: jcvadanaya 12 Commentary on the practice 14 The importance of the moment of death (questionnaire C.2 & 3) 14 When things go wrong: on prbtas 16 Excursus: pirit chanting in contemporary Sri Lanka 19 Some historical roots: time of death 23 The Vedic and brahmanical material 26 The PAli nikayas and some stories from the commentaries 35 The Abhidhamma interpretation 54 II The funeral 62 Contemporary Sri Lankan practice 62 A laywoman’s burial 62 A monk’s cremation 66 Excursus: treatment of the corpse and its disposal 69 Commentary to the practice 73 The general customs 75 Excursus: intermediate state (questionnaire B.1–3) 82 Offering of the matakavastra 84 ix BROA01 11/06/2007 03:41PM Page x CONTENTS Some historical roots: handling the remains 88 The Vedic and brahmanical material 90 The PAli nikayas and some stories from the commentaries 99 Archaeological evidence 115 III Post-funerary rites 125 Contemporary Sri Lankan practice 125 Bawa 125 Seventh-day matakadanaya 129 Excursus: treatment of the remains 136 Two examples of later matakadanas 141 Excursus: other options (questionnaire D.1–3) 143 Commentary to the practice 146 Food offerings 146 Giving of merit 156 Excursus: anumodanava (questionnaire A.1–3) 163 Some historical roots: giving of merit 165 The early stage: assigning merit 166 The later stage: giving merit 171 The Abhidhamma interpretation 177 Inscriptions 180 Proposed origins of the notion of giving of merit 182 Conclusions 186 Notes 190 Appendix: questionnaire (English and Sinhala) 213 Bibliography and abbreviations 215 General index 232 Index of cited passages, suttas and texts 241 x BROA01 11/06/2007 03:41PM Page xi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This book is a revised version of my PhD dissertation (‘Death and funerary rites in Sri Lanka: a study of contemporary Buddhist practice and its origins’) submitted to the University of Hamburg in 2004. Before I embarked on the PhD I was priveleged to study at three great institutions under exceptional teachers. At the Institut für Kultur und Geschichte Indiens und Tibets (Hamburg University) I am indebted to PD Professor Dr Erb, Professor Dr Schmithausen, Professor Dr Seyfort-Ruegg, Professor Dr Srinivasan and Professor Dr Wezler, for their inspirational classes.
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