Practical Buddhism among the Thai-Lao: Religion in the Making of a Region.

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12. Practical Buddhism among the Thai-Lao :
Religion in the Making of a Region.
Hayashi, Yukio. 2003.

description

Based on long-term fieldwork, Hayashi presents the local history of Thai-Lao religion and society, up to and including its present-day dynamics. The volume clarifies the position of the Lao as a people as well as the social composition and changes in Lao village society. Working from the analytical premise that concepts such as Buddhism and magic are intrinsic to the multi-faceted statements of the people who live in the particular locality, Hayashi describes the diachronic process and the dynamics of indigenous religious ‘knowledge’ in this regional context. The study reveals how religious practices, and associated knowledge of the dynamic local world, take diverse forms across the generations.