Background
Swearer, Donald Keeney was born on August 2, 1934 in Wichita, Kansas, United States. Son of Edward Mays and Elloise Catherine (Keeney) Swearer.
( Becoming the Buddha is the first book-length study of ...)
Becoming the Buddha is the first book-length study of a key ritual of Buddhist practice in Asia: the consecration of a Buddha image or "new Buddha," a ceremony by which the Buddha becomes present or alive. Through a richly detailed, accessible exploration of this ritual in northern Thailand, an exploration that stands apart from standard text-based or anthropological approaches, Donald Swearer makes a major contribution to our understanding of the Buddha image, its role in Buddhist devotional life, and its relationship to the veneration of Buddha relics. Blending ethnography, analysis, and Buddhist texts related to this mimetic reenactment of the night of the Buddha's enlightenment, he demonstrates that the image becomes the Buddha's surrogate by being invested with the Buddha's story and charged with the extraordinary power of Buddhahood. The process by which this transformation occurs through chant, sermon, meditation, and the presence of charismatic monks is at the heart of this book. Known as "opening the eyes of the Buddha," image consecration traditions throughout Buddhist Asia share much in common. Within the cultural context of northern Thailand, Becoming the Buddha illuminates scriptural accounts of the making of the first Buddha image; looks at debates over the ritual's historical origin, at Buddhological insights achieved, and at the hermeneutics of absence and presence; and provides a thematic comparison of several Buddhist traditions.
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(A wide-ranging, readable account of the Theravada Buddhis...)
A wide-ranging, readable account of the Theravada Buddhist thought and practice in the Southeast Asian societies of Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), Laos, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka. An unparalleled portrait, Donald K. Swearer’s The Buddhist World of Southeast Asia has been a key source for all those interested in the Theravada homelands since the work’s publication in 1995. Expanded and updated, the second edition offers this wide-ranging account for readers at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Swearer shows Theravada Buddhism in Southeast Asia to be a dynamic, complex system of thought and practice embedded in the cultures, societies, and histories of Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), Laos, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka. The work focuses on three distinct yet interrelated aspects of this milieu. The first is the popular tradition of life models personified in myths and legends, rites of passage, festival celebrations, and ritual occasions. The second deals with Buddhism and the state, illustrating how King Asoka serves as the paradigmatic Buddhist monarch, discussing the relationship of cosmology and kingship, and detailing the rise of charismatic Buddhist political leaders in the postcolonial period. The third is the modern transformation of Buddhism: the changing roles of monks and laity, modern reform movements, the role of women, and Buddhism in the West. “This valuable update to the 1995 edition is written in light of profound, ongoing changes in the broad spectrum of Southeast Asian culture.” — CHOICE Praise for the First Edition “This book surveys many themes. Although rooted in cultural and religious matters, it is also a good historical review of the Theravada tradition. Buddhism in Southeast Asia is spiritually and culturally very dynamic, but it also has a political importance that makes it a timely theme for those interested in this part of the world—those not necessarily informed about the history and power of religion in Southeast Asia. “There are many books by notable authorities on the Buddhist world of Southeast Asia. However, these are almost always focused on just one country or culture, while the Swearer book embraces the whole region. I know of no other text in the English language that sets down such a good descriptive analysis of contemporary Theravada practices.” — Bruce Matthews, Professor Emeritus of Comparative Religion, Acadia University
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(An English translation and a commentary on the chronicle ...)
An English translation and a commentary on the chronicle of Queen Cama, an important but neglected female monarch who founded a dynasty in Northern Thailand. The Legend of Queen Cama (Camadevivamsa), an early fifteenth-century Pali chronicle written by Mahathera Bodhiramsi, recounts the story of the founding of the kingdom of Haripunjaya in the Chiang Mai valley of Northern Thailand in the seventh century C.E. Similar to other Theravada Pali chronicles, the legend integrates religious and political stories, namely, Queen Cama's founding of a dynastic lineage and the fortunes of Buddhism within it. The Legend of Queen Cama offers revealing insights into the nature of Buddhism as a living tradition during one of the greatest periods in the history of Thai Buddhism. These insights include the symbolic structure of Buddhist cosmology, the close association of Buddhism and the founding of city states, the interrelationship of popular Buddhist ethical teachings and devotional religion, and the inherently syncretic nature of Buddhism as presented in a text indebted to the folkloric traditions of Northern Thailand. One of the most striking features of the book is the parallelism between the text's dominant narratives--the Buddha's journey to Northern Thailand and his prediction of the discovery of a Buddha relic by King Adittaraja (eleventh century C.E.), and the founding by Queen Cama of a lineage destined to govern Haripunjaya for five hundred years. The Buddha and Queen Cama are equal partners in this creative, cosmically significant act. Both plant the seeds that mature into a Mon Buddhist politico-cultural center that predates the advent of Thai suzerainty in Northern Thailand by five hundred years. "The translation itself provides easy access to an engaging narrative. More important, though, is the skillful placement of the translated text within several overlapping contexts: historical, context of religious practice, authorial intentions, literary structure." -- Anne M. Blackburn, University of South Carolina, Columbia
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(This work brings together in a single volume the translat...)
This work brings together in a single volume the translated essays of Buddhadasa Bhikku, the major interpreter of Theravada Buddhism in Southeast Asia. --- from books dustjacket
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writer Asian religions educator
Swearer, Donald Keeney was born on August 2, 1934 in Wichita, Kansas, United States. Son of Edward Mays and Elloise Catherine (Keeney) Swearer.
AB cum laude, Princeton University, 1956. Master of Arts, Princeton University, 1965. Doctor of Philosophy, Princeton University, 1967.
Bachelor's Degree, Yale University, 1962. Master of Sacred Theology, Yale University, 1963.
Instructor English department Bangkok Christian College, 1957-1960. Administrative assistant Edward W. Hazen Foundation, New Haven, 1961-1963. Instructor, then assistant professor Oberlin (Ohio) College, 1965-1970.
Associate professor Swarthmore (Pennsylvania) College, 1970-1975, professor Asian religions, 1975—2004, Eugene M. Lang Research professor, 1987-1992, Charles & Harriet Cox McDowell professor, 1993—2004, chair department religion, 1986-1991. Numata professor Buddhist studies University Hawaii, 1993. Hershey visiting professor Buddhist studies Harvard Division School, 2000—2001, distinguished visiting professor Buddhist studies & director Center for the Study of World Religions, since 2004.
Adjunct professor University Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1979-1993, Temple University, Philadelphia, since 1991. Film. consultant ABC, 1972, British Broadcasting Corporation, 1977, WGBH, 1991-1993. Lecturer Smithsonian Institution, since 1982, Asia Society New York, since 1982.
Board advisors Religious Pluralism Project, since 1998, Forum on Religion and Ecology, 1998.
( Becoming the Buddha is the first book-length study of ...)
(A wide-ranging, readable account of the Theravada Buddhis...)
(An English translation and a commentary on the chronicle ...)
(This work brings together in a single volume the translat...)
(Book by Swearer, Donald K)
Member adult education committee Swarthmore Presbyterian Church, 1985-1987, 92-93, 97-98. Member American Association of University Professors, Association Asian Studies (board directors 1977-1980), American Academy Religion (vice president mid-Atlantic region 1971-1972), American Society Study of Religion, Society Buddhist-Christian Studies (board directors 1995-1998), Phi Beta Kappa.
Married Nancy Chester. Children: Susan Marie, Stephen Edward.