Meditation in Modern Buddhism by Joanna Cook
This ethnographic account of a thriving Northern Thai monastery examines meditation in detail, and explores the subjective signification of monastic duties and ascetic practices. Focusing on the status of mae chee - part lay, part monastic nuns - it provides a fresh insight into social relationships and gender hierarchy within the monastery.
'This is an engaging, inspiring, and thought-provoking ethnography and phenomenology of Buddhist insight meditation in contemporary ThailandUsing her own experience as a 'nun' (mae chee) as well as her relationships with others in a monastic setting, Cook uncovers and analyzes the formation of subjectivity, inter-subjectivity and the embodiment of ethics in Buddhist practice. The book should be required reading for anyone concerned with Buddhism in South and Southeast Asia, and will be of interest to many others: for example, to those concerned with religious ethics, with the practice of self-reflexive anthropology, and to Gender Studies as a discipline.' Steven Collins, University of Chicago
'This is a most welcome development in the study of Thai Buddhism - scholars have tended to focus on the religious roles, experience, activities, achievements and institutions of male Buddhists. … The book excels in achieving an impressive analytical depth that allows insights into (female) monasticism and what Cook, drawing on Foucault, calls 'meditation as a practice in self-formation'. She is able to do this thanks to the cogent engagement of data gained from other practitioners and her own experience as a meditating mae chi and deploying an impressively wide range of literature from and beyond the field of Buddhist studies.' Martin Seeger, South East Asia Research
'This is a most welcome development in the study of Thai Buddhism - scholars have tended to focus on the religious roles, experience, activities, achievements and institutions of male Buddhists. … The book excels in achieving an impressive analytical depth that allows insights into (female) monasticism and what Cook, drawing on Foucault, calls 'meditation as a practice in self-formation'. She is able to do this thanks to the cogent engagement of data gained from other practitioners and her own experience as a meditating mae chi and deploying an impressively wide range of literature from and beyond the field of Buddhist studies.' Martin Seeger, South East Asia Research
Joanna Cook is George Kingsley Roth Research Fellow in Southeast Asian Studies, Christ's College, University of Cambridge.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781107660557 |
| ISBN 10 | 1107660556 |
| Title | Meditation in Modern Buddhism |
| Author | Joanna Cook |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| Year published | 2014-04-10 |
| Number of pages | 226 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |