B. J. Terwiel

A new (2012) edition of a work written by a young anthropologist and published in 1975, now revised, updated with new material. An excellent overview of rural Buddhism in Thailand both in the village community and the sangha (monastic community). Simple but well written with just the right amount of careful detail and balancing anecdotes. The author, once a student of the famous scholar Dr. Robert van Gulik, is now a retired Professor of Thai and Lao Languages and Literatures. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to understand everyday, as opposed to academic Buddhism or the religious aspects of everyday life in rural as opposed urban ("elite") Buddhism. As Terwiel writes, "The religion of the farmer is basically magico-animistic, whilst those among the elite who adhere to religion may be regarded as having organized an intellectual appreciation of Buddhism...[and while] the farmer uses the same Buddhist institutions, concepts and ideas with which the elite are familiar, he gives them a different meaning" (p. 4).… (meer)