Living Theravada: Demystifying the People, Places, and Practices of a Buddhist Tradition

by Brooke Schedneck

An illuminating introduction to the contemporary world of Theravada Buddhism and its rich culture and practices in modern mainland Southeast Asia.

Theravada translates as “the way of the Elders,” indicating that this Buddhist tradition considers itself to be the most authoritative and pure. Tracing all the way back to the time of the Buddha, Theravada Buddhism is distinguished by canonical literature preserved in the Pali language, beliefs, and practices—and this literature is often specialized and academic in tone. By contrast, this book will serve as a foundational and accessible resource on Theravada Buddhism and the contemporary, lived world of its enduring tradition.

Brooke Schedneck has done extensive research on topics such as religions of Southeast Asia, contemporary Buddhism, gender in Asian religions, and religious tourism. Narrowing in on topics such as temples, monastic lives, lay Buddhists, meditation, and Buddhist objects, Schedneck highlights the thriving diversity of Theravada Buddhists today. Exploring Theravada as a lived religion reveals how people apply various expressions in everyday life. She presents to readers the most important practices and beliefs of Theravada Buddhists, illustrated through contemporary debates about what represents proper Theravada practice within Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand in the twenty-first century. Additionally, practical information is provided in appendices about what temples and practice centers readers can visit as well as a temple etiquette guide offering tips for being a respectful visitor. While academics will benefit from and appreciate this overview, the writing offers a refreshing introduction to a complex tradition for readers new to the subject.

Genres: Buddhism, Religion, Nonfiction, Spirituality

272 pages, Paperback

Published April 18, 2023

Reviews

[Kaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an interesting book, and I do mean it. When I purchased it, I thought that the blurb about Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand meant that the book would be using them as examples to talk about lived Theravada Buddhism in a general sense. The book is actually a set of chapters based on Schedneck's courses (primarily targeted at Westerners) orienting attendees to Buddhist culture in those four countries, so it's much more like a manual/orientation guide, and it's probably very useful for anyone who wants to visit one or more of those countries.

Having spent a lot of my life in the East Coast of the USA seeing a lot of women Buddhist monastics serving as college chaplains (but now that I know, I guess they're from Mahayana traditions), it really surprised me that Theravada did not have a continuous female monastic tradition and that the current revived one is viewed as illegitimate by the conservative establishment. The anecdote about Saccavadi and her horrific, dehumanizing humiliation when she went to be ordained in another country and was forced to disrobe and then faced five years of jail time for "impersonating a monk" was very chilling. That is a heinous amount of spiritual trauma, and I'll hazard a guess that every monk implicated in that is not going to fare as well in a future life as he hopes.

The sections of the book that I found most engaging were "Theravada's Relationship with Other Religions" and "Lay Buddhist Practices and Beliefs" — particularly because I'm not a Buddhist. I thought that Schedneck deftly handled the entire worldview issue when discussing the challenges of Buddhism with Christianity and Islam, as the radically different soul-views of those three traditions mean that true interfaith dialogue will always reach an impasse. It was an interesting contrast between Christianity as a faith with a lot of international political power (probably due to US and Europe's influence in the charity space) because there is more Buddhist-Christian dialogue surrounding schooling and benefitting society (so they'll engage together on projects even if they won't discuss theology) with the Buddhist-Muslim relations (which are fraught with violence). This is also the first book that has described Buddhist activities as missionary, especially for uniting various ethnic groups into a modern nation-state and giving citizens a shared worldview. Apparently converting to Christianity in many of these nations is similar to how it is in India, where it's often not done out of faith, but out of political protest and a search for dignity related to being part of a marginalized community that the state will not prioritize for resources and development. The ways in which indigenous polytheistic faiths have merged with Buddhism is also interesting, especially since the examples are so diverse. I was also not expecting that there was a division between spirit possession practices with Buddhist-leaning spirits and non-Buddhist-leaning ones in some areas, where the Buddhist-leaning spirits need the rituals to follow the 8 Buddhist rules. In the section on lay practices ,,, so, I'm pagan, and my philosophical school is Platonism (which shares many similarities with Buddhism, except the no-self thing and the reincarnating-as-gods-and-demons aspect are not how we interpret embodiment, reincarnation, and liberation, but this isn't the place to go into that in detail). For the past however many years, there have been people trying to revere pop culture fiction characters as deities. I felt so much relief reading that there are spirit possession trends for fictional characters and dead celebrities in a place outside of that context, because previously it had been something embarrassing that I thought was only happening in modern American paganism. The weizza mentioned in the chapter on lay practices sound a lot like theurgists in the West.

The meditation chapter was interesting for another reason. I have used a meditation app for years, and in the West, this is of course a very secularized practice. The way this book situated meditation in a continuous cultural context gave me new perspective on the currents that Calm, Headspace, &c. are drawing from. It had always been somewhat mysterious to me how vipassana was similar or different to an ordinary meditation retreat, and while I had probably attempted to read the Wikipedia entry in the past, this book provided excellent context. I also sometimes watch Nick Keomahavong's YouTube talks, and the entire book was helpful for understanding more of where he's coming from given that he's in Thailand.

In sum, this is a very practical guide. Sometimes a bit dry, often fascinating, very useful for getting out of one's cultural bubble and learning about how things are in another part of the world.

[goatmilksoda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish that more religious books were like this. Instead of giving us the broad stroke, theological explanations that often don't mean much to a non-Buddhist Layperson, Brooke Schedneck breaks down the practical nitty gritty of everyday Theravada people, places, things, and practices to their essentials so that everyone can understand both the religion and how its surrounding culture influence one another.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is an excellent overview of Theravada Buddhism in the mainland Southeast Asian countries of Burma/Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. It is anthropologically-based, written by a scholar who lived and has taught in Thailand for about a decade. The three main sections, on Sacred Placed and Objects, People, and Practices, provide a clear framework for introducing the tradition and its diversity and tensions.

[Chad Kohalyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a broad survey of practices of both "elite" and "popular" Buddhism across Southeast Asia, mostly centered on Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia. Some interesting tips, and some pretty concise explanations of Buddhist doctrine. I found these quite handy actually!

[Chet Taranowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice description of this Buddhist sect.

[Alexa Selden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and easy to read- great intro to Buddhism

[Willow · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book examining the often neglected depth of Buddhist practice in Southeast Asia.