Precarious Balance: Sinhala Buddhism and the Forces of Pluralism

by Bardwell L. Smith

Overview

Since the third century BCE, when the king of Sri Lanka converted to Buddhism, the island nation off the southern coast of India has represented a central interest of Buddhist scholarship. The association between its politics and religious life has not always remained harmonious, however, and has contributed to the contemporary turmoil that threatens to tear it apart. In this valuable book, renowned religious scholar Bardwell Smith elucidates the history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka from the time of one of its earliest rulers through to its present-day strife.

The essays collected here for the first time explore various themes of Sri Lanka’s long history in novel and constructive ways. Topics include Sinhala Buddhists’ sense of manifest destiny arising from Sri Lanka’s oldest historical chronicles, the Mahavamsa and the Dipavamsa; the nationalist implications of the chronicles’ depiction of the third-century Mahavihara monastery as the site of "original Buddhism"; and concepts of order and legitimation of power in ancient Ceylon. With a new introduction and final chapter, Smith sheds fresh light on today’s Sri Lanka, connecting historical studies with contemporary issues.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813945392
Publisher:	University of Virginia Press
Publication date:	08/18/2022
Series:	Studies in Religion and Culture
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Bardwell L. Smith was John W. Nason Professor of Religion and Asian StudiesEmeritus at Carleton College and the author of Narratives of Sorrow and Dignity:Japanese Women, Pregnancy Loss, and Modern Rituals of Grieving.

Table of Contents

Preface: Understanding the Present through Its History
Introduction
A Note on Transliteration
1. Concepts of an Ideal Social Order as Portrayed in the Chronicles of Ceylon
2. Kingship, the Sangha, and the Process of Legitimation in the Anuradhapura Period
3. Varieties of Religious Assimilation in Early Medieval Sri Lanka
4. The Pursuit of Equilibirum: Polonnaruva as a Ceremonial Center
5. Sinhalese Buddhism and Its Modern Quests for Identity: The Dilemmas of a Pluralistic Society
6. Identity Issues of Sinhalas and Tamils: Dilemmas of Identity in the Throes of Social Conflict
Epilogue by Jerri Hurlbutt: A Vision of Pluralism Enacted

What People are Saying About This

Anne M. Blackburn

This volume draws together important writings by Professor Bardwell Smith, whose contributions to the study of Lankan political thought and practice have been formative for several fields. Smith's work helped generations of scholars to engage textual evidence from Sri Lanka, with an eye on wider South Asian contexts as well as to comparative studies in the history and sociology of religion. Many will benefit from access to this collection.

Editorial Reviews

This volume draws together important writings by Professor Bardwell Smith, whose contributions to the study of Lankan political thought and practice have been formative for several fields. Smith's work helped generations of scholars to engage textual evidence from Sri Lanka, with an eye on wider South Asian contexts as well as to comparative studies in the history and sociology of religion. ​Many will benefit from access to this collection.

Anne M. Blackburn

Holds tremendous value for scholars of Theravāda Buddhist history and those of Sri Lanka more generally by gathering together some of the most important contributions by one of the field’s defining voices into a volume that celebrates his lifelong commitment to pluralism, tolerance, and reconciliation while scrutinizing the reasons these have been and continue to be difficult to sustain.

Reading Religion