Transnational and Comparative Perspectives on Asian Buddhism and Popular Rituals in South China, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and the United States

Session Submission Type: Organized Panel Proposal Application

Abstract

In recent years scholars of Asian Buddhism and popular religion have begun to explore the transformation of new religious movements and popular rituals as a process of globalization and localization. On one hand, there are numerous transnational networks of temples, teachings, and rituals that move across national boundaries. On the other hand, these transnational religious practices undergo a process of indigenization to accommodate to different local conditions. In addition to the relationship between the temples, ritual specialists, and the local community, one should also take into account the role of engaged forms of Buddhism addressing to new social concerns of peace, environment, immigration, and ethnic identity. In this panel three scholars explore the comparisons of Chinese, Thai, and Japanese Buddhist practices and popular religions. Chi Cheung Choi examines the spread of Grand Universal Salvation Rituals of the Cantonese Chinese in South China, Hong Kong, and the British Strait Settlements. He argues that the rituals for pacifying the dead for Cantonese spread from Hong Kong and South China to Penang and Singapore. Alan Lopez compares the Thai Forest Movement and the Chan/Zen school from a social movement perspective. He addresses the mutual interactions of these two Buddhist movements at forest monasteries and retreat centers. Wing-kai To explores the transnational networks of Fo Guang Shan, Soka Gakkai, and the Council of the Thai Bhikkus for the spread of Taiwanese, Japanese, and Thai Buddhist movements. He compares various forms of engaged Buddhism addressing issues of immigrant communities through meditative rituals and community festivals.

Area of Study

• Interarea-Border Crossing-Diaspora

Session Organizer

• Wing-kai To, Bridgewater State University

Chair

• Wing-kai To, Bridgewater State University

Individual Presentations

• Between Ghost and Ancestor: Grand Universal Salvation Rituals of the Cantonese Chinese in South China, Hong Kong and the British Strait Settlements - Chi Cheung Choi, Chinese University of Hong Kong

• A Comparsion of the Thai Forest Movement and the Chan/Zen School: A Social Movements View - Alan Lopez, Mahachulalongkorn Buddhist University

• Globalization of Asian Buddhism: Comparing Transnational Networks and Engaged Religions of Fo Guang Shan, Soka Gakkai, and the Council of the Thai Bhikkhus - Wing-kai To, Bridgewater State University