The 'Evil Age' and the Celebration of Intersubjectivity at Lhundrup Choeling Monastery, Budhanilkantha, Nepal

Date of Award

2005

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Vesperi, Maria

Keywords

Buddhism, Tibet, Anthropology, Madhyamaka, Colonialism, Nepal

Area of Concentration

Anthropology

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to provide an ethnographic depiction of a monastic community of exiled Tibetan nationals currently residing near Kathmandu, Nepal. During Spring 2003, I spent one of four months in Nepal under the School for International Training at Lhundrup Choeling monastery as its first non-Asian resident. While there, I learned first-hand about the monks' experiences of ascetic discipline, urban life, and displacement using participant-observation and formal interviews to gather data. This portrayal is framed within an analysis of the socio-historical construction of Tibetan identity in relation to the 'West' and the culture of global capitalism. In describing the intersubjective relationship between this community and its new cultural milieu, anthropological insights concerning the unbounded nature of culture and post colonial cultural reification are demonstrated. The result is a reflexive examination of circulation and exchange in the interpretation and creation of Tibetan Buddhism by Westerners, and of Western culture by the Tibetan Buddhist community under investigation.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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