Tägliches Handbuch für die Jugend

Trapp, Ernst C.

Anthropos, 80.1985,1/6

Bibliographische Daten

Monographie

Strukturtyp:: Monographie

Werks-URN (URL):: https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-710022

URN:: urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-710022

Persistenter Identifier:: BV042516446

Titel:: Tägliches Handbuch für die Jugend

Autor:: Trapp, Ernst C.

Erscheinungsort:: Hamburg

Verlag:: Bohn

Erscheinungsjahr:: 1784

Umfang:: [7] Bl., 135 S. : Titel- Seiten- und Abschlußvignette

Beschreibung:: Pädagogik

Zusätzliche Information:: In Fraktur

Signatur:: 2011 A 2058

Sammlung:: Historische Drucke > Verzeichnis der deutschen Drucke des 18. Jhs.

Wissensgebiet:: Pädagogik

Farbkeil

Strukturtyp:: Farbkeil

Sammlung:: Historische Drucke > Verzeichnis der deutschen Drucke des 18. Jhs.

Rezensionen 341 Anthropos 80.1985 South wold, Martin: Buddhism in Life. The Anthropo logical Study of Religion and the Sinhalese practice of Buddhism. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1983. 232pp. Price: £19.50 Martin Southwold is Senior Lecturer in Social Anthro pology at the University of Manchester. His unorthodox book reflects his thoughts on Sinhalese practice of Bud dhism. Basing his views on fieldwork he conducted in Sri Lanka from August 1974 to September 1975, Southwold attempts to prove that practices are shaping beliefs. He questions the statements made by other scholars that the Buddhism codified in canonical and post-canonical scrip tures is “true Buddhism,” while the Buddhism practised on the village level is “corrupt.” Here he strikes a cord in the reviewer who wrote her dissertation on the role of Bud dhism in modern Thailand. Like Southwold conducting research in a Theravàda country, she soon discovered that scriptures and practices operate on different levels. The vitality of a religion can only be measured by looking at how it is practised. The anthropologist Leach, distinguishing between practices and religious ideals, already spoke of “philosophical” and “practical” religion. The discussion of “world” or “elite” religions, that is, Great Traditions, versus “folk” or “local” religions, that is, Little Traditions, has occupied scholars for decades. It is said that Little Traditions are mainly concerned with religious practices which are transmitted orally and seem to pursue more immediate and “pragmatic” goals (Mandelbaum 1965). However, the elite “who codify ‘normative’ religions, not only participate in but also propagate so-called folk reli gious practices and, what is more important ‘pragmatic’ practices would not be effective without their ‘transcenden tal’ aspects. Concepts seem to move in a circular fashion - local beliefs are reinterpreted and codified by the elite and then, in a more elaborate form, superimposed on the original beliefs. Thus, on the one hand, local beliefs gain legitimacy through acceptance by the elite and, on the hand, normative religions are kept alive by local practices” (Heinze 1982: xi- xii). Southwold decided to study Sinhalese Buddhism on the village level. He selected his informants to prove his Point that “secular” ministry and socially active Buddhism a re the “true” forms of Buddhism but he does not furnish sufficient evidence that the views quoted are widely upheld. They may be just individual views, if not the personal opinions of the author himself. We read that Southwold developed ambivalence to the answers he got on his questionnaire survey (27) and that he found inaccuracies in his informants’ descriptions, suspecting them of making up stories (31). In brief, he faced the perennial problems of fieldworkers, especially when they conduct research in a foreign culture. What means do we have for reality testing? The reviewer herself uses the method of triangulation, i. e., comparing the self-image of an informant with the opinion °f other members of the same culture, held against her own observations. Many clues are non-verbal. Southwold’s book is fascinating reading because he a llows us to participate in his thought processes and we have to acknowledge that he honestly admits his prejudices and preferences. In Chapter 2, Southwold describes the village he selected. He first looked for a predominantly high-caste village, not too large, with households not too widely dispersed and the local monks being landowners. He changed his mind when he learned that landowning monks rarely have good relationships with their villagers. In Chapter 3, we become acquainted with the Buddhist monk Southwold chose to become his key informant, admittedly an unusual character whom the author himself sometimes calls a rogue. The villagers’ views about rebirth and belief are investigated in Chapter4, while in Chapters we learn that the attitudes of village Buddhists are not life-denying. The problem and its dissolution - not being interested in attaining nirvana but striving for a better rebirth - is examined in Chapter 6. In Chapter 7, on theology, Southwold quotes examples from Christianity when he discusses the doctrine of incarnation. We are shown how villagers distinguish between worldly (laukika) and other-worldly (lokottara) affairs. Chapters is devoted to “existence, symbolism and belief.” Southwold states that “Buddhists, unlike Christians, have never insisted on purity of belief as essential to religion, but have seen practice, especially ethical practice, as the touchstone” (95). When talking about “ministry and meditation” in Chapter 9, Southwold prefers the ministering secular clergy to the granthadhura (learning) and vidarsanadhura (medi tating) monks. He cites Bunnag who said that meditation monks are “either elderly men who had retired into the Order, or younger bhikkhus out on a spree” (1973: 53-57). The reviewer who, like Bunnag, worked extensively in Thailand, has to disagree with the statement that “Most actual Buddhists, both clergy and laymen, regard them [meditation monks] rather with contempt and even loath ing” (104). These may be localized views held by those who are not interested in exploring the values of meditation - calming one’s mind and increasing awareness of human conditions. It is Southwold’s prerogative to ignore Sri Lankan meditation teachers like Nyanatiloka, Nyanaponi- ka und Narada who seem to be representatives of the Great Traditions while he is looking at the kind of Buddhism practised at the village level. His encouragement of scepticism, however, goes so far as to doubt the authenticity, for example, of the Vinaya rule concerning celibacy (37-41). His phobia for celibate monks leads to preferring the terms “priests” and “clergy” for Sinhalese Buddhist monks who serve their community, although many Sinhalese monks are not involved in social action and consider their teaching and keeping the Dharma alive, i. e., setting an example, an adequate social service. Furthermore, Theravàda Buddhism knows only of ordina tions of novices, monks and nuns, not of priests. The first ordination consisted of the historical Buddha inviting a man with the words, “come, monk,” a rather clear invitation to leave behind all worldly attachements. Does Southwold’s low opinion of celibate meditation monks hide his intention to find some justification for the not so celibate, but socially active monks he met? Southwold goes on to discuss, in Chapter 10, apparent

Zugriffsbeschränkung

Nutzungslizenz

Bibliographische Daten: Anthropos, 80.1985,1/6

Monographie

Farbkeil

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Downloads

Ganzer Datensatz

Diese Seite

Bildfragment

Formate und Verlinkungen

Formate

Links

Zitieren

Ganzer Datensatz

Diese Seite

Zitierempfehlung