Buddhism; often described as an austere religion that condemns desire; promotes denial; and idealizes the contemplative life; actually has a thriving leisure culture in Asia. Creative religious improvisations designed by Buddhists have been produced both within and outside of monasteries across the regionmdash;in Nepal; Japan; Korea; Macau; Hong Kong; Singapore; Laos; Thailand; and Vietnam. Justin McDaniel looks at the growth of Asiarsquo;s culture of Buddhist leisuremdash;what he calls ldquo;socially disengaged Buddhismrdquo;mdash;through a study of architects responsible for monuments; museums; amusement parks; and other sites. In conversation with noted theorists of material and visual culture and anthropologists of art; McDaniel argues that such sites highlight the importance of public; leisure; and spectacle culture from a Buddhist perspective and illustrate how ldquo;secularrdquo; and ldquo;religious;rdquo; ldquo;publicrdquo; and ldquo;private;rdquo; are in many ways false binaries. Moreover; places like Lek Wiriyaphanrsquo;s Sanctuary of Truth in Thailand; Suối Tiecirc;n Amusement Park in Saigon; and Shi Fa Zhaorsquo;s multilevel museum/ritual space/tea house in Singapore reflect a growing Buddhist ecumenism built through repetitive affective encounters instead of didactic sermons and sectarian developments. They present different Buddhist traditions; images; and aesthetic expressions as united but not uniform; collected but not concise: Together they form a gathering; not a movement.Despite the ingenuity of lay and ordained visionaries like Wiriyaphan and Zhao and their colleagues Kenzo Tange; Chan-soo Park; Tadao Ando; and others discussed in this book; creators of Buddhist leisure sites often face problems along the way. Parks and museums are complex adaptive systems that are changed and influenced by budgets; available materials; local and global economic conditions; and visitors. Architects must often compromise and settle at local optima; and no matter what they intend; their buildings will develop lives of their own. Provocative and theoretically innovative; Architects of Buddhist Leisure asks readers to question the very category of ldquo;religiousrdquo; architecture. It challenges current methodological approaches in religious studies and speaks to a broad audience interested in modern art; architecture; religion; anthropology; and material culture.
#292840 in eBooks 2016-06-20 2016-06-20File Name: B01FOLY064
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Enjoyed the book very muchBy Douglas HardingEnjoyed the book very much. Being born and raised in Pittsfield made it more interesting of course. (I now live in Greene. NY). The book lets you come to your own conclusion of who killed May Fosburgh. For those who have yet to read the book I will not disclose who I think did it. but I do believe there was some political pull in closing he case! Very interesting. I would recommend anyone to read the book!2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. ... many characters but written so well that it was easy to follow and understand thanks to the excellence of ...By Julie S.There were many characters but written so well that it was easy to follow and understand thanks to the excellence of the author!!!
