Kate Crosby

Trent Walker

Buddhist Songs from Cambodia

Until Nirvana's Time

A groundbreaking exploration of a practice tradition that was nearly lost to history. Theravada Buddhism, often understood as the school that most carefully preserved the practices taught by the Buddha, has undergone tremendous change over time. Prior to Western colonialism in Asia—which brought Western and modernist intellectual concerns, such as the separation of science and religion, to bear on Buddhism—there existed a tradition of embodied, esoteric, and culturally regional Theravada meditation practices. This once-dominant traditional meditation system, known as borān kammatthāna, is related to—yet remarkably distinct from—Vipassana and other Buddhist and secular mindfulness practices that would become the hallmark of Theravada Buddhism in the twentieth century. Drawing on a quarter century of research, scholar Kate Crosby offers the first holistic discussion of borān kammatthāna, illuminating the historical events and cultural processes by which the practice has been marginalized in the modern era.

The Story of the Forgotten Meditation Tradition of Southeast Asia

Esoteric Theravada

Theravada Buddhism provides a comprehensive introductoryoverview of the history, teachings, and current practice of anoften misunderstood form of one of the world’s oldestreligious traditions. Explores Theravada Buddhism’s origins, evolution,teachings, and practices Considers the practice of Theravada beyond Sri Lanka andThailand, by exploring a wealth of material from countriesincluding Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Vietnam Reveals its rich and varied traditions, and corrects commonmisunderstandings about links to other practices, such as earlyBuddhism or Hinayana Buddhism Incorporates student-friendly features including a glossary andother study aids

Continuity, Diversity, and Identity

Theravada Buddhism

Theravada Buddhism provides a comprehensive introductory overview of the history, teachings, and current practice of an often misunderstood form of one of the world’s oldest religious traditions. Explores Theravada Buddhism’s origins, evolution, teachings, and practices Considers the practice of Theravada beyond Sri Lanka and Thailand, by exploring a wealth of material from countries including Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Vietnam Reveals its rich and varied traditions, and corrects common misunderstandings about links to other practices, such as early Buddhism or Hinayana Buddhism Incorporates student-friendly features including a glossary and other study aids

Steven Collins

Patrick Pranke

Juliane Schober

Niklas Foxeus

Keiko Tosa

Thomas Patton

Celine Coderey

Hidden at the margins of Burmese Buddhism and culture, the cults of the weikza shape Burmese culture by bringing together practices of supernatural power and a mission to protect Buddhism. This exciting new research on an often hidden aspect of Burmese religion places weikza in relation to the Vipassana insight meditation movement and conventional Buddhist practices, as well as the contemporary rise of Buddhist fundamentalism. Featuring research based on fieldwork only possible in recent years, paired with reflective essays by senior Buddhist studies scholars, this book situates the weikza cult in relation to broader Buddhist and Southeast Asian contexts, offering interpretations and investigations as rich and diverse as the Burmese expressions of the weikza cults themselves. Champions of Buddhism opens the field to new questions, new problems, and new connections with the study of religion and Southeast Asia in general.

Weikza Cults in Contemporary Burma

Champions of Buddhism

Kate Crosby

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