Sleeping Next to My Coffin
Representations of the Body in Theravada Buddhism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11469442 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Elizabeth J Harris (0000-0002-3477-8000, Liverpool Hope University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 105-120 |
| Publication date | 2012-07-13 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Buddhist Studies Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0265-2897 • E-ISSN: 1747-9681 |
| Publisher | Equinox Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1558/bsrv.v29i1.105 |
| OpenAlex | W2330836377 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 3 |
Therav?da Buddhism can be stereotyped as having a negative view of the body. This paper argues that this stereotype is a distortion. Recognizing that representations of the body in Therav?da text and tradition are plural, the paper draws on the Sutta Pi?aka of the P?li texts and the Visuddhimagga, together with interviews with lay Buddhists in Sri Lanka, to argue that an internally consistent and meaningful picture can be reached, suitable particularly to those teaching Buddhism, if these representations are categorised under three headings and differentiated according to function: the body as problem (to be seen and transcended); the body as teacher (to be observed and learnt from); the liberated body (to be developed). It also examines two realizations that accompany the development of a liberated body: realizing purity of body in meditation; realizing compassion. It concludes that compassion for self all embodied beings is the most truly Therav?da Buddhist response to embodiment, not pride or fear, disgust or repression
Art · Buddhism · Buddhist studies · Compassion · Epistemology · Linguistics · Literature · Meditation · Metaphor · Plural · Psychoanalysis · Sociology · Theology · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · Chinese history and philosophy · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology
| Highly cited | No |
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